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PDP party can’t afford another eight years in opposition, Atiku tells BOT members

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Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called on members of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be united in working towards the party’s victory in 2023.

Abubakar, who spoke during an interactive session with BoT members to seek their support for his presidential aspiration in Abuja on Tuesday, said anything short of victory would not be good for the party.

He said the 2023 general elections offered the party opportunity to return to the power.

“I am worried and you should be worried too that if we do not win, it means we will be in opposition again for the next eight years.

“By the next eight years, I don’t know how many will be left in politics and it may even ultimately lead to the death of the party because people gravitate, particularly in developing countries, towards governments.

“Ordinary people naturally gravitate towards government. So this is a very, very crucial and historical moment in history, for our survival. I want you to think about it.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s meeting with the Board of Trustees of the @OfficialPDPNig
“We are now at a crucial moment in this country. Many of you here, it is either we retire together or we move on together,” Mr Abubakar said.

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The former vice president said that PDP administration had, from 1999 to 2007, made remarkable achievements that has not been matched by any subsequent administration.

Mr Abubakar said that PDP would score more votes in 2023 if the BoT members worked together.

“Somebody said that we recorded 12 million votes during the last election. Those are not only my votes, those were our votes.

“In achieving or recording those 11 million votes, it was all of us and I believe if we work together again, we can surpass those votes,” he added.

He, however, dismissed insinuations that he was working against the possible zoning of the PDP presidential ticket to the South-east.

“In the party, we invented and formulated this zoning policy simply because we wanted every part of this country to have a sense of belonging and I personally have paid my dues on the issue of zoning.

“Many of you were members of our government when all the PDP governors came in 2003 and said I should run and I said no. We have agreed that power should remain in the South-west, Why should I?

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“Some of those governors that supported me, some of them went to jail, some of them were kicked out of their offices, we made sure that we kept the policy.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s meeting with the Board of Trustees of the @OfficialPDPNig
“Therefore, you cannot come and try to imply that the PDP has not been following the zoning policy,” he said.

According to him, 14 of PDP’s 16 years in power were led by southern presidents (Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan).

“So we should not be stampeded by the opposition party. They have a moral obligation which is inescapable.

“Some say the South-east have not been given the chance. When I joined the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) which my friend Bola (Tinubu) set up, he gave me a set of condition for giving me the ticket, one of which was that I should make him the vice president.

“I said no, ‘I’m not going to make you vice president. Instead, I took Senator Ben Obi,” Mr Abubakar said.

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He also recalled that when he got the ticket again in 2019 to run, he took another person from the South-east, Obi (Peter), as running mate.

“ So there is absolutely no reason they should say that there is a deliberate attempts to exclude the South-east in political participation or power sharing.

“So I thought I should disabuse your mind and of course, as an enlightened political class, I don’t think there’s any deliberate policy to exclude anybody in this country,” he said.

On his part, Raymond Dokpesi, who is the Director General of Atiku Abubakar Campaign Council, called on BoT members to disregards all the ethnic and religious sentiments

He said that only the former vice president has what it takes to reposition the country.

“We have seen the list of aspirants that have shown interest across the various parts of the country but there’s none that has his credentials, his experience, his capacity and acceptance internationally and nationally.

The Chairman of the BoT, Walid Jubrin, assured that the BoT would provide a level playing field for all aspirants.

 

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Atiku, Wike attend PDP national caucus meeting

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The Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general elections, Mr Atiku Abubakar and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr Nyesome Wike, on Wednesday attended the PDP’s national caucus meeting in Abuja ahead of the party’s National Executive Committee meeting, scheduled to take place on Thursday.

 

This is the first time that the former Rivers state governor will be attending a meeting of the PDP since after the presidential election last year.

Mr Wike has been at loggerheads with the PDP leadership and did not support the party’s choice of Abubakar as the party’s presidential candidate for last year’s election.

 

Apart from his opposition to Mr Atiku’s campaign in the election, the decision of Mr Wike to accept a ministerial role in the cabinet of President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress had worsened the rift between him and key stakeholders in the part.

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This caucus meeting is one of a series of meetings by members of the PD, ahead of the NEC meeting, where critical decisions regarding the leadership of the party and other issues that have threatened the party’s unity will be discussed.

 

Ahead of the caucus meeting, all the governors elected on the platform of the PDP were in a closed-door meeting at the Akwa Ibom governor’s lodge in Abuja.

 

Governor sighted at the meeting include Sheriff Oborevwori (Delta State), Douye Diri (Bayelsa State), Siminalayi Fubara (Rivers State), Bala Muhammed (Bauchi State), Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom State), and Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State among others.

 

The caucus comprises the governors and leaders of the national assembly elected on the platform of the PDP, some members of the Board Of Trustees and some members of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC).

 

Also on Wednesday, the embattled National Chairman of the PDP, Senator Iyorcha Ayu, withdrew his appeal, which sought to challenge his removal as the party’s national chairman. His move is also believed to be connected with the party’s upcoming National Executive Meeting.

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Ayu was suspended by the executive committee of the PDP in Igyorov ward in Gboko Local Government Area of Kogi State had in 2023 over alleged anti party activities.

 

They also claimed that Ayu was not paying his membership dues and did not vote in the March 18 governorship and the House of Assembly elections in Benue State.

 

Dissatisfied with the party’s decision, Senator Ayu approached the court to challenge his removal.

 

However, a Federal High Court in June last year affirmed the decision of the party to sack Senator Ayu, a judgement that led to an appeal, which he has now withdrawn.

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Nigeria’s problems bigger than crises in Labour Party, says Peter Obi 

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The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, says 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.

 

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.

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“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.

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“What I want to see is that the average Nigerian lives in a society where things are moving properly, with access to education, access to healthcare and a means of livelihood.”

 

The former Anambra governor further said he has moved on from the final decision of the supreme court on last year’s presidential election, even though he does not agree with the decision of the apex court.

 

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Kano APC annuls Ganduje’s suspension, sanctions ward excos

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The state working committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano has nullified the suspension of Abdullahi Ganduje, national chairman of the party.

 

The APC executives in Dawakin ward under Tofa LGA of Kano had on Monday suspended Ganduje over the allegations of corruption leveled against him.

 

Halliru Gwanzo, legal adviser of the ward, said the suspension would subsist until the former governor is cleared of the allegations.

 

However, Abdullahi Abbas, chairman of the APC in Kano, alleged that the ward executives who suspended Ganduje were working with the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).

 

Abbas said the ward executives have now been suspended for six months.

 

“We have evidence of meetings between the state government officials and those that suspended the national chairman, and the state working committee has agreed to sanction them for six months and they stand suspended,” the chairman told journalists.

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Last week, the Kano high court ruled that Ganduje should appear before it on April 17 on charges bordering on bribery, diversion, and misappropriation of public funds.

 

The former governor of Kano is to be arraigned alongside his wife and son.

 

In 2018, Daily Nigerian, an online newspaper, published a video of Ganduje allegedly receiving bundles of dollars from contractors, which he stuffed into his “babanriga”, a traditional outfit.

 

The newspaper said Ganduje requested $5 million as bribe from the contractors who recorded the video.

 

In 2023, the Kano state Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC) invited Ganduje for questioning over the video.

 

Ganduje did not honour the invitation and instead instituted a suit against the agency.

 

In March, a federal high court in Kano stopped the agency from inviting or questioning Ganduje over the bribery allegations.

 

The court held that the agency lacks power to probe the former governor over the allegation.

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