Dons EzePDP CRISIS: ATIKU BACKS ANTI-DAMAGUM FORCES, WANTS PARTY CHAIR REMOVED
PDP CRISIS: ATIKU BACKS ANTI-DAMAGUM FORCES, WANTS PARTY CHAIR REMOVED Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has thrown his weight behind the plot to unseat the acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Umar Damagum.Atiku reached out to members of the PDP National Working Committee, advocating for Damagum’s ouster, sources told newsmen on Sunday. This move to remove Damagum has divided the 13 state governors elected on the PDP platform, with seven governors led by Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed pushing for Damagum’s removal, while four others, led by Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, support his retention. Atiku and Wike fell apart ahead of last year’s general elections, with Wike leading five PDP governors to oppose Atiku’s presidential bid. A senior member of the PDP NWC, who requested anonymity, confirmed that the former Vice President had reached out to some of the anti-Damagum forces and other party stakeholders. The source stated, “We are not alone; important leaders in the party, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, have spoken with some of us.” The source added, “Atiku assured us that we are not alone and that he supports our pursuit of justice, fairness, and equity. He encouraged us to stay motivated and continue advocating for the PDP Constitution to be followed in the NWC’s daily decisions.” When asked if Atiku wants Damagum removed, the source explained, “It’s not about Damagum; the former Vice President is focused on democracy and the PDP. Atiku prefers to work discreetly to repair what has been damaged.” However, attempts to reach Atiku’s media adviser, Paul Ibe, for a response were unsuccessful. In a related development, PDP NEC member and Deputy National Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor, has called on party leaders to set aside their differences and refrain from verbal conflicts. Osadolor expressed confidence in the reconciliation and disciplinary committees, urging all stakeholders to let them operate diligently without distractions.
MALAMI AND THE MYSTERIOUS MILLIONS OF A MINISTER
MALAMI AND THE MYSTERIOUS MILLIONS OF A MINISTERNigeria is a very difficult country to understand. Too difficult to grasp, or comprehend mentally. One minute a man is poor, the next minute he is rich, stupendously rich. That is one aspect of the Nigerian feature that is incongruous with the provisions of common sense. In Nigeria, financial opportunities avail themselves to those with luck, in a manner that is sometimes in conflict with the general rules of economics, and all the sciences that have relations with production, consumption, and the transfer of wealth. Yes, when it comes to the path of success, especially success relating to wealth creation, Nigeria’s tale is a tell of titillate. Things happen against the rules of logic or common sense. And instead of those that found themselves in such lucky positions to be meek, some tend to be cocky, brash or out rightly arrogant.A video clip is currently circulating in the social media, showing with glamour, one Abdulazeez Abubakar Malami, walking with swagger, as the commentator introduced him, alongside his multitudes of portfolios. According to the commentator, Abdulazeez Abubakar Malami is the Group Managing Director of Rayhaan group, a Nigerian conglomerate with interests in hospitality, communications, agriculture, education, security, real estate and rice milling.Speaking further, he said, Rayhaan is one of the largest private companies in Nigeria. The only family owned conglomerate that is making its mark in the Nigerian market, through its various subsidiaries with over 2000 staff. Multitude of companies, with huge asset base, were listed as part of the Rayhaan group. And in all, Abdulazeez Abubakar Malami was mentioned as the boss.In conclusion, the commentator said, Abdulazeez Abubakar Malami is 29 years old, and the one managing one of Nigeria’s largest private companies. According to him, his total managing assets make him the third richest young Nigerian. Third richest? Good God! Now who is this Abdulazeez Abubakar Malami?No amount of search on the internet would reveal anything meaningful, with regards the antecedents of this young and extremely rich Abdulazeez. There is nothing to his name with regards the trajectory of the abundance of such valuable possessions. Nothing. The only thing I found in his profile, is that he is a lawyer. A barrister, whose address is along Sani Abacha Road, Birnin-Kebbi, Kebbi State, Nigeria. That’s all. His only qualifier, and the opportunity of approaching this stupendous wealth is that, he is the son of Abubakar Malami, SAN, the immediate past Attorney General and Nigeria’s minister of Justice.There is an adage in my native hausa that says, “Dare d’aya Allah kanyi Bature”. Which literally means, the white man was created overnight by God. Yes, created overnight by God, and there is nothing, we, whom he created black can do. Indeed God is all-powerful-omnipotent.However, in Commerce and Economics, there is a reversed mentality. Wealth creation has a procedure, which must be followed before the arrival at the doorstep of success. One cannot create wealth from no where. Your source of money must be traced and scrutinized. You have to invest your savings to create a parallel stream of income. This process of investing your saved money to grow your wealth by choosing investments that align with your financial goals is called wealth creation. As far as the records are concerned, young Abdulazeez was unheard of, prior to 2015, when his father, Abubakar Malami became minister. Where did he get that kind of wealth?Also, as far as the records are concerned, even his father, Abubakar Malami, SAN, who was appointed minister while working as a struggling lawyer in Kano, hasn’t the financial standing of a recognized businessman. At least by the standard of Kano, Nigeria’s oldest commercial centre and home to the two richest men in Africa- Aliko Dangote…
