APC Govt Has Brought Hardship On Nigerians —Delta PDP Chair

Mr Kingsley Esiso, chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Delta State,  has said that the All Progressives Congress, APC-led Federal Government has brought untold hardship on Nigerians.

Esiso who played host to PDP Patriotic Ladies in Asaba, urged the women to mobilise ahead of 2019 for the re-election of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and also vote out the APC at the federal level and other APC controlled states.

He said: “For about two years now, Nigerians have witnessed negative change that has brought injuries, hardship and high cost of living to them. They came with the mantra of change that former President Goodluck Jonathan was not doing well but the reverse is now the case. We will endure till 2019 to change the change.”

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I Joined Politics To Expose How Politicians Manipulate The Society – Oshiomhole

Governor Adams Oshiomhole, the outgoing Governor of Edo State,  earlier today revealed why he joined politics.

The former labour leader and civil servants turned politician spoke at an event, organised by the Kukah center: titled, “From activism to polical power: the challenges of democratic governance in Nigeria,” he said he joined politics to understudy and expose how politicians manipulate and control societies.

According to Oshiomole, “I joined the ruling class, having been temporarily associated with them, for the purpose of studying them to know and expose the hidden things they use to manipulate and control societies.

“I will be able to say, you know, I know how what you did that time, how much you consumed.

On the issue of change promised by the current administration, the outgoing governor explained that it will take collaborative effort on the part of Nigerians.

“No one of us can change society through individual actions, because the order you seek to change is of ignorance but you need to appeal to it.

“Those gaining from the order cannot be sermonised but by engagement you may probably defeat them,” he added.

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I Was Let Down After My Struggle For Buhari Government – Pro-APC Blogger, Abusidiq

A pro-All Progressives Congress, APC government blogger, Mr. Abubakar Sidiq Usman, better known as Abusidiq, who was arrested and detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over an alleged story he posted on his website, says he was let down despite his struggle for President Muhammadu Buhari-led government.

Abusidiq was however released on Tuesday evening by the anti-graft agency following general public criticisms.

However, after regaining his freedom, the Abuja-based political blogger took to his website to slam the Buhari administration for allegedly enabling acts that contradicted the spirit of his campaign.

He wrote: “This experience has stirred up broader conversations on the roles of our statutory established institutions, the parameters of our laws, and our civil liberties as citizens of our great Federal Republic.

“Moving forward, I will be pursuing all legal and constitutionally established avenues to ensure that this does not repeat itself.

“This is a government that I fought for. But occurrences like these are not the experiences that myself and millions of Nigerians have fought for.

“The reason(s) for my arrest will be made know to you all.

“I would like to thank my family, my friends, my legal team, the members of the All Progressives Congress Youth Forum (APYF), political parties, members of the Nigerian online community irrespective of their affiliations, and hundreds of thousands of Nigerians who in one way or another spoke out against my unconstitutional detention by the EFCC.

“Your tweets, posts, and demands for the constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of speech led to my release and the victory that we have achieved today.

“I hope that we can use this to rectify the wrongs in our system towards the attainment of a more sustainable democracy.

“Thank you all for the love and support you showed me,” he added.

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PDP Crisis: Sheriff Insists Rule Of Law Must Prevail

The disputed National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff, has said that the rule of law must prevail for the party’s crisis to be resolved.

Sheriff made the statement when he received some members of PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) Reconciliation Committee, led by Prof. Jerry Gana, in Abuja on Tuesday night.

According to him, the crisis continues to linger because leaders in the party are not alive to their responsibilities and keep perpetuating it.

“I am ready to listen at any time to the committee but for the crisis to be fully resolved, the rule of law must be followed. The moment we want to use one impunity to address another, it will not work.

“If our leaders had taken their responsibilities, we would never have had most of the problems we are facing today.

“When a leader refuses to stand up to his responsibilities, there will be a problem.

“Why am I saying this? Some of our leaders are party to our problems,” Sheriff said.

Briefing newsmen after a closed-door session, Sheriff commended the efforts of the BoT toward reconciling feuding parties and affirmed his availability now that the BoT was now better informed on the crisis.

“All that was discussed today were the problems. They will go back to the BoT that sent them.

“I am sure that in the next meeting, they will come back with recommendations that will bring lasting solutions and peace to the party,” Sheriff said.

Earlier, Gana explained that the purpose of the visit was to find lasting solutions to the crisis and make PDP a viable opposition.

