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APC: Crises in the Ruling House

Published

4 years ago

June 27, 2020

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The ripple effect the crisis that visited the Edo chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) shortly after the 2019 general elections is far from from reaching its climax, the big stick wielded by the president, Muhammadu Buhari, notwithstanding.

On Thursday, within the confines and safety of the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Buhari had put his foot down, dissolving the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, in a bid to bring to end a crisis that has attempted to puncture the rolling tyres of the ruling party. It must be noted that the president’s stick notwithstanding, mutterings, rancours and loud whispers can still be heard within the rank and files of opposing party members.

Stakeholders, analysts and commentators have traced the APC quagmire to the war of attrition between now suspended party chairman and former governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and his supposed mentee, who is the current Governor of the state, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, which came to the fore as states began inaugurating Assembly members. Out of the 24 members elected into the House (all APC members), 19 unceremoniously lost interest in the governor, pegging their stakes with the party chairman. Only five stood with the governor. In frantic politicking, Obaseki convinced additional five, bringing the number of his loyalists to 10. He therefore invoked protocol and inaugurated. The other 14 members failed to show up. As it is today, the other 14 are yet to be inaugurated since their election, over one year down the line.

Many others have said that the baton of the crisis was just held in lieu for the heavyweights by the corner in the person of Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi and National Leader of the party, Senator Bola Tinubu.

However, with the widening of the division among members loyal to Obaseki and Oshiomhole, accusations and counter accusations began to flow from both camps, and in most cases fisticuffs followed among loyal foot soldiers. It got to a stage where Oshiomhole became wary of coming into the state, and was eventually suspended from the party by his Etsako Ward 10 constituency under the chairmanship of Stephen Oshawo.

Oshiomhole’s suspension gave the crisis a more national outlook as political foes capitalised on the laguna to cease the chairmanship. He was however saved by whiskers as a high court voided the suspension. He was shaken, but not stirred. He bounced back to what looks like fragile peace. But he bidded his time. Revenge was in his mind and in his heart. Oshiomhole wanted to hit back at Obaseki for many reasons. he snubbed his loyal lawmakers, who till today are yet to be inaugurated. Not only that, he accused the governor of sacking government loyal to him. The fast approaching governorship primaries was his bargaining chip; his trump card. He used it to the fullest and Obaseki was disqualified based on discrepancies found in his certificates. Much as Obaseki refused to contest the disqualification, the appeal committee upheld the verdict. From every indication, Oshiomhole was winning.

Then enter the Federal Appeal Court sitting in Abuja!

Oshiomhole’s suspension was upheld, on the day Obaseki lost hope and decamped to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

And the then the mother of the all crises ensued!

In total disobedience to the announcement that Senator Abiola Ajimobi (now late) becomes the Acting Chairman of the party, three other parties sprang out, claiming the position. They were Mr. Victor Giadom and Hilliad Etta. They all clearly represented different factions of the party.

In the midst of the ensuing melee, an FCT High Court extended an order earlier permitting Victor Giadom to act as the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress to 14 days, deepening the already catastrophic crisis even as two important governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states lurk around the corner.

On March 16, Justice Samira Bature had granted the interim order in a motion ex-parte, marked FCT/HC/M/6447/2020, filed by APC National Vice Chairman (North-East), Mustapha Salihu, with Babatunde Ogala, Lanre Issa-Onilu, Waziri Bulama and the party, APC as defendants.

Mr Salihu had approached the court, through the exparte motion, seeking for an interim order allowing Mr Giadom to pilot the affairs of the party as acting chairman.

Also to preside at all meetings of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) pending the decision of the party’s NEC fixed for March 17.

The applicant also sought an interim order restraining the APC and its officers or anyone purporting to act as an officer of the 4th defendant (APC) from preventing or in any way disturbing Mr Giadom from functioning as the acting chairman. Needless to say that the judge granted all the prayer, and went ahead to grant additional two weeks of the court’s March 16 interim order in line with Rule 3 of the COVID-19 Practice Direction of the FCT High Court

Mr Giadom announced he had taken over the leadership of the party in spite of the party’s announcement of the former Abiola Ajimobi, as acting chairman. In his self acclaimed capacity, he annulled the Edo screening exercise, and ordered a fresh one. He followed up his powers by convening a National Executive Committee meeting, the first in a long time.