PDP SUPPORTERS PROTEST OUTCOME OF EDO GUBER ELECTION RESULT
PDP SUPPORTERS PROTEST OUTCOME OF EDO GOVERNORSHIP Supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have staged a protest at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters in Benin City against the ongoing collation of results from the recent governorship election in Edo State.The protests erupted as the All Progressives Congress (APC), the major opposition party, was declared winner of the election by INEC According to an X post by Channels TV, PDP supporters expressed their dissatisfaction with the election process, claiming that the results were being manipulated in favour of the APC. INEC has declared APC’s Monday Okpeblo as winner of the gubernatorial election
WINNERS AND LOSERS OF EDO GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION
WINNERS AND LOSERS OF EDO GOVERNORSHIP ELECTIONWINNERS(1) Monday Okebholo: relatively unknown, somewhat demure and allegedly uncharismatic, he beat all odds and attacks over his alleged inability to speak English to take his message to the grassroots without a single media interview apart from a nine-minute interview he granted to Helen Oyibo of BBC.(2) Osagie Ize-Iyamu: he was one of the earliest supporters of Monday Okpebholo and had stepped down from the race.(3) Legacy PDP: they had felt sidelined by Obaseki and rightfully might have worked against their own party.(4) Nyesom Wike: Governor Obaseki had publicly maliciously announced that Nyesom Wike would contest the PDP 2023 presidential ticket, and added a threat, “we shall see”. Obaseki had also taken out an advert to lambast Nyesom Wike after Wike had called on the PDP to discipline Philip Shaibu when Shaibu had threatened to leave the party because Shaibu felt the new PDP members were not integrated into the party. Wike had sarcastically asked Shaibu: “who is his father?”In the advert Obaseki took to blast Wike, he said Edo State did not accept political bullies and overlords. When crises began in Edo PDP towards the 2024 Edo elections, Obaseki had clandestinely accused Wike and Dan Orbih of legacy PDP of supporting Shaibu to destablize Edo PDP. When Obaseki made overtures for reconciliation with Wike, Wike had told Obaseki he could not support Obaseki’s candidate as Obaseki was not known to be loyal to those who had supported him in the past.(5) Adams Oshiomole: against advise, Adams Oshiomole foisted Obaseki on his team as his potential successor. Obaseki was Oshiomole’s bestman during his wedding to the Cape verdian model. WIthin two years, Obaseki started fighting Oshiomole, who is also a fighter. The genesis of their fight was Obaseki feeling powerless as chief executive of Edo state and Oshiomole controlling the strings, especially federal appoinbtments. Adams Oshiomole used his position as party chairman to deny Obaseki the APC ticket. Obaseki decamped to PDP along with Philip Shaibu. The PDP insisted Obaseki dropped Shaibu and allow them nominate a deputy to which Obaseki responded that if he didn’t run with his deputy, they could keep their ticket. He was allosed to run with Shaibu and with the support of Nyesom Wike, other Niger Delta Governos and the governor’s forum, he won the election. The APC Governors felt Adams Oshiomole was being too powerful as he almost humiliated their colleague, and this was one of the reasons they engineered his removal as APC national chairman. After the defeat, Adams Oshiomole licked his wounds and resurfaced against Obaseki in 2024 by taking a prominent role in Monday Okpebholo’s campaign, despite not supporting Okpebholo before the primaries.Oshomole’d surely be smiling now that he has his pound of flesh against Obaseki.(6) Philip Shaibu: He was hurriedly impeached by the Edo State House of Assembly and his replacement was announced and sworn in without due process. During his crises with Governor Obaseki intigated by Philip Shaibu’s decision to contest as Obaseki’s successor, Obaseki chased him out of his office within government house premises and bulldozed the fence of his residence. Obaseki also publicly rebuffed Shaibu’s advances in public twice. Shaibu went to court to challenge his impeachment and the court established that due process was not followed. With Shaibu’s reinstatement, he decamped to the APC and worked against the PDP candidate, perceived to be Obaseki’s pointman. Shaibu was seen in a video celebrating along with APC party stalwarts and attended theur campaign.(7) 16 members of Edo State House of Assembly: they were denied taking their seats by Governor Obaseki over their alleged loyalty to Obaseki’s political foe, Adams Oshiomole. They’d be smiling that Obaseki’s candidate was defeated.(8 ) APC National Chairman/APC: On 29th August,…
INEC ANNOUNCES APC’S MONDAY OKPEBHOLO AS WINNER OF EDO GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION
