2013 budget: Nigeria should expect more Boko Haram insurgency – Former Yobe governor warns FG

Apparently unhappy over the paltry funds appropriated to the North-East in the 2013 budget Former Yobe State governor, Senator Buka Ibrahim, has warned the Federal Government against what would be worse than that of the Boko Haram if president Jonathan fails to redress the issue raised relating to the funds.
He claimed that the Federal Government’s allocation to the region was alarming, stressing that it was another form of injustice.
He said: “Boko Haram is a product of poverty. It is a product of unhappiness. We are unhappy with Nigeria. Unless something is done to address it, Nigeria should expect bigger Boko Haram insurgency, Insha Allah.
“Other geo-political zones got N79 billion or N80 billion. But the North-East has only N50 billion; a difference of N30 billion. Go and check the budget figures or ask the Director-General Budget Office.”
“Look, injustice is the basis of all crises in the world. All insecurity comes from injustice. If injustice continues, there will
never be peace.
“The panacea is for the government to be conscious of the fact that this part of the country that is totally being neglected; this area called an area without security, is also an area to which injustice has been meted out for decades.”
“Unless concerted effort is made to balance it up, there is no hope.”
When told that the President’s 2013 budget was just a proposal and that the National Assembly is yet to pass it, irate Abba said: “You see, when the difference is so huge from the Executive, it’s difficult for the National Assembly to really do much to completely change it.
The Senator maintained that only 20 percent of members of the National Assembly hails from the North-East, saying that the remaining 80 percent will also want to work for the betterment of their zones.
“More so, the members of the National Assembly are not all from the North-East.” He added

DailyPost

Airhiavbere challenges ruling on Oshiomhole’s qualification

 Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu

THE Edo State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Charles Airhiavbere, has challenged the governorship election tribunal’s ruling that his contest of Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s academic qualification is a pre-election matter, which he should have come ups at the regular court instead of the tribunal.
Counsel to Airhiavbere, Efe Akpofure (SAN), in the appeal before the Court of Appeal said this is the second prayer of his client who is dissatisfied with the tribunal’s ruling and has appealed on 17 grounds with particulars detailing where the tribunal erred in law.
He wants the higher court to set aside the ruling of the tribunal “except the part stating that
ground of corrupt practices and non-compliance with the Electoral Act 201 (as amended) contained in paragraph 8 of the petition, is competent having been in substantial compliance with Section 138 (1) (b) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) and the decision refusing to strike out the 4th and 5th respondents from the petition.”
Airhiavbere, who seemed to have been abandoned by his PDP, which has long said it was not interested in challenging the re-election of Oshiomhole, also wanted the appellate court to remit his petition “to a tribunal differently constituted for hearing and determination.”
The tribunal had ruled on September 27, 2012, that it lacked relevant jurisdiction to adjudicate on the academic qualification of Oshiomhole, which qualified him to contest the election.
 TheGuardian

OF ELECTIONS AND DEBATES

 by Eddy Ogunbor.

-"If you do not have a record to run on, you paint the other person as someone to run from"

-"We will not re-write our (US) economic principle, we will re-apply it" -Paul Ryan, Republican Vice Presidential Candidate U.S.A.

When I decided on hosting a blogsite, my promise and concept were to post on my blog, news items, commentaries, opinions etc on mainly issues on Nigeria and Nigerians.This I have adhered to.
However, with the forthcoming American presidential election fast approaching and the debates so far involving the Democrat and Republican candidates - President and V.President - and the opinions of supporters of the candidates, I could not resist a write up,which is simply a personal opinion. I promise to be as objective as could be.
I reside in Nigeria and am neither a democrat nor republican.However, electing the American President is the business of the world, for obvious reasons.

Let me quickly point out that, this is not a campaign for any candidate inspite of Ryan's quotes above. The reason for the quotes will be known in the course of this write up.
I do have political discussions with friends and political associates, including a very good cousin of mine who is a renowned Cardiologist. Somehow, they seem "right" in our discussions, not with any superior arguements but, on the basis of "that is the way it is and cannot be changed".
Gradually however, my positions will always be vindicated in the long run. The Nigerian presidential election of April 2011, is one issue we discussed. My position on the candidates then and now has not changed. My friends are gradually conceeding to the superiority of my position as things are unfolding.
I look at antecedents of individuals presenting themselves for elective positions. My friends look at the usual political calculations. This is where we differ.

During the last American presidential election that produced Obama as the President of the United States of America, I was a staunch supporter of Hillary Clinton, as the best suitable Democratic candidate. On sentiments however, I secretly wished Obama will make history for the black race. When he got the Democratic ticket, instead of Hillary Clinton, I wished Obama well in the election.
I am not in a position to assess Obama's performance as theUnited States President in the last three years plus but, I always admire Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her performance in her position.