While the Eta Hilliad’s camp rejected Giadom and the NEC meeting, dismissing both as illegal, President Buhari, through his aide, Garba Shehu, announced that he would be attending the meeting. He claimed that he had considered all the claimants to the chairmanship stool and found Giadom to be on the side of the law.

The high point of the NEC meeting was the dissolution of the NWC by the President replacing it with a 13-member Caretaker Committee, headed by the Governor of Yobe State, Mala Buni, to run the party for a period of six months when another national executive committee members will elected at a national convention. The meeting also ratify the candidature of Pastor Ize-Iyamu to fly the party’s flag at the September 19 Edo election.

But it is not yet uhuru as many had thought. The Hilliard Eta group has dismissed the dissolution as illegal, threatening to go to court. They said, in a statement signed by party’s acting national secretary, Waziri Bulama that the National Executive Committee meeting where the decision was taken to dissolve the NWC violated the APC constitution.

“Article 25(B) of the Constitution of the APC is explicit that only the National Chairman or the National Working Committee (NWC) is given the prerogative of summoning meetings of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Party either for statutory quarterly meetings or for emergency meetings,” the statement said.

“The same provision of the constitution makes it compulsory for a notice of a minimum of 14 days in respect statutory quarterly meetings and 7 days in respect of an emergency meeting.”

While Hilliard and Bulama are “studying the unfolding drama” and “consulting with stakeholders and a team of lawyers on the next line of action,” President Buhari, according to sources, is making underground moves to clip the wings of the aggrieved members, or at worst break their ranks. The President understands that if the NWC members head to court over the issue, they could have the dissolution upturned, embarrass him and further plunge the ruling party into crisis.

To avert the obvious, Buhari is said to have reached out to governors of the states the aggrieved members are from, requesting that they be stopped from going to court or take further action on the issue. It is believed that since it is their governors that nominates them to the NWC, they should have an element of control over them.

As envisaged, Premium Times reported that two of the sacked NWC members, one from the North, the other from the South, confirmed receiving calls from their state governors, advising them to withdraw from “the group”.

Beyond the tussle for supremacy, a party stalwart, who do not wish to be named, told The Boss that the crisis as it is, is about who controls the party structure for the 2023 elections.

“It is believed that since Buhari will not be contesting, it will become an all comers affairs, and will surely end with battle for the survival of the fittest. So everyone is playing the game of no return. At a stage, the respect being accorded will erode.

Some have said that the power-war is between a faction of the party loyal to the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, and a faction loyal to the former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu.

If the tussle is decided by rounds, it is obvious that round one has been won, and of course lost. However, there are many more rounds to go before a winner finally emerges in the crises that have engulfed the ruling house.

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Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway: Prioritize Existing Unfinished Projects, Peter Obi Tells FG

Published

2 days ago

April 22, 2024

Eric

Mr. Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, has advised the federal government to prioritize existing unfinished projects spread across the country instead of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project.

Obi, in a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, stated that the project was a misplaced priority given the numerous unfinished roads throughout the country.

The former governor of Anambra State mentioned that the budget allocated to the Ministry of Works is insufficient for significant progress on the country’s various unfinished roads, much less their completion.

Obi therefore, advised that the government prioritize the existing infrastructural projects in the country before embarking on any new and colossal projects like the Lagos-Calabar super highway project.

“The Federal Ministry of Works 2024 capital budget of N892,461,262,656.00, additional funding from multilateral loan projects of N94,828,535,243.00, alongside other expected contributions from sources like the China-Exim Bank and the World Bank, will not be enough for serious work on all the critical roads, some of which I enumerated above, let alone their completion.

So, why embark on another huge project that will not be completed in the next 20 or 30 years?

“To do so will only exacerbate the problem of abandoned, uncompleted projects that are not contributing to economic growth and overall development.

“Therefore, while acknowledging the potential benefits of coastal superhighway infrastructure, I urge prioritization of our existing uncompleted projects. We must allocate resources towards repairing and completing existing infrastructure.