INEC ANNOUNCES APC’S MONDAY OKPEBHOLO AS WINNER OF EDO GUBER ELECTION The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the Edo State governorship election held on September 21, 2024. Results were announced from all 18 local government areas, with a total of 2.2 million Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) collected across 4,519 polling units. Key contenders included Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP). Throughout the election process, allegations of irregularities emerged. A PDP agent called for the suspension of the election, citing discrepancies in results. As of the latest updates, the APC led with significant margins in several local government areas, while the PDP reported concerns over vote counting and called for a review of results before any official declaration. According to Channels Television, the party’s state chairman indicated that figures from INEC’s iREV platform did not align with local results. The PDP Governors’ Forum has urged INEC to respect the voters’ wishes, highlighting threats to democracy under the current APC administration. Meanwhile, security measures were heightened at INEC collation centers amidst protests and allegations of vote-buying and thuggery. The election result has been described by Ighodalo as potentially the “worst in Nigeria’s history,” raising concerns about electoral integrity moving forward.
PDP WINS ALL 17 ENUGU LGA CHAIRMANSHIP ELECTION
PDP WINS 17 ENUGU LGA CHAIRMANSHIP ELECTION Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) has cleared all the chairmanship position in the Enugu council election held on Saturday. Chairman of Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission, ENSIEC, Prof. Christian Ngwu, who declared the results said the Commission conducted free, fair election. Declaring the election as the fairest, Ngwu said they carefully collated and analysed the results to ensure that there were no mistakes. “We carefully collated and analysed the results to ensure that there were no mistakes,” he said. As if the opposition knew that the election did not favour them, none of the opposition candidates that contested the chairmanship position came to ENSIEC where the election was declared. Expressing joy at their victory, chairman elect for Oji River local government, Greg. Amyaegbudike said that he would make youth empowerment his watchword. Anyaegbudike said that he would make sure that those who are employable would be provided with jobs, and organise skills acquisition programme that would benefit all. “I’ll make sure that the youth of Oji River are gainfully employed. Those who are employable, will definitely get employed,”he said.
APC’S MONDAY OKPEBHOLO NEARS VICTORY IN EDO GUBER ELECTION
APC’S MONDAY OKPEBHOLO NEARS VICTORY IN EDO GUBER ELECTION, WINS 10 OUT OF 16 LGAS In a keenly contested race, the APC secured wins in key areas including Esan West, Owan West, Akoko Edo, Egor, Esan Central, Ovia South West, Orhionmwon, Owan East, Etsako East, and Etsako West local government areas. The PDP, on the other hand, won in Ovia South-West LGA, Esan North-East LGA, Ovia North-East LGA, Uhunmwode LGA, Igueben LGA, and Esan South-East LGAs. The results indicate strong voter support for Ighodalo, positioning him as the likely next governor of Edo State, as the remaining results are expected to solidify his lead. Meanwhile, the returning officer, Prof. Joe Mmadu from the University of Technology, Minna, Niger State, has adjourned the collation of results for Oredo and Ikpoba Okha LGAs, and will reconvene at 5 p.m. to announce them.
IPAC LAUDS CONDUCT OF ENUGU COUNCIL ELECTION
IPAC LAUDS CONDUCT OF ENUGU COUNCIL ELECTION The Inter-party Advisory Council (IPAC) of Enugu State has lauded the conduct of the Local Government Council Elections held on Saturday, describing the exercise as free, fair, credible, and peaceful. IPAC also lauded the impressive voter turnout. In a preliminary statement released by State Chairman Obioma Nnamani and State Secretary Dr. Afam Ani in Enugu on Sunday, the council commended the lack of political interference during the election, urging both winners and losers to collaborate for the advancement of Enugu State. “In line with our mission to promote peaceful, free, fair, and transparent elections in accordance with the law, IPAC deployed observers across the 17 local government areas to monitor the conduct of the September 21, 2024 local government election in Enugu State. “IPAC’s preliminary report indicates no incidents of electoral violence; the exercise was remarkably peaceful. This is a significant achievement for our electoral process, and we commend the leaders, stakeholders, and security agencies for their efforts. “Crucially, there was substantial adherence to legal provisions by the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) during the elections. “However, IPAC did observe delays in the arrival of election materials in certain areas, attributed in part to heavy rain in the early morning hours. “Additionally, some isolated infractions have been reported by our observers, which we are currently investigating. “Nonetheless, the overall exercise was overwhelmingly transparent, free, fair, and credible. “We encourage both winners and losers to work together for the development and good governance of Enugu State while urging any party or candidate who feels aggrieved to seek resolutions through the rule of law,” the statement noted. IPAC also called for ongoing political education to empower citizens to hold their newly elected leaders accountable. “While elections are a vital component of democracy, providing the public with the opportunity to exercise their fundamental right to choose their leaders, they are not an end in themselves. “Thus, we urge civil society and political parties to enhance political education and awareness to ensure that elected leaders, including those from Saturday’s council elections, deliver on the promises of democracy and are held accountable in doing so,” IPAC concluded.
