Politics
Lagos4Lagos convener, ex-VC, Abacha’s son… see winners of PDP guber tickets
Olajide Adediran, lead visioner of the Lagos4Lagos Movement, has clinched the governorship ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos state.
The PDP governorship primaries were held in most states on Wednesday.
Declaring the result of the Lagos primary, Emmanuel Ogidi, the returning officer, said Adediran — better known as Jandor — scored 679 votes to defeat David Vaughan, who polled 20 votes.
Ogidi said 775 ad hoc delegates were scheduled to participate in the primary, but 709 were accredited.
“The total number of accredited voters is 709, and Olajide Adediran got 679 votes, David Kolawole Vaughan had 20, and we had 10 voided votes,” he said.
“Having satisfied all the requirements in our guidelines, I want to announce Dr Olajide Adediran as our candidate after scoring the highest votes of 679.
“He is hereby declared the winner and returned elected.”
Four contestants — including Olanrewaju Jim-Kamal, Adedeji Doherty, Ade Dosunmu and Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour — withdrew from the race before the commencement of the exercise.
The Lagos4Lagos movement — a group comprised mainly of All Progressives Congress (APC) supporters — was officially welcomed to the PDP in January 2022.
FORMER ABSU VC WINS IN ABIA
Uche Ikonne, the former vice-chancellor of the Abia State University (ABSU), won the PDP primary in the state.
He polled 468 votes to defeat five other contestants.
Lucky Igbokwe came a distant second with 45 votes, while the only female contestant, Ngozi Merenge, scored five votes.
Ude Oko-Chukwu, Abia deputy governor; as well as Enyinnaya Abaribe and Emma Nwaka – both senators — had earlier announced their withdrawal from the race.
SULE LAMIDO’S SON WINS
Mustafa Lamido, son of Sule Lamido, former Jigawa governor, was elected as the state’s PDP governorship candidate.
Isah Ahmed, the returning officer, said Mustafa scored 829 out of the 832 votes cast during the primary, while Saleh Shehu had no vote.
Adamu Bashir, one of the aspirants, announced his withdrawal a few hours before the commencement of the primary.
BARDE SECURES TICKET FOR GOMBE
In Gombe state, Mike Oghiadomhe, the returning officer, declared Jibrin Barde as the winner of the governorship primary.
Oghiadomhe said Barde got 160 votes to defeat five other aspirants — Jamil Gwamna (119 votes), Ali Gombe (17), Adamu Suleiman (18), Gimba Ya’u (one), and Babayo Ardo (13).
Barde, who was an aspirant in the 2019 governorship primary, decamped to the PDP in February 2021.
FORMER LAWMAKER WINS NASARAWA TICKET
David Ombugadu, a former member of the house of representatives, won the gubernatorial ticket of the PDP in Nasarawa state.
Bature Musa, chairman of the party’s electoral committee in the state, said Ombugadu polled 247 votes to defeat Nuhu Angbazo, who scored 203 votes.
“Having secured a total of 247, I thereby declare honourable David Ombugadu the winner of the Nasarawa state governorship primary election,” he said.
JAJARI WINS IN BORNO
Mohammed Jajari was elected as the governorship candidate of the PDP in Borno state.
He polled 487 votes to defeat Mohammed Imam, who secured 362 votes.
Announcing the results, Abdulrahman Bobboi, chairman of the governorship primary committee for Borno, said a total of 849 votes were cast.
EXERCISE POSTPONED IN NIGER
Meanwhile, in Niger state, the PDP primary was postponed till Thursday following protests by four of the five aspirants.
The aspirants — Sani Kutigi, Sidi Abdul, Abdulrahman Gimba and Abubakar Jankara — insisted that delegates must identify themselves properly before they could be accredited.
A total of 800 delegates are expected to elect the party’s governorship candidate.
Jankara, who spoke on behalf of the aggrieved aspirants, said the decision was conveyed to Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, chairman of the electoral panel and deputy governor of Bayelsa.
The aspirants insisted that delegates must present a means of identification, which should be a national driver’s licence, a national identity card or an international passport.
Efforts by Ewhrudjakpo to get the aspirants to agree that the delegates be identified by the chairpersons of their respective local governments failed.
The Bayelsa deputy governor later informed journalists that he had directed the delegates to get means of identification.
MOHAMMED ABACHA WINS IN KANO
Mohammed Abacha, son of late head of state Sani Abacha, won the parallel primary election in Kano.
Amina Garba, the returning officer, declared Abacha the winner after polling 736 votes to defeat Jafar Sani-Bello, who scored 710 votes.
Meanwhile, another parallel primary is ongoing at the Sani Abacha Youth Centre.
ISAH ASHIRU CLINCHES KADUNA
Isah Ashiru has again picked the PDP governorship ticket for Kaduna state.
A former state and federal lawmaker, Ashiru was the party’s candidate in 2019.
He polled 414 votes to defeat his closest opponent, Sani Sidi, a former director-general of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) who scored 260 votes.
Ramalan Yero, a former governor of the state, scored 28 votes, Sani Abbas had 15, Haruna Saeed, a former accountant-general in the state, got 11 while Senator Shehu Sani had two votes.
UDOM’S ANOINTED CANDIDATE WINS AKWA IBOM
Umo Eno, the preferred candidate of Udom Emmanuel, governor of Akwa Ibom, won the governorship ticket in the state.
Philip Shuaibu, deputy governor of Edo state and chairman of the primary election committee, declared Eno the winner of the exercise which was held at the Akwa Ibom International Stadium.
Eno secured 993 votes, while a total of 1,018 delegates participated in the election.
He defeated his closest challengers — Onofiok Luke, a member of the house of representatives, who got two votes; and Bassey Albert, a member of the senate, who polled only one vote.
FINTIRI CLINCHES ADAMAWA TICKET
Ahmadu Fintiri, governor of Adamawa, won the governorship primary in the state, boosting his re-election bid.
Fintiri secured the party’s ticket after polling 663 votes.
Six hundred and sixty-eight delegates participated in the election held in Yola, the capital of the state.
OKOWA’S MAN BEATS IBORI’S ALLY IN DELTA
Sheriff Oborevwori, speaker of the Delta house of assembly, won the governorship primary in the state.
Oborevwori polled 590 votes to beat his closest rival, David Edevbie, a commissioner for finance during the James