Come November 6th, 2012, Americans will go to the polls to elect a President for the next four years.I did not want to be drawn into what goes on and on issues leading to the U.S Presidential elections. What with our political issues and other issues seeking attention in Nigeria. And the Ondo State governorship election coming up on October 20, 2012 especially.
Coincidentally, debates were organised for candidates for the governorship election in Ondo State and the U.S presidential and vice presidential candidates in USA. I decided to watch the debates.
On the Ondo debates, I saw three candidates from Labour Party, PDP and ACN coming to the debate fully prepared and the incumbent Governor Olusegun Mimiko was put on the spot, challenged by Olusola Oke of the PDP and Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) of ACN. The three candidates did not disappoint viewers.Mimiko , a medical Doctor against two legal practitioners - Akeredolu (SAN) and Oke, a former legal adviser of the PDP.

At the end of the debate, opinion differed as to who won the debate. Mimiko was harrassed. He fought back and marshalled his points to debunk points by his co-debaters. My verdict: the three candidates performed and made me proud. But Mimiko pointed to concrete achievements and not promises. Other States should emulate Ondo State on the quality of candidates presented for elections. The quality of most politicians and candidates in elections in this country is laughable.

I watched the first debate between President Obama and Governor Romney and also followed opinions of their supporters as to who won the debate.The essence of debates is to come prepared for and take a stand, for or against any issue and maintain such position how best you can. At the end of the debate between Obama and Romney, opinion polls showed that Romney won the debate and was the more aggressive and better prepared of the two candidates. Obama supporters believed otherwise and pointed out Romney's 'myths' at the debate.
Curiously Obama, if he came prepared for the debate, did not debunk these 'myths' but, left the debunking to his supporters, days after the debate!!
I listened to Robert Gibbs, Obama Campaign Senior Adviser on Candy Crowley programme this Sunday and he admitted that, even Obama knew he lost the debate when he came out of the venue.
President Bill Clinton on a road show after the debate, re-played on same Candy Crowley programme, exclaimed "......I thought waooooo!! .......where have you been boy? I have missed you in the last two years...!!". That is, in response to Romney's performance at the debate.

The good news however, is that President Obama has promised to be more aggressive in the second round of the debate, coming up on Wednesday. He better be and also come out prepared to debunk on the spot, Romney's further 'myths', to gain the required momentum in this race.

Then came the VP candidates debate. For god's sake, was Joe Biden serious? Was he prepared? What was all that smiling and gesticulations about? On Joe Biden, I watched the debate with nothing notable to take from him. As for Paul Ryan, he gave tha sucker punches' in the debate -with or without 'myths' - and i took from him the two  memorable quotes I staretd this write up with.

A debate, even at the primary and secondary school levels, is to take a stand for or against any issue, marshall arguements, harrass and intimidate your opponents with the objective of convincing your audience to buy or support your opinions. This is the game.
The second round of the presidential debate is on Wednesday. President Obama should come out more aggressive against Governor Romney. Governor Romney in my assessment, will not approach the debate leaving his gun in his holster. He is going to comeshooting from the hips" - according to the Americans.
My silent wish is for Obama to win the election for Hillary Clinton's sake. That special woman deserves a second term to take on the unfinished business for America and Americans.

God bless America.

IBB: Jonathan Has Not Declared Second Term Bid

Ibrahim Babangida

Jaiyeola Andrews            
Just one year into his four-year term and without an express wish to seek another term, those imputing a second term intention to President Goodluck Jonathan are being unfair to him, and in fact distracting him, former military president Ibrahim Babangida has said. Babangida said this in an interview with THISDAY at his Minna home.

The issue of whether Jonathan should seek a second term or not has been one of the hottest topics on the national political scene as the country marches towards another general election in 2015. Some groups in the northern parts of the country are opposed to a Jonathan second term and want the presidency to go to the region in 2015. They base their demand on the belief that the north, which produced the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, ought to be compensated for the period he did not serve out before his death in 2010.

Yet, down south, especially in the South-east, many politicians are demanding that the zone should produce Jonathan’s successor. They feel strongly that the zone has been marginalised and should be allowed to produce the next president to give the people a sense of belonging, even though they remain largely noncommittal on whether to contest against the president in 2015.

Jonathan himself has also remained silent on his intentions ahead of 2015, and he has not denied the growing insinuations that he is in fact interested in doing another term, fuelling speculations that he would be contesting the next presidential election.

But Babangida said the rash of activities around Jonathan’s suspected second term bid were unnecessary and diversionary.
According to the former head of state, “You can’t make a view or you can’t make opinion on something Jonathan didn’t say anything about.
“So it will be unfair. I think we should allow him to run the course; he has a job to do now. He has just been elected. I think it’s not up to one year or one year plus.

"So he has got three more years. What he did or what he does will recommend him to the public and to the Nigerians.”
Babangida said the unity of the country and issues that would promote it should be the focus of Nigerians at the moment.