“In any development formula, the primary focus should be on completing and rehabilitating existing infrastructure rather than embarking on colossal new projects that may never reach completion within the next 30 years,” Obi said.

Back in March, the Federal Government began constructing the 700-kilometer Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, designed to extend through 9 states with two spurs leading to the Northern States.

Recall that former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, had earlier described the project as a fraud.

“Umahi had announced that Hitech would fully fund the project, and based on this, there was no competitive bidding. He (Umahi) then said that Hitech could only raise just 6% of the money for the pilot phase. This smacks of deceit,” Atiku said.

Headline

2027 Presidential Race: Opposition Parties Under Attack

Published

2 days ago

April 21, 2024

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

While it is still a whole three years before the next general election in 2027, The Boss has learnt that opposition parties in the countries are being muffled to pave the way for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to return to, and retain power.

From the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to the Labour Party (LP), and down to the New Nigerian Peoples Paty (NNPP), crises have engulfed the rank and files, in what a source told this paper was the attempt and making of the ruling party, APC, to decimate, destabilize and make redundant the machineries of the opposition parties.

It is believed that by 2027, the apparatuses holding together the various opposition parties would have weakened irredeemably to the extent the country would seemingly nosedive into the inglorious one party state that every civil right advocate and democrats abhor.

It is alleged that all the crises in all the opposition parties are being engineered by the President Bola Tinubu-led ruling APC, with the hope of getting the fibres of their system weakened, thereby luring the members of the crisis-ridden parties into the APC.

Slightly one year after the last presidential election, the two major opposition platforms, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party, have separately been embroiled in a crisis of confidence which has diminished their capacity to provide viable opposition to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The crises in both opposition parties got to a head. The Labour Party led by its national chairman Julius Abure held its much-opposed national convention which was boycotted by its 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi; its only governor, Alex Otti of Abia State; federal and state lawmakers elected on its platform, and the organised Labour.

In the Labour Labour, members have been embroiled in endless battle of supremacy with a faction led by Mr. Apapa steadily contesting the leadership of Julius Abure.

Consequently, the presidential candidate of the party in the 2023 elections, Mr. Peter Obi, reverence as a leader in the fold, noting that whatever the party faces presently, that Nigeria’s problems are far bigger than the crises in his party.

The LP has been embroiled in crises — ranging from allegations of misappropriation of funds, and leadership tussle, to calls for the resignation of the party’s national chairman.

TheCable reported that “On March 27, the LP conducted a national convention in Anambra state where Julius Abure was re-elected as its national chairman.

Obi did not attend the convention, fuelling speculations that he may be mulling over ditching the LP for another platform.

Speaking during an appearance on HaveYourSay247, an interactive online session hosted by Rudolf Okonkwo over the weekend, Obi said he is confident that the crises rocking the LP will soon be resolved amicably.

“Whatever is happening in the Labour Party is so minute compared to what is happening in the country,” Obi said.

“So, for me, it is something we will resolve amicably, and it is not anything to worry about. Let us worry about the country.

“Let us worry about how the average Nigerian would be able to have a means of livelihood to be able to eat, that should be our worry.”

Obi said he has no interest in being the party’s leader but only to make sure things are done properly.

“I don’t see what I do in politics as being the leader of any place or not. My position is that just like I always say, I am not desperate to be president of Nigeria, I am desperate to see Nigeria work because I know it can work,” he added.

“We have a more desperate situation. Parties are just a means to be able to contest elections. What is important is that being a leader of a party does not reduce the price of food.

In the PDP, the shenanigans of former Rivers State Governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike, has practically kept the party in constant crisis with many observers concluding that the now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is working for the APC, and is just a mole in the PDP. Wike has denied the allegation, however,

But news filtered in last week as that the immediate past Governor of Rivers State, and Minister 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 NEC meeting on Thursday was 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.

While political stakeholders concluded that the outcome of the 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; every page of what finally transpired at the meeting pointed to the fact.

The much touted removal of the party chairman, who is believed to be a crony of the Abuja minister, Damagum, retained his seat, with his executives.

