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Buhari’ll Win 2019 Poll Without nPDP, El-Rufai Boasts

Published

6 years ago

May 16, 2018

Eric

The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, on Tuesday said members of the defunct new Peoples Democratic Party were not capable of stopping President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election.

He spoke in an interview with State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The governor said since 2003, Buhari had been winning elections in Adamawa, Kano and Sokoto states where most of the nPDP members hail from.

He however agreed that some of the grievances of the party chiefs were legitimate and should be looked into.

He said, “Who are these new PDP people that are threatening? They are Kwara, Kano, Sokoto, Adamawa, Rivers but I don’t think Amaechi is part of them.

“So, let’s take these four states, go back to 2003 and check. Buhari then under the ANPP won in all these four states.

“Go back to 2007, Buhari won in these four states. Even when Shekarau was running as a presidential candidate in 2011, Buhari defeated him in Kano.

“I have no doubt in my mind that even if the people threatening to leave decide to leave, it will have absolutely no impact on the presidential election.

“The President will win Sokoto, Kwara and Adamawa easily. Kano is already in the bag, I mean if you saw the crowd that welcomed the President without the former governor Kwankwaso, Kano has always been the President’s base.”

El-Rufai however admitted that some of the grievances expressed by the aggrieved nPDP members were legitimate and should be looked into.

He said the only thing that was wrong was their threat to leave the party.

He described politics as a game of addition and not subtraction, saying the party did not have to lose anyone.

However, members of the Alhaji Kawu Baraje-led faction of the defunct new PDP, who are currently in the APC, have said that their letter to the APC leadership is not an empty threat.

The spokesperson for the group, Mr. Timi Frank, stated this in interview with reporters in Abuja, on Tuesday.

Frank stated that the group was considering options following the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum given to the APC.

He explained that the group had yet to receive any response either from President Buhari or the APC leadership.

Frank also dismissed insinuations that there was a crack in the nPDP bloc as a result of a counter-letter written by Senator Abdullahi Adamu on Monday.

According to him, the authentic members of the nPDP bloc were not surprised about the antics of the former Nasarawa State governor.

He explained that the senator was better known for his active involvement in the pro-Abacha movement as well as ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s failed third term bid.

Frank said over 95 per cent of the nPDP members gave Alhaji Kawu Baraje the authority to speak on their behalf and as such, the contents of his letter conveyed their feelings.

Asked whether the President or the APC had responded to his group’s letter, Frank said, “Today makes it seven days from the day our group brought this letter to the party. But as it stands, we’ve not got any response yet from them. As we’ve said, whatever we must have said in that letter, it is not an empty threat. If they decide to ignore us, so, be it.

“At the appropriate time, we are going to respond and make our position known to Nigerians based on what we’ve said. It is not just a mere threat; it is not just a mere ultimatum.

“I will tell you we are meeting with our leaders and we are going to come up with a clear position on our next step if finally they don’t attend to us.”

The nPDP spokesman further explained that history appeared to be repeating itself because this was the same way the then ruling PDP ignored calls by some of them to address certain issues.

He said, “We told them why we were aggrieved. Our leaders moved round the states to talk to party members, to ask the government at that time to listen to our views, but at the end of the day, they refused. They ignored us and that was how we left.

In response to a question on what the next step would be should the APC continue to ignore the bloc, he said, “We believe we are going to take a decision that will benefit the Nigerian people because we believe that democracy should be all inclusive. Democracy should not be a situation where when you speak the truth, you will be harassed; you will be intimidated and so on.”

He debunked Senator Adamu’s claims that the APC had been fair to the nPDP bloc.

Frank said the positions occupied by the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, were not appointments.

He argued that the two men enjoyed the confidence of their colleagues in the National Assembly across party lines and were elected based on their personal merits.

The Punch

Headline

Breaking: Wike Plans to Attend Thursday’s PDP NEC Meeting

Published

18 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The immediate past Governor of Rivers State, and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, may have concluded plans to attend the much advertised National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), billed to hold on Thursday, in Abuja.

Impeccable source, who is in the know, told The Boss that the minister, whose membership of the PDP is yet to be revoked even as he frolicks with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and serving in the President Bola Tinubu government as a minister.