“I think one of the most important things for Nigeria at 52 that each and every one of us should be grateful for, talk to God, talk to ourselves about is that we are able to maintain this country as one despite all the problems that we had in the last 52 years. I look forward and pray that we will continue to remain one.”

He stressed that the current security challenges faced by Nigeria is not a peculiar problem, saying the recent Arab Spring in North Africa has the tendency to awaken pent-up nationalist feelings in other parts of the world.

But Babangida said Nigeria’s security problems “can be tackled by all of us Nigerians, every one of us, irrespective of which part of the country you live, you must be determined to say, now look, enough is enough, this will not happen, you have to find a solution.”
He believed dialogue and fairness remained the best solutions to the nagging problem of insecurity.

ThisDay

Nigeria’s Ceding Of Bakassi, Political Blunder

STANLEY NKWOCHA

Following the failure of federal government to appeal the International Court of Justice’s judgement which  ceded the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroun, tongues are left wagging as to the  rationale behind allowing  the matter to slip off the hands of Nigeria, STANLEY NKWOCHA writes.
The hue and cry generated over Nigeria’s ceding of Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroun may have come and gone with the expiration of the time of Appeal on October 10, 2012. Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, drew the curtains when he announced that Nigeria will not apply for the review of the judgment of the International Court of Justice, ICJ.
Adoke, in a press statement explained that the argument canvassed by the proponents of the review “is virtually bound to fail” as “a failed application will be diplomatically damaging to Nigeria”.
The AGF said the committee set up by President Goodluck Jonathan had weighed the implications of a failed application for the review, having noted the stringent condition attached to such review, and had advised Nigeria against appealing the judgment.
Mr Adoke statement reads in parts, “The   committee proceeded to examine the case for revision against the requirements of Article 61 of the ICJ Statute and was constrained to observe from the oral presentations made to it by the proponents of the revision that the strict requirements of Article 61 could not be satisfied.
“This is because their presentation was unable to show that Nigeria had discovered a decisive fact that was unknown to her before the ICJ judgment, which is capable of swaying the Court to decide in its favour. This is more so as most of the issues canvassed in support of the case for a revision of the ICJ judgment had been canvassed and pronounced upon by the ICJ in its 2002 judgment.
“The Federal Government also retained a firm of international legal practitioners to advise on the merits and demerits of the case for revision.  The firm, after considering all the materials that were placed at its disposal against the requirements of Article 61 of the ICJ Statute came to the reasoned conclusion that ‘an application for a review is virtually bound to fail’ and that ‘a failed application will be diplomatically damaging to Nigeria’.
“In view of the foregoing, the Federal Government has therefore decided that it will not be in the national interest to apply for revision of the 2002 ICJ Judgment in respect of the Land and Maritime Boundary between Cameroon and Nigeria.”
Adoke however expressed the concern of the FG on “the plight of Nigerians living in the Bakassi Peninsula and the allegations of human rights abuses being perpetrated against Nigerians in the Peninsula”.
He said, “The FG is determined to engage Cameroon within the framework of the existing implementation mechanisms agreed to by Nigeria and Cameroon in order to protect the rights and livelihoods of Nigerians living in the Peninsula.”
As convincing as Adoke’s remarks may be, comments, protests and condemnation which continue to trail the ceding have extended beyond the nooks and crannies of the country, transcending cultural barriers. Also, aside the economic view point on the matter, the socio-political aspects remain a matter of concern which keep heads bouncing while tongues continue to wag and wonders being express  if the pride of the once hitherto proclaimed giant of Africa has not been hurt.
Issues are being raised on whether Bakassi was ceded because of facts of the case or whether it is a case of an outright abuse neglect and disregard for minorities. For instance, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Paul Erokoro says that if Bakassi peninsula had been part of the Hausa-Fulani or Yoruba land, and not a minority, the Federal Government would not have been careless with it, not to talk of ceding it.
Erokoro maintained that the government ought to have made an attempt to review the judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which ceded the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon.
“It isn’t president Jonathan’s fault alone, the federal government, at the time of the judgment was quick to agree to the terms on the case. Successive governments did not review it either. There is that perception that it is because Bakassi is a minority. We believe if it had been part of the Hausa-Fulani or Yoruba land, the federal government would not have been careless with it,” he said.
On his part, Dr Funsho Adesola, head of International Relations Department, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, describes the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroon as hasty.
Adesola who made the observation in  in Ile- Ife, said, “In this part of the world, I mean the developing countries, so many things are personalised and there is no institutionalisation of policies.
“Individuals are promoted over and above institutions; decisions are taken sometimes when they are not properly considered. The idiosyncrasy of leaders most times has had very dastard implications at some points on this nation, and one of it is the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroun,” he said.
On the rationale behind the agitation of the Bakassi people and the recent response of the present administration, the don said the people had the right to agitate and the government must oblige.
Also commenting on the issue, former governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju, said the ceding of Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroun was essentially a political act and solution of the present problem which it now engendered must of necessity be political. “Of course military solution is also possible but leaders prefer to exhaust political option and reserve that of military as the last resort.”
Mbadinuju who is also a lawyer, noted that subject to all the issues of law, history, national and international interests involved in this problem and dating back several years until today, the paramount interest of Nigeria is to return Bakassi to where it was before the Nigerian civil war. He recalled views on how past leaders had mortgaged Bakassi to Cameroun as a payback for assisting Nigeria defeat Biafra.
On his part, Abubakar Malami, SAN, says it was morally wrong for the Federal Government to have ignored the wishes of Bakassi indigenes when it refused to seek a review of the ICJ ruling that ceded Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon.
“In a democratic setting, authority is vested in the leaders of the country and the people trust them to represent their interest. Legally, whatever decision the federal government has taken on behalf of the people is binding but morally speaking, the government is expected to listen to the yearnings of the people and act in line with their wishes,” he said.
The Etiyen of Bakassi, Dr. Etim Okon Edet, is not only the paramount ruler of Bakassi but also the Chairman of Cross River State Council of Chiefs. A product of the University of Calabar where he studied political science, the traditional ruler says it is time for law to be jettisoned and the people of Bakassi allowed the freedom to chose for themselves their future.
In a recent interview, he says, “ the allocation given to Bakassi is not a hidden matter. It is on the internet. Bakassi still exists in law and the allocation Bakassi is getting is based on that law. That is why I said the law must be reconsidered for us to be able to address issues because we exist before Nigeria, Cameroon.
‘We have been there before the local government was attached to Bakassi. We were known as the Bakassi people and not Bakassi local government. So why have they refused to leave us alone with their laws and allow us to stand how we used to stand? Cameroon had never entered there before. They know they can never enter there ordinarily. We are riverine people and, in that time, to leave Bakassi for Calabar was a long journey that took days.
‘Nigeria is saying no going back on the issue, ‘Bakassi is gone’. Then let them leave us alone. Nigeria is still keeping Bakassi because of the oil. You say these people are not there but you are using them to collect money and to take their resources. Because Bakassi is still in the constitution, we cannot act but if Nigeria removes Bakassi from the constitution, the Republic of Bakassi cannot be in Nigeria or in Republic of Cameroon.
‘Bakassi cannot be in Cameroon because the ICJ cannot give the land of Bakassi to Cameroon, because they don’t know anything about the land. So we need freedom. We need to be left alone. Nigeria, please leave us alone. You don’t need the people but you need their resources. Let them release us. If they release us, Cross River will be willing to release us, paramount ruler quipped.
Even though that the issue of Bakassi seems to have been laid to rest, the truth remains that the ceding of the peninsula remains a major  part of Nigeria’s political history. While posterity will judge the Obasanjo leadership who gave out the land, the Jonathan presidency will also be remembered for its docility. Whichever way, one thing is clear and that is the fact that Bakassi is gone.
Leadership