EDO ELECTION WILL BE WORST IN NIGERIAN HISTORY – PDP GUBER CANDIDATE
EDO ELECTION WILL BE WORST IN NIGERIAN HISTORY – PDP GUBER CANDIDATE The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Edo State governorship election, Asue Ighodalo, has expressed grave concerns that the election could be marked as one of the worst in Nigeria’s history due to numerous alleged irregularities. Speaking at a live press conference on Sunday, organized by the Edo PDP National Campaign Council and attended by Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Fintiri and outgoing Edo Governor Godwin Obaseki, Ighodalo highlighted serious allegations of electoral manipulation by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Ighodalo provided detailed accounts of electoral infractions he claimed occurred across multiple polling units, fundamentally questioning the legitimacy of the results being announced. He emphasized alarming discrepancies, particularly in the Ikpoba/Okha Ologbo area. “The way this election is going, it is set to be the worst election in the history of this country. In Ikpoba/Okha Ologbo, the figure for accredited voters was NIL, but the results claimed the APC had 227 votes, while the PDP had 103. How is that even possible?” Ighodalo asserted. He went on to elaborate on another polling unit within Ikpoba/Okha Ologbo, where the number of accredited voters was recorded as 156. Yet, the results declared the APC as having won 2,110 votes, while the PDP received just 57 votes, with no votes recorded for the Labour Party. Such discrepancies, according to Ighodalo, raise serious questions about the integrity of the electoral process. Governor Fintiri, who was also present, echoed Ighodalo’s concerns and further criticized the lack of access for PDP agents to collation centers. He called this a significant impediment to ensuring a transparent election process. “What we’re asking from INEC is to follow their rules; the REC has no business to announce results or move collation to INEC headquarters. This is our stand and we will go back to consult,” Fintiri stated, underscoring the need for adherence to established electoral procedures. The allegations of misconduct and the apparent lack of transparency in the election have sparked widespread unease among the PDP and its supporters. As reports of irregularities continue to emerge, the party’s leadership is under pressure to respond decisively. With the election still unfolding, Ighodalo and his campaign team are poised to take further action to ensure that their concerns are addressed. Critics of INEC are now calling for an independent review of the election process, arguing that such measures are essential to restore public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral system. Observers worry that if these issues remain unaddressed, they could set a troubling precedent for future elections in the country.
NA GOD GET POWER, PHILIP SHAIBU CELEBRATES EDO GUBER ELECTION RESULT
NO GOD GET POWER, PHILIP SHAIBU CELEBRATES EDO GUBER ELECTION RESULT In a widely circulated video, Philip Shaibu, the reinstated Deputy Governor of Edo State, was seen celebrating the governorship election results, confidently stating, “Na God get power.” The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) confirmed that over 90 percent of the results from polling stations had been uploaded to its Result Viewing Portal, showcasing the progression of the election process. Early trends show the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Monday Okpebholo, performing well, having secured victories in several polling units. These early successes have triggered celebrations among APC supporters, with Shaibu seen taking a dig at the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in a video posted on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter). The Edo governorship election has so far presented a competitive field, with the APC enjoying significant momentum, particularly in key polling stations. Monday Okpebholo’s lead in various locations has given his supporters cause for celebration, with many taking to social media to voice their excitement. Shaibu’s appearance in the viral video, mocking the PDP, has further heightened the political tension, as parties await final results. The electoral contest is not limited to just the APC and PDP, as the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Olumide Akpata, is also in the race. However, Akpata faced disappointment as he lost in his own polling unit. This unexpected loss has added to the already dynamic nature of the election, with voters paying close attention to the unfolding results across the state.