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2019: We Want more than SGF, South-west PDP Tells Atiku Abubakar

Published

7 years ago

October 28, 2018

Eric

The South-west zone of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to give more key positions to the zone if he emerges as president.

The South-west Vice-Chairman of the party, Eddy Olefeso, made the demand in Lagos on Friday night, at a meeting of key members across the six states in the zone.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting, which lasted hours, had in attendance a former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Olabode George; the current Deputy National Chairman (South), Yemi Akinwonmi; and a former National Vice Chairman of the party, Tajudeen Oladipo.

Also present were former Minister of State for Defence, Sola Obada; a former Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Makanjuola Badru; and a member of the National Assembly, Abiodun Olujimi.

The party’s governorship candidate in Oyo State, Seyi Makinde; the governorship candidate in Ogun, Ladi Adebutu; and a former governorship aspirant in Osun State, Akin Ogunbiyi, were also at the meeting, among others.

Mr Olafeso said though the promise of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) slot by Mr Abubakar was a good development, the zone deserved more key political and government positions.

The vice-chairman said the zone had been schemed out in the power arrangement of the party for the past few years.

Mr Olafeso said for Mr Abubakar to give the zone a sense of belonging and compensate “for the years of abandonment”, he should zone key positions of the Chief of Staff to the President and Àttorney-General of the Federation to the South-west in addition to the SGF.

He said the South-west had the second highest voting population in the country and would demand its fair share of political positions if PDP wins in 2019.

“We have been denied for too long. In 2011, the country under the control of our party zoned the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives to the zone and it was taken away.

“And from 2011 to 2015, we were left just like that and the reverberating effect of that abandonment is the reason why we are still having the hangover of neglect till today.

“Now we are here again, the party is working with a zone with 14 million votes, the second largest in the country. We refuse and we will not accept where we finish the job in the next election and for one reason or the other, we will not be considered.

“We don’t have to wait till after the election before we say what we want. We want to let the party and our candidate know that certain positions are strategic to governance and we want them.

“Yes, the SGF is great, but there is nothing wrong with having the Chief of Staff and Attorney-General on top of it to compensate us for the denials of the past, so that all of us can work as a united front.

“We will continue to fight for it, we will speak with a loud voice. We give so much, so the zone deserves a lot,” he said.

While congratulating Mr Abubakar on his emergence as presidential candidate, Mr Olafeso said the zone was pleased with the choice of Peter Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, as his running mate.

He said the country was faced with serious economic challenges, and Obi had the pedigree that could realise the party’s economic vision for Nigeria.

Mr Olafeso also said the zone was concerned about the travails of former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), over a case.

He urged members of the party to stand with Mr Fayose at his trying moment, saying the former governor was paying for being truthful and standing against injustice.

“I was in the court the last time and I am glad to tell you that he has been granted bail.

“We will do our best to ensure that he perfects his bail conditions and he is released soon,” he said.

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Akume Leads Nigeria’s Delegation to Jesse Jackson’s Funeral in US

Published

41 minutes ago

March 5, 2026

Eric

President Bola Tinubu has approved a five-person delegation to represent Nigeria at the final burial rites of Rev. Jesse Jackson, the American civil rights leader, activist and former presidential candidate who died at age 84 on February 17, 2026, in Chicago.

Senator George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, is the leader of the delegation, according to a press statement from the Presidency on Wednesday.

Other members are the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa; the Special Presidential Envoy for Global and Pan-African Affairs, Brian Browne; and the Senior Special Assistant, Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaye.

The delegation will deliver President Tinubu’s message of condolences to the Jackson family.

In an earlier tribute, President Tinubu described Reverend Jackson as a great friend of Nigeria and Africa.

“He was a moral voice and a formidable resistance to apartheid in South Africa. He played a leading role in the campaign for the release from prison of Nelson Mandela and other African National Congress leaders. He won critical support for sanctions against the then apartheid government,” President Tinubu wrote.

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Tinubu Nominates Oyedele As Minister of State for Finance, Moves Anite-Uzoka to Budget Ministry

Published

2 days ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

A statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy Bayo Onanuga, has announced that “President Bola Tinubu has nominated Taiwo Oyedele as the minister of state for finance, replacing Doris Anite-Uzoka.

“Mrs Anite-Uzoka will now move to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, as the Minister of State, her third portfolio in the administration.

“President Tinubu has today conveyed the nomination of Mr Oyedele to the Senate for confirmation in a letter to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

“Until President Tinubu nominated him as a minister, Mr Oyedele from Ikaram, Akoko, Ondo State, was the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, which overhauled Nigeria’s tax system.

“Mr Oyedele, 50, is an economist, accountant and public policy expert.

“He attended Yaba College of Technology, where he obtained a Higher National Diploma (HND) in accountancy and finance. He attended Oxford Brookes University and earned a BSc in applied accounting.

“He also completed executive education programmes at the London School of Economics, Yale University, the Gordon Institute of Business Science, and the Harvard Kennedy School.

“Mr Oyedele spent 22 years of his working career at PwC, joining in 2001 and rising to become the Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader.

“Mr Oyedele is also a professor at Babcock University in Ogun State and a visiting scholar at the Lagos Business School.”

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Defection: Atiku’s Son, Adamu, Resigns As Adamawa Commissioner

Published

2 days ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

Adamu Abubakar, the first son of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, has resigned as Adamawa State’s commissioner for works and energy development, days after Governor Ahmadu Fintiri defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.

Abubakar’s resignation letter, dated 2 March 2026, was addressed to the governor through the Secretary to the State Government. He gave no reason for his departure.

The timing is pointed. Fintiri announced his defection to the APC in a statewide broadcast last Friday, saying his cabinet and the PDP’s state structure had moved with him. Within 24 hours, 22 commissioners and special advisers publicly announced they were following suit. Abubakar, whose father remains one of the PDP’s most prominent national figures, was not among them.

In a statement issued Monday night, Abubakar’s media aide Abdulaziz Jauro said the former commissioner thanked the governor for the opportunity to serve and pledged continued loyalty to the administration’s developmental agenda. He also expressed gratitude to his father “for granting him the moral support and blessing to serve the people of Adamawa State” — a line that, read in context, suggests Atiku was consulted on the decision.

Abubakar said his resignation was not a withdrawal from public life. “This does not mark the end of his commitment to public service,” the statement read, “but rather the beginning of new avenues for developmental collaboration.”

The resignation leaves unresolved the question of whether it reflects a political break with the governor over his defection or a personal decision unconnected to the broader party realignment now reshaping Adamawa’s political landscape.