Babajide Obanikoro: Is the Tribunal Victory a Referendum on Asiwaju Tinubu?

Babajide Obanikoro

Discerning analysts had known right from the time of the election last October that the chairmanship poll in Ikoyi/Obalende LGA in Lagos, as small as the council poll may seem, would be a proxy war of sort between the ACN National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and his former associate and PDP leader in the state, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro. Tinubu and Obanikoro are no stranger to each other. Obanikoro was a commissioner then in Tinubu’s cabinet in Lagos around 1999. He later became a Senator on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy, the party where Tinubu and most of his associates now in ACN took off from in 1999. But as he fell out with Tinubu, Obanikoro defected from AD to PDP. Obanikoro was to run against Tinubu’s preferred candidate, Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, in the 2007 election, which he lost. How and why Obanikoro became estranged with his political leader, Tinubu, is not the focus of this piece and should not detain us here.

The Ikoyi/Obalende constituency, as has been aptly captured by some national dailies including THISDAY, covers Tinubu’s Bourdillion Road residence. Obanikoro’s eldest son, Babajide, was running for the election on PDP platform and was in the race with Adewale Adeniji of the ACN. I guess Adewale is a scion of the popular Adeniji Adele family, also an ally of Tinubu. In the days leading to the election, not a few had reckoned that Obanikoro’s son was the man to beat. Somehow, the results released by the state Independent Electoral Commission showed that Babajide lost. It was the first time PDP was contesting the council election in Lagos since the creation of 37 development centres during the time of Tinubu as governor, which took the number of councils in the state to 57 as it were. Ikoyi/Obalende and perhaps Badagry councils were some of the areas where PDP could be said to be in serious contention in the election. This was why the party officials kept a night vigil when the result of the election in Ikoyi/Obalende was being unduly delayed and why there was also protest when Adeniji was declared the winner of the poll. Obanikoro Jnr challenged the result of the poll at the tribunal, which was the wise thing to do.
Last Thursday, the five-member tribunal headed by Justice Dolapo Akinsanya (rtd) in a 4 to 1 decision, after discounting some alleged illegal votes, ruled that Babajide Obanikoro was the winner of the election. The panel said Obanikoro polled 6,780 votes to Adeniji’s 6,248. The declaration led to jubilation in PDP circles in Lagos. If you know the pedigree of Justice Akinsanya as a courageous judicial officer, you would know she is one of the few judges in Lagos, serving or retired, capable of giving such a landmark ruling. She it was who delivered the judgment that sounded the death-knell on the Interim National Government (ING) contraption of former military President Ibrahim Babangida in the wake of the annulment of June 12. Justice Akinsanya ruled that the ING headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan was illegal.

