Politics
2019: Atiku Declares Presidential Bid, Tackles Buhari
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar stood before a cheering crowd in his home state of Adamawa on Saturday, announcing he will seek the Peoples Democratic Party ticket for president next February.
Decrying the large-scale killings that have touched many parts of the country in recent months before thousands packed into Yola town square at the heart of Nigeria’s north-east, Mr Abubakar said President Muhammadu Buhari’s government would be remembered more for its bloodshed than any development it brought to citizens.
“Today, we are witnessing the most insecure atmosphere,” Mr Abubakar said of the killings largely blamed on herdsmen, bandits and militias, before promising to tackle them headlong if elected. “More people died under APC than people killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Mr Abubakar told a crowd chanting “Atiku! Atiku!” shortly after 2:00 p.m. that he would curtail inflation and unemployment rate in the country, saying Mr Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress have displayed a common lack of capacity when it comes to the issues that matter to citizens the most.
“Today, we have the highest unemployment rate in history of this country, more than one million of our youth are unemployed,” Mr Abubakar said, adding that the PDP would secure the country, ensure unity and security of life and property.
He also hit Mr Buhari at one of his most vulnerable areas: “Today, we are more divided than at any other time in Nigeria’s history.”
The president has been accused of packing key federal offices with people from his region, with critics slamming him as flouting the federal character and affirmative action principles enshrined in federal laws as necessary fabrics for holding an ethnically and religiously diverse entity like NIgeria together.
Mr Buhari has often pushed back against the claims, saying instead that his appointments have been balanced where they are not skewed towards the south.
Mr Abubakar is only one of several top political players eyeing the PDP ticket, having other top contenders like Sule Lamido and Ahmed Makarfi. Recently, political analysts expect the race to get even more fluid when the likes of Musa Kwankwaso, Aminu Tambuwal and other elements of the so-called newPDP make their expected formal return to the largest opposition entity.
Yet, Mr Abubakar’s stature as a former vice-president and serial presidential contender with vast political and financial muscle made him a top favourite for the ticket. He has visited most of the southern states for consultations, and his office said he plans to take the tour to all the 36 states before the party’s primaries in a few months’ time.
He also sees himself in a good light, aiming directly at Mr Buhari rather than his party ticket challengers.
But critics are dismissing his campaign as a sideshow that would soon hit the rocks because of Mr Abubakar’s unanswered allegations about corruption.
Still dogging his ambition has been the mystery surrounding his failure to travel to the United States since he was named in a corruption trial in that country the previous decade. He has dismissed all allegations of corruption and challenged his opponents to bring forth any evidence of his culpability in graft practices.
Although Mr Abubakar said the Nigerian Constitution did not require that a citizen must possess American travel credentials to be eligible for presidential election, he also said that he had approached the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria for visa, but was turned down.
One of his close associates told PREMIUM TIMES recently that he may still apply for visa before the 2019 election.
But neither the former vice president nor his aides have agreed to entertain questions about whether they would cooperate with U.S. authorities to release his immigration status to the public. The U.S. border authorities told PREMIUM TIMES in early 2017 that Mr Abubakar’s immigration status could be made public, but only if he gives his legal backing to such disclosure.
With him at today’s rally were Uche Secondus, the party’s chairman, Gbenga Daniel, his campaign director, and Ben Murray-Bruce, a serving senator who also emceed the televised event.
Politics
Edo PDP opposes suspension of LG bosses by state assembly, says ‘It’s unconstitutional’
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo says the suspension of all the chairpersons and their deputies in the 18 LGAs of the state is “unconstitutional”.
The chairpersons and their deputies were suspended on Tuesday by the Edo state house of assembly for two months over alleged misappropriation of funds.
Blessing Agbebaku, the speaker of the house, said Monday Okpebholo, governor of Edo, had written a petition to the assembly regarding the chairpersons’ refusal to submit the financial records of their LGs to the state government.
In a statement, Anthony Aziegbemi, chair of the PDP in Edo, said the “illegal” suspension is a disregard to a supreme court decision that affirms the autonomy and independence of local governments.
“How can the governor direct the State Assembly to suspend democratically elected chairmen of the 18 local councils for insubordination when these elected officials enjoy autonomy and independence as enshrined in the constitution and are not subordinates of the governor, the state assembly, or any other arm of government?,” he said.
“We are also aware that the chairmen and their vices were not even given the opportunity to be heard in their detence and were suspended unheard on watery trumped up charges, in total disregard to the constitution.
“We want to restate that the constitution remains supreme, and any attempt to undermine its provisions or disregard the judiciary and its rulings is not only illegal but also a direct attack on democracy and the rule of law.
“The speaker of the Edo state house of assembly and the entire assembly have clearly overstepped their constitutional mandates with this illegal action and we urge them to immediately reverse its decision, in respect to the rule of law and democratic governance.”
Aziegbemi said the suspended officials should report to their councils on Wednesday and carry on with their normal duties.
Also speaking on the issue, Anthony Ehilebo, a PDP chieftain, said Okpebholo has no legal backing to request the financial records of the LGAs.
“In fact, the governor and the assembly members are in contempt of the supreme court,” Ehilebo said when he appeared on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme.
“The purported suspension of the local government chairmen by the state assembly is as absurd as the president asking the national assembly to suspend state governors because they refused to submit statements of accounts to him.
“This is a witch hunt. The LGA chairmen are all PDP members.”
The lawyer said the suspension “is unknown to law and will be ignored”.
Politics
Ex-sports minister Bolaji Abdullahi resigns from PDP
Bolaji Abdullahi, a former minister of sports and youth development, has resigned from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He disclosed his intention to resign in a letter dated December 16 and addressed to the PDP ward chairman in Ubadawaki, Kwara state.
Abdullahi confirmed the development to TheCable on Monday.
The ex-minister also said he is yet to decide which political platform to pitch tent with.
“The decision of what to do and where to go will be taken in the future that’s left to God,” he said.
In the resignation letter, Abdullahi said he reached the “difficult” decision after days of reflection and introspection.
“I write to formally resign my membership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),” the letter reads.
“I have had ample time to reflect, and I have come to the difficult conclusion that this is the only tenable option for me at this time.
“Mr. Chairman, please permit me to express, through you, my gratitude to the leadership of the party for the opportunities that I have had to serve the state and the country on its platform, and for the great moments we have shared.”
Abdullahi was the PDP candidate for the Kwara central senatorial district election in 2023. He lost the race to Salihu Mustapha of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Politics
PDP debunks inviting Jonathan to contest 2027 presidency
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says it has not extended an invitation to former President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the presidency on its platform in the 2027 election.
Speaking with BBC Hausa, Ibrahim Abdullahi, deputy spokesperson of the country’s main opposition party, said no ticket has been issued to the former president.
Abdullahi said the party has many eligible people who can contest for the presidency on its platform, adding that a recent interview he granted was interpreted to mean that Jonathan he asked to run on the PDP platform.
“The report that PDP has issued its presidential ticket to former President Goodluck Jonathan or invited him to contest the 2027 presidential election is not true,” he said.
“What happened is this, I had an interview with a journalist where we discussed some issues.
“But in the course of the interview, he mentioned President Jonathan, asking about our opinion of him, because there are reports that he is being urged to run for the presidency.
“I responded by saying that he (Jonathan) is eligible to contest the election, because he is a Nigerian and has the right to do that by the provision of the law, and he still has one more term left.
“So, there is nothing wrong about him contesting the presidential election because he is eligible in the face of the law.”
The deputy spokesperson said the ticket would be given to someone who has shown interest in running for the presidency.
Jonathan, then in the PDP, lost the presidential election to former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.
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