The Source told The Boss that Wike’s impending presence at the NECeeting on Thursday is not unconnected with plans, already hatched with some governors, to weaken the opposition PDP.

“Yes, we have on good authority that FCT minister, Wike is planning to attend the NEC meeting tomorrow all in a bid to weaken the fabrics of the PDP, and pave the way for the continuation of the Tinubu administration come 2027, and by extension, relapse Nigeria to a full blown one party state.

“From every indication, Wike and his co-travellers, are bent on unleashing the same crisis ravaging the third force, Labour Party, and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s Nigerian National People’s Party (NNPP) on the PDP for the APC to remain the only political party in the country, and ensure that Tinubu has no challenger, come 2027,” the Source said.

It would be recalled that Wike has boasted over and again that there’s no opposition against Tinubu’s re-emergence in 2027, and that they have made sure of that. He has been compensated with the Ministerial job after he withdrew support for his party, and supported the APC and Tinubu to emerge as national government.

The Source further revealed that in the attempt to actualize the intended one party state, a lot of funding is ongoing to ensure that concerned stakeholders are ‘settled’ handsomely.

Wike, prior, during and after the 2023 general elections, has been floating in between the two major political parties; the APC and the PDP. While he claim to still be a member of the PDP, he is functioning as a minister in an APC government, mocking the inability of his party to discipline him.

Political stakeholders have concluded that the outcome of Thursday’s PDP NEC meeting will determine the path Nigeria’s political trajectory will take, and that it may portend the end of multi-party system and political democracy if Wike succeeds in his plan.

Headline

Bribery, Corruption: APC Suspends National Chairman, Ganduje

Published

3 days ago

April 15, 2024

Eric

The All Progressives Congress ward in Ganduje, Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area, has suspended the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.

The party ward legal adviser, Halliru Gwanzo, announced the suspension while addressing newsmen in Kano State on Monday.

Gwanzo cited allegations of bribery against Ganduje levelled by the Kano State Government as the reason for the suspension.

“We decided to suspend Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje from the party due to the seriousness of the allegations against him,” Gwanzo said.

Meanwhile, efforts to contact the Chief Press Secretary to the APC National Chairman, Mr Edwin Olufo, failed as his mobile phone was unreachable.

Headline

Akpabio Commits to Collaboration with Tinubu, Governor Umo Eno

Published

6 days ago

April 12, 2024

Admin

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has stated his commitment to working closely with Nigeria’s President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Governor Umo Eno to ensure the delivery of democratic benefits to the people of Akwa Ibom State.

Akpabio stated this in his country home, Ukana, Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom, while briefing his constituents on the journey so far as their representative in the red chamber.

He assured the people of Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District of his commitment to their welfare in appreciation of their total support for him, President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in last year’s election.

The Highpoint of the constituency briefing was the distribution of over 10,000 bags of rice and other essentials for his constituents from the wards, to the local governments.

A statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Jackson Udom, quoted Akpabio as saying, “I am here once again, to thank you for standing by me, our President and the party, before, during and even after last year’s elections. I have come to say thank you and also bring Renewed Hope to you all.

“As the President is doing his own, the Senate President is also doing his bit and being complemented by the state governor, Akwa Ibom would be the better for it. We have finished elections and politics, we are now into governance. The governor of the state must touch you, because he is the governor of all the people in the state irrespective of political affiliation.

” As I am touching you now from the political angle, I will also touch the state without any political party affiliation. Most of the projects we are putting in place would be used by people resident in the state. Relax, things are getting better.”

The former Governor of the state, assured his constituents that his current position as the Senate President would be used for the development of the state in collaboration with the President and the Akwa Ibom State Governor.

Hear him: This Senate President is not the one that would be fighting the state government. I will collaborate with , I will collaborate with , to make the state better for us all. We cannot be out of government for a long time. You have to go to a government that carries you along”

Akpabio promised to work for his constituents and Nigeria with all his strength, noting that, “as the President of the Senate, I am for the Southern region and the entire country. I may not come here regularly to tell you what I have been doing for you, but you will be feeling the impact on way or the other. Our unemployed youths would be gainfully employed. I will construct a mini stadium in all the local governments in the district, for our youths to develop their sporting potentials. ”