“We are here to find out together how PDP can be solid, firm, cohesive and triumphant.

“This is because Nigerians are waiting for PDP, they are missing the PDP, they are crying and yearning for PDP because the 16 years of democracy cannot be wasted away.

“We are here not as a panel, not as a court, not even as an appeal committee but from the BoT as heirs of the family.

“In a family there must be sometimes problems here and there but there must be re-consolidation. Where there are elders people say things don’t go wrong.

“The purpose of our being here is for this party to be strong again and be reunited,’’ Gana said.

Addressing newsmen, Gana described the meeting as fruitful and said the committee had taken note of the problems causing disaffection within the party.

“We are delighted that there have been clear resolutions on the determination and the desire that the problems be resolved, unity be re-established and for PDP to move forward.”

Gana said although the meeting was successful, there would be another session while the committee would meet on Wednesday for further deliberation on issues that were raised.

NAN

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It Is Regrettable That APC Has Failed To Provide The Change Promised – Agbaje

Mr Jimi Agbaje, a former governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for Lagos state in the 2015 election, has promised that he will lead the party back to winning ways if elected chairman of the party at the Portharcourt Convention.

Agbaje while speaking with journalists noted that PDP gave ''way so that Nigerians can test what other parties have in stock. But it is regrettable that party has failed to provide the change promised. Every youth in Nigeria will like to see PDP reformed, and the reformation has started."

He said: "We accept that mistakes were made in the past in the PDP, especially with our internal democracy. So we have to go back to the position of the founding fathers of our party on internal democracy

"And that means that we have to go back to our constitution. That is very important. We have to be more all inclusive as we have been thus far. It is about bringing people nearer rather than sending them far away from the party. Everybody must feel to be part of this party.

"What I bring to the table is that I am not a member of any faction or any tendencies. I am in a position to talk to everybody, to ensure that if you love the PDP, then it is time to come back to the zone. I will appeal to those who feel very strongly to join us because Nigeria cannot make the progress it deserves without a viable opposition and that PDP is going to provide that opposition as an alternative government and in a responsible manner.

"We must understand what is playing out. The party is very clear, what the party zoned is that the National Chairmanship is to the South. It is the south on its own now that is running to see if it can get some measure of consensus.

"It is already very difficult to get consensus under circumstances where everybody feels that he is qualified. The beauty of democracy is that you must be able, and shouldn't be afraid to contest.

"What matters is that a level playing field is created and we shouldn't bring this idea that we must have consensus. No! It is not even good to have consensus all the time. Let us have robust competition, because competition always brings out a better solution and I think that is important.

"Now it is for those in the south to decide what they want. If they say it is the Southwest, so be it. If you feel you can run against the tide, nobody will stop you. We must continue to go back to the constitution, the constitution does not give you the power to exclude anybody. When you exclude you create tension. If you say look, this is what we think is best, if you do not agree, then, get into the field and let us run this race" he said.

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Nobody Blocked Jibrin From Seeing Buhari, He Didn’t Follow Protocol – Presidency

The Presidency has dismissed insinuation by Abdulmumin Jibrin, the former Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, saying he was “blocked” from seeing President Muhammadu Buhari over his budget padding allegations against some principal officers of the lower legislative chambers.

Recall that Jibrin had in a statement on Sunday alleged that two governors and three former members of the House were “blocking” him from meeting the President to state his own side of the story.

Abdulrahman Kawu-Sumaila, Senior Special Assistant to the President and former Deputy Minority leader of the House of Representatives is said to be one of those Jibrin had alleged to have impeded his effort to see the President.

But reacting to the report, the SSA said as a lawmaker, Jibrin should know the “protocol” on how to see the President.

According to Kawu-Sumaila, the former Appropriation Chairman had never approached him to facilitate a meeting with the President.

He said, “The way he has been going about this issue is unfortunate. He is dragging the names of innocent people into it.

“He has not approached me that he wants to see the President. If he makes a request, I will facilitate it for him. He knows the protocol.”

On his role in facilitating Buhari’s meeting with Dogara, Kawu-Sumaila said, “When the Speaker wanted to see Mr. President, he told me.

“I did my part to facilitate it. I was waiting at the office while they met. I was not at the meeting with them.

“It was after the meeting ended and the Speaker came out that I saw him off.

“The same thing would have happened if Jibrin requested to see the President.”

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