“It is very clear to everyone that a lot of money politics is being played to cajole many loyal members of the party, forcing them into frustration, and eventually it of the party. The option afterwards, will be the APC. This, will for all intent and purpose actualize the intended one party state as an APC agenda.

The Musa Rabiu Kwankwaso-led NNPP is not faring better either. The only governor under their ticket, Abba Kabir Yusuf, just had the confidence of their party on him withdrawn. He was fighting for his political life until suddenly it was announced the the APC in Kano has collapsed its structure into the NNPP.

“This is just another APC strategy to actualize their hidden intentions. Time will reveal the very sinister agenda they harboring,” an analyst said.

Much as 2027 is still three years away, but intrigues are in play to render Nigeria a one party state, and perpetuate the APC in power. The three other opposition parties are basically under attack to bring to pass this unpopular agenda.

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Akwa Ibom Government, Governor Umo Eno Receive Top Honors at the 10th Wonders of the World Expo in Lagos

Published

3 days ago

April 21, 2024

Admin

The Akwa Ibom State Government and Governor Pastor Umo Eno were recognized with Travellers Awards at the 10th Wonders of the World Expo in Lagos for their sustained enhancement of infrastructure, support for local talent, and dedication to investment in the tourism sector. The ceremony took place at the National Museum in Onikan, Lagos.

While Akwa Ibom won the Most Active Tourism State of the Year, Governor Eno was adjudged the most Tourism-Friendly Governor of the Year at the event that had Minister of Tourism, Mrs. Lola Ade John in attendance.

According to Amb. Ikechi Uko, Founder/Publisher of ATQ Magazine, the organizers of the event which is in its tenth edition, Akwa Ibom State won the top prize “in recognition of its valiant and resourceful efforts to drive and sustain domestic tourism by promoting the industry.

‘In 2023, Akwa Ibom was one of the states that hosted World Tourism Day (WTD ) events. The state also organized the famous Christmas Unplugged, which featured music, food, and cultures from all 31 LGAs as well as ensured friendly policies.”

While hoping that the Travellers Awards would spur Akwa Ibom to do more to dominate the domestic tourism industry, the organizers hoped that the state would gradually evolve into one of Nigeria’s top international tourism destinations.

That was not all, the state Commissioner of Culture and Tourism, Sir Charles Udoh was also recognized as one of the Top 100 Tourism Personalities in Nigeria for demonstrating exceptional leadership and innovation in the travel and tourism industry, while other Akwa Ibom indigenes and entity were also celebrated: Mrs. Ime Udo, Honorary Special Adviser to the Governor( Tourism) won Tourism Promoter of the Year, Favour Udo won Tourism Photographer of the Year, Loretta Effiong and Prince Uduak Sunday (Qua Tours) were listed among the Tourism Personalities of the Year and Ibom Air won Airline of the Year International.

In his remarks, Sir Charles Udoh, who represented the Governor at the event, thanked the organizers for the awards and noted that Akwa Ibom is certainly enjoying the golden era when it comes to tourism development. He stated that Governor Umo Eno is very keen on making Akwa Ibom a leading tourism destination with his programmes and policies.

He revealed that with the new Victor Attah International Airport nearing completion, the purchase of a ferry for the Oron-Calabar route, new developments along its coastline and the restoration work that will be done at all its major tourism sites, Akwa Ibom is well on the way to becoming the number one destination for all domestic and foreign tourists.

In her speech, Tourism Minister, Mrs. Ade John hailed the organizers for hosting the Expo, where practitioners were lectured by top experts while also rewarding those who have excelled in the past year.

She affirmed that her ministry is open to partnership with public and private sector operators, adding that tourism development can only be successful through collaborative efforts.

The event, which attracted leading and budding tourism professionals, also featured interactive and entertainment sessions.

Apart from Sir Charles Udoh and Mrs. Ime Udo, the Akwa Ibom State delegation, also included: Mr. Michael Effiong James, Senior Special Assistant (Lagos Liaison) to Governor, Mrs. Eme Bassey, Special Assistant to Governor (Lagos Liaison) and Akparawa John Offiong, Deputy Director ( Culture) Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

More photos below: