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PDP Convention: 3,600 Delegates Arrive in Abuja, Awaits

Published

4 years ago

October 29, 2021

Eric

Some of the 3,600 delegates expected for the national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party have started arriving in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

One of our correspondents, who visited the Eagle Square, venue of the event, on Thursday, observed that the PDP flag had been hoisted in the venue, while banners and decorations adorned the area. A podium had also been assembled at the centre of the square.

“I’m already in Abuja; the congress is on; it will hold,” the Gombe State Chairman of the party, Maj Gen Mamman Kwaskebe (retd.), told one of our correspondents on the telephone.

However, there is uncertainty in the atmosphere due to a pending appeal filed by the party’s suspended Chairman, Uche Secondus.

An Appeal Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Thursday, reserved ruling on the appeal filed by Secondus seeking the suspension of the national convention scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

Secondus, through his counsel, Tayo Oyetibo (SAN), in an appeal marked CP/PH/339/2021, is seeking an order of injunction restraining the PDP, its officers and representatives from holding or conducting the national convention on Saturday and Sunday, or any other date pending the hearing and final determination of the appeal.

However, when the court resumed sitting on Thursday to entertain and rule on the legal submissions of all parties, Oyetibo told the court that in adherence to its directives, he had amended the processes earlier served on all respondents and added the names of all the parties.

Oyetibo said all the 11 respondents had been served the amended processes, adding that one of his motions was filed afresh on October 27 and was ready to be taken.

He noted that Article 35(1B) of the PDP Constitution, made pursuant to Section 222(C) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, used the word “shall” and vested in the national chairman the right and not a privilege to preside over the national convention.

Oyetibo told the court that the intention of his application was not to prohibit the national convention, but to suspend it pending the determination of issues of leadership of the party, stressing that what the court was not to stop were primaries of political parties and general elections.

On his part, counsel for the 1st to 5th respondents, Henry Bello, opposed the application with a 24-paragraph affidavit sworn to by the 1st respondent and urged the court to dismiss the application with cost.

Bello argued that the application sought the determination of the main appeal, which was the leadership of the party, without a hearing, noting that such prayers were not attainable.

He said the five grounds of the appellant’s amended notice of appeal had no iota of allusion to the national convention of the PDP (6th respondent), adding that the application was a radical departure and alien to the main appeal.

Similarly, counsel for the PDP, S. I. Ameh, SAN, prayed the court to dismiss the application, saying the balance of convenience was on the court not to grant the application, because it fell within the set time for the convention as set by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Counsel for the 8th respondent, Godwin Obla, SAN, in a 21-paragraph affidavit sworn to by one Joy Okonkwo, urged the court not to find merit in the application, but to dismiss it.

Also, Donald Dee-Wigwe, SAN, who represented the 9th and 10th respondents, told the court that the office of national chairman was a political privilege and that the decision of the High Court that sacked Secondus terminated that privilege.

Dee-Wigwe noted that being a political privilege, it could not attract a judicial response and urged the court to dismiss the application.

After listening to the arguments, the three-man panel led by Justice Haruna Tsammani reserved ruling on the appeal for today (Friday) by noon.

“We are reserving ruling on this matter for Friday by 12 noon. Nobody has said anything about setting aside the application,” Justice Tsammani said.

The judge warned the media against publishing unsubstantiated reports about the proceedings of the court.

The Punch

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

Published

19 hours 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.”

Featured

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

Published

1 day 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.

Featured

DSS Nabs Man over Assassination Attempt on Peter Obi

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) has detained a man in connection with the recent attack and alleged assassination threats targeting Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

According to AIT, the shooting incident took place on February 24, 2026, in Benin City, Edo State, during a political gathering attended by Obi and several figures from the African Democratic Congress (ADC). The meeting was hosted by former APC National Chairman, John Oyegun. Gunmen reportedly opened fire at the venue, causing panic and forcing attendees to disperse for safety.

According to security sources, shortly after the attack, an individual identified as Udeme Monday Stephen allegedly took to social media claiming responsibility and issuing additional threats against Obi, warning of further violence.

Intelligence officials reportedly initiated swift investigations, employing digital tracing and forensic tools that led to the arrest of the 26-year-old suspect in Rivers State. He is said to be a teacher at a private secondary school in the Eliozu area of Obio-Akpor Local Government Area.

The suspect remains in DSS custody and is expected to face prosecution. The agency reiterated its commitment to responding to credible threats and safeguarding lives and national interests without bias.