The ACN had said it would appeal the verdict which gave victory to Obanikoro’s son. Meanwhile, in the interim, the million-dollar question: is the tribunal judgement a referendum on Tinubu? I think attempting to draw the ACN leader directly into the fray may seem too far-fetched, despite the fact it was his constituency. The tribunal verdict may not directly be a referendum on Asiwaju Tinubu as it was not his offspring that contested the election against Babajide, though there is no doubt that the ACN leader may have sanctioned Adeniji’s candidacy perhaps in the manner of the imposition of candidates characteristic of ACN’s politics. The court victory, however, should be a wake-up call for Tinubu and ACN that they need to embrace internal democracy and put in place a system that would ensure that justice is done to all, since, as Governor Fashola once openly advised, Asiwaju Tinubu cannot possibly love his associates equally. If that is not done, and urgently too, the day of the ultimate referendum on Tinubu may have been reduced by one week, that is counting from the day Justice Akinsanya delivered her historic judgement.
ThisDay

2015: PDP And Its Factional Challenges

ABU NMODU, ABIODUN TAIWO, OLAOLU OLADIPO, NNAMDI MBAWIKE, ALO ABIOLA, JOHN MKOM, SOLOMON AYADO, STANLEY UZOARU, MUAZU ELAZEH, ABBA ABUBAKAR KABARA, SALISU IBRAHIM, DAVID AKINADEWO, and ONYEKAOZULU OFOMA

Towards the 2015 general elections, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been enmeshed in one crisis after the other, leaving many political critics to wonder if the biggest political party in black Africa can survive the assault of the opposition parties. From state PDP factions to the national body, different factions have emerged within the party structures leading to members decamping to other parties.
In the South-West, the Ondo State PDP chapter was punctured with the landmark judicial judgement that declared Dr. Olusegun Mimiko as the duly-elected governor of the state on February 23, 2009.
Few months after the Olusegun Agagu-led PDP government was sent packing from the Alagbaka Government House in Akure, things eventually fell apart in the party, and all efforts to hold the centre has consistently failed up till now.
Problem started in the party when some stakeholders raised objection to what they termed the undue influence of the immediate past governor, Agagu, on the party, advocating for equal treatment of members and entrenching party supremacy.
The cracks in the party were allegedly championed by the then Nigerian Ambassador to Australia, Dr. Olu Agbi; the immediate past commissioner for finance, Mr. Tayo Alasoadura; another PDP chieftain in the state, Chief Segun Adegoke, and a host of others.
The problems became more pronounced during the 2011 general elections when allegations of anti-party issues were raised.
After the PDP eventually won the presidential election, it was another thug of war as stakeholders fought tooth and nail on the issue of who to be appointed as minister from the state and those to be given federal appointment. This development was said to have provided the incumbent governor, a Labour Party (LP) member, the opportunity of fielding federal appointment slots of the state.
The latest scenario in PDP now, which political watchers believe might cost it the governorship seat in the scheduled October 20 election, is the fact that there are two distinct authorities in the state chapter of the party, and one of them has vowed not to support the candidate of the party in the election, Chief Olusola Oke.
The party’s factional Chairman, Dr. Akin Olowookere, had stated at a press conference recently that his faction would not work for the candidate of the party in the October governorship election, but rather would support the incumbent governor, while the PDP will go back to the drawing board to prepare for 2017 election in the state.
Another impediment on the fortunes of PDP is the fact that the executive of the faction claiming ownership of the structures of the party have been restrained and the congresses that produced them declared null and void by the court of law.
The court restrained the members elected through the exercises from parading themselves as executive members of the party, either at the local government or state levels till the determination of the substantive suit before it.
In Lagos, owing to the never ending schism in the state chapter of the PDP, most of the gladiators are yet to emerge. But some names are currently being mentioned as capable of obtaining the party’s flag.
A one-time High Commissioner to Ghana, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro is being speculated to be warming up his machinery to re-contest the office he once sought after in 2007. Also in contention for the party’s ticket include former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Ade Dosunmu, who was fielded by the party in 2011.
The crisis rocking Ogun State PDP started as a child’s play with the belief that the hullabaloo would soon fizzle out, but the crisis then, which was purely a battle of supremacy between the then governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel (OGD), and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, eventually leading to the final polarisation of the party into two factions.
However, the party is still engaged in series of litigations, as up till date not less than 20 court injunctions and eight rulings have been obtained by different factions. After the election, the battle that was hitherto between Daniel group shifted further to the polarisation of the Obasanjo group into four. Today, it can be confirmed that the crack has indeed been widened.
Four factions of the party in the state comprise that of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Prince Kashamu Buruji who leads and finances the Omo Ilu Foundation, former minister of commerce and industry Jubril Martins-Kuye, as well as the faction under the former governor Gbenga Daniel.
The Ekiti State chapter of the PDP is not left out. The party in the state has been struggling to put its house in order since October 15, 2010, when the party lost the control of the state to the Dr. Kayode Fayemi-led ACN. Wrangling within the party became obvious when the former governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose dumped the Labour Party (LP), the platform upon which he contested for the Ekiti Central Senatorial seat in the April 2011 general elections.
Fayose took a bold step to pitch tent once again with PDP, when he went to his ward in his home town in Afao Ekiti, where he was given a heroic welcome and was issued a party membership card by the ward chairman of the party. The move to formalise his return did not see the light of the day as the then Chief Bola Olu-Ojo-led State Working Committee insisted that the National Working Committee of the party had not granted him the waiver that would see him being readmitted into the party as there were issues to be resolved.
The party in Ekiti State suspended the planned visit of the National Vice Chairman, South West Zone, Chief Segun Oni to the state as the post-congress election crisis that dogged the party in the state persists. The suspension of Oni’s visit to the state, according to inside sources, could not be unconnected with the threat from Ekiti State PDP Chairman, Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe-led executive that he would not be welcomed to the state in view of his alleged role in the “factionalisation” of the party. Oni, a former governor of the state, was billed to visit Ekiti in june, having visited other states in the zone after his emergence as the zonal leader at the election held in Osogbo, Osun State.
In the south-eastern zone, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, representing Ngor Okpalla/Aboh Mbaise federal constituency in the House of Representatives and deputy speaker of the house, is reportedly hell-bent on taking over the reins of government from Governor Rochas Okorocha of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in 2015. Nevertheless, indications are that he may not go far, following the resoluteness of former Minister of Interior, Captain Emmanuel Iheanacho, to call the shots from the Government House, Owerri, in 2015.
Both Ihedioha and Iheanacho hail from Owerri Senatorial District, and in the case of zoning the PDP gubernatorial ticket to the zone, not a few say that Iheanacho would beat Ihedioha in a free, fair and credible party primary. Besides, Senator Hope Uzodinma, representing Orlu Senatorial District, is also reportedly eyeing the governorship position in the state.
And in Enugu State, the general assumption is that Engr. Vita Abba is the authentic chairman of the party in the state, a faction of the party, chaired by Mr. Ceaser Ogbonna, says he is optimistic that the court would validate the congresses conducted by his faction in 2010, at ward, council and state levels. Ogbonna said the suit challenging the failure of the national headquarters of the PDP to recognise his faction of the PDP is still pending in the Federal High Court, Abuja.
He said his group was determined to use legal means to reclaim the control of the party machinery in the state, adding that all the vital documents relating to the conduct of the PDP primaries by his own faction have been tendered before the court. He added that his faction had already forwarded its grievances to the current National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.
Foundation of the current crisis rocking the PDP in Enugu State was laid late last year when PDP National Working Committee (NWC), led by its former national chairman, Dr. Okwesileze Nwodo, dissolved the Vita Abba-led state executive and ordered the conduct of fresh congresses to elect new party executives at the ward, council and state levels. Nwodo’s action followed his claim that the party congresses, which produced the various executive, were inconclusive.
The development led to the emergence of two factions in the state, with Chief Vita Abba, leading the group that produced Governor Sullivan Chime as the gubernatorial candidate of the party in the 2011 general elections, while Ogbonna’s group is believed to be sympathetic to Nwodo.
Ebonyi State could safely be said to be the stronghold of the ruling PDP in the South-East geo-political zone. Ever since 1999, the party has held sway in the state. And given the existing unity and cohesion within the state chapter of the party, it does appear that the party would dominate the 2015 general elections, except something disastrous happens between now and then.
Presently, Chief Ugorji Ama-Oti is at the helm of affairs of the party in the state. He mounted the saddle in 2011 shortly before the general elections, when the current Deputy Governor of the state, Chief Dave Umahi, who was then former party chairman, was nominated as running mate to Governor Martin Elechi. Umahi was first appointed caretaker chairman of the party in 2007 and was made substantive chairman in 2008.
PDP chapters in the North have not been speared of the crises rocking the party due to different factions and interests. Since the emergence of the present PDP leadership in Kano, a major leadership tussle has rocked the party, leading to the emergence of two factions, each challenging the legitimacy of the other. The state council on one hand is headed by Alhaji Adamu Aliyu Sumaila, while the Garkuwa group, headed by a former senator, Alhaji Aminu Inuwa, is claiming total control of the party affairs.
As a result of this development, the Garkuwa group tends to distance itself from what it describes as “self proclaimed leadership” under Sumaila, and therefore formed a state committee of concerned members to look into the affairs of the party.
Recent development in the party has sparked off row between the contending groups, leading to a power tussle within the party.
Alhaji Sumaila, chairman of the state council, had told reporters in an interview that his council was the legitimate body because it emerged after a well-organised “congress”. But spokesman of the Garkuwa group, Alhaji Sule Chamber, described the congress as a “Kangaroo gathering”, and said his group will challenge the state leadership because it lacked legitimacy. As party members buried their differences on the eve of the last gubernatorial elections in order to wrestle power from All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), differences between the two leading groups continue to manifest within the party.
The Garkuwa group has recently filed a court case against the state government over its frequent use of Kwankwasiyya inscription on public properties. Deep sense of frustration due to alleged feeling of marginalisation and perceived irrelevance in the affairs of the state government continue to dominate discuss among PDP members. Already, the situation in the party has become so tensed that the Garkuwa group is now hoping to resolve the tango through a court pronouncement.
In every function, the governor made remarks on the rationale behind the inscription, thereby making the already tense situation even worse, by insisting that he has to leave a mark on all projects his administration executed. “We are writing Kwankwasiyya inscription because we don’t want our projects to be hijacked after our time,” Governor Kwankwaso was quoted as saying.
Subtle permutations have began in Katsina State with politicians in different political camps engaging in what could mildly be described as high stake politicking. As at the last count, no fewer than 12 bigwigs have been associated with the struggle to take over from the incumbent governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Shehu Shema, with analysts asserting that the list may not have been exhaustive.
Perhaps, owing to political dynamics of the state, where only two political parties, PDP and CPC, loom large at the political space, most of the so-called hopefuls are associated with either PDP or CPC with very little or nothing being heard about other political parties. Within the ruling PDP, names that have continued to feature prominently among the list of those nursing guber ambition are those of the minister of mines and steel development, Arch. Musa Sada, and Senators Ibrahim Muhammad Ida and Mahmud Kanti Bello.
In the opposition CPC, names that featured prominently among those eyeing the coveted seat in the state are those of the former speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Bello Masari, among others. Unconfirmed sources said Musa Sada has got the tacit support and endorsement of Governor Shema, who it is widely speculated, was oiling the political machineries within the ruling PDP to ensure smooth emergence of Sada.
Senators Ibrahim Muhammad Ida and Mahmud Kanti Bello, who have continually been associated with the struggle to occupy the Katsina State Government House, are both influential members of the ruling PDP, having served at the last Senate. Both had their aspirations to return to the Senate thwarted by the tsunami unleashed on the state by the opposition CPC which captured 15 out of the 18 National Assembly seats in the state, including the three Senate seats.
Unconfirmed sources said Senator Ida is banking on probable support of Tukur, whom it is alleged is the Senator’s “main man”. Analysts posit that with his enormous wealth and connections within the national leadership of the ruling PDP, Ida may well spring surprises. It was gathered that the senator, who may not have been enjoying the support of the incumbent governor, is making frantic efforts to woo the support of party leadership in the state.
Only recently, Senator Ida was alleged to have participated in a meeting of a group bent on reawakening the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), supposed forerunner to the PDP. Sources said the idea behind the much-touted reawakening as being championed by Ida and the likes, was aimed at repositioning the PDP. Views are being expressed in Katsina State that Senator Ida may use the PDM to whittle down Governor Shema’s firm grip on PDP in the state.
In Benue State so far, more than 10 political bigwigs, whose political antecedents have blazed the trail in the state, are said to be nursing ambition to contest for the governorship seat of the state in 2015. Investigations reveal that most of the intending candidates are from the Zone B senatorial district of the state, which comprised of Masev, Ihyarev and Nongov, popularly called MINDA, and where reportedly the zoning arrangement is favoured.
To begin with, top on the list of the contenders are said to be Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Dr. Samuel Ortom; the Speaker of Benue State House of Assembly, Barrister David Iorhemba; the Permanent Secretary of the Government House Administration, Mr. Tivlumun Nyitse; Commissioner for Lands and Survey, Mr. John Tondo, and his Agriculture and Natural Resources counterpart, Dr. Eugene Aliegba; Permanent Secretary of the state Ministry of Agriculture, Prince Andy Uwoukwu; Mr. Hinga Ibiem, the permanent secretary of Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as, former special assistant to George Akume, Mr. Dave Awuna, and Prince Simon Aondoana, are said to have indicated interest for the race.
A few politicians from the Zone A senatorial district, where the present governor is from, are also said to have indicated interest in the 2015 governorship poll. They are the Director General of Suswam/Lawani Campaign Organisation, Chief Terhemba Shija; governorship candidate of the ACN, Prof. Steven Ugba, and Dr. Cletus Akwaya, special adviser to the governor on media and publicity.
But some analysts have said that the governorship position may not be zoned to MINDA, the Zone B senatorial district, because the present Tor Tiv, Chief Alfred Akawe Torkula, hails from the zone and that two crucial posts would not be given to one entity, except the monarch is ready to drop his position.
Apart from the zoning arrangement, some prominent politicians from Benue North senatorial district, otherwise called Zone A, have agitated that Vaandeikya and Kwande Local Government Areas have not, since the creation of the state, enjoyed the governorship seat. The likes of Terhemba Shija have allegedly indicated interest.
Although, beyond underground arrangements and consultations, none of the contenders have publicly announced intention to run for the governorship in 2015. But they have been, reportedly, bargaining for the juicy position. While others are said to have started holding meetings, some were alleged to have been romancing with Governor Suswam and the Tor Tiv to have their political backings ahead of the race.
One of the alleged intenders, Mr. Dave Awuna, has said it was natural for anyone to aspire to occupy a governorship position in the state and that such development would only enhance rapid progress, especially to those at the grassroots.
Similarly, Mr. John Tondo, Commissioner for Lands and Survey in Benue State, denied that he was in anyway nursing any ambition to be governor in 2015.
The Niger State chapter of the PDP has not obviously shown any sign of crack. However, as the build-up to the 2015 general elections gathers momentum, political observers believe that there may be a latent crack within the party.
The present executive of the party in the state seems to be toeing the line of Governor Mua’zu Babangida Aliyu, who is the leader of the party in the state. However, it is believed that since Aliyu would be completing his second term in 2015, the race of who will succeed him, if not carefully handled, could cause serious cracks within the party in the state, because of the conflicting interest it may generate.
Similarly, speculation that the governor may be nursing the ambition of going to the Senate may pitch him against some of his party men in the Niger East Senatorial District, especially the incumbent Senator Dahiru Amasiu, who had already indicated his interest to contest again, making it his third term.
Another factor that could make the party develop obvious crack may come from those who played prominent roles in the party between 1999 and 2007; those who believed they have been sidetracked between 2007 to date. This group may be a source of anti-party if they are not considered in events toward 2015. The party, for now, has remained united. But how the party will be able to sustain this to 2015 will determine how the latent cracks could develop into something serious.
Politics in Zamfara has assumed a stereotypy posture right from 1999, when Senator Sani Yerima assumed office as the first civilian governor of the state on the platform of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). From 2007 general elections to date, Yerima was the principal force behind the formation of two successive administrations, beginning with former governor Mahmud Shinkafi who succeeded him on the platform of the ANPP, and later in 2011, the incumbent Governor Abubakar Yari, on the platform of the same political party.
Against this premise, the PDP, the major opposition party in the state was through the years, kept in the oblivion until the 2009 controversial betrayal decamp to the party by the then governor Shinkafi along with all the members of his cabinet and many other party members.
The merger between Shinkafi’s new PDP group and the old stock of the party, was however cut short by a looming internal crisis, due to persistent scrambles for political positions, which later led to the sharp crack within the membership of the party, leading to the formation of two distinct factions, with membership of the old stock headed by Alhaji Namadi Ango, while the new decampees of the Shinkafi group flocked under the leadership of Alhaji Ibrahim Mallaha.
In the wake of the 2011 general elections however, apart from very negligible few aggrieved PDP old stock members who opted to join the ANPP out of protest, more than 90 per cent of the ANPP members who decamped to the PDP on the orders of the erstwhile governor Shinkafi, have also again regrouped behind the banner of the ANPP, a few days to general elections, a political scenario which appeared like a counter-betrayal decamp against the then outgoing Shinkafi administration.
In Taraba State, the crisis in the state chapter started when Sen. Aisha Alhassan, representing Taraba North constituency, accused Governor Danbaba Suntai of planting the candidature of Mr. Anthony Jerason from APGA, who is now serving as the state commissioner for agriculture, to ensure that her senatorial ambition was dented.
Also, Sen. Abubakar Tutare, representing Taraba Central, accused Suntai of using the then senator of the zone, Sen. Dahiru Bako, to stop his ambition. The governor was also accused of hand-picking party leadership in the state against the will of the party followers. Hon. Yusuf Manwe, a former member of Taraba State House of Assembly, who was appointed special adviser to Governor Suntai on information and technology, was relieved of his job when the party discovered that he was a regularly visitor to Senator Tutare in Abuja.
About a week ago, the PDP Chairman in Wukari Local Government, Yaya Auwa, was also suspended indefinitely for his refusal to sign a document to sack Hon. Habu Feri, a PDP national ex-official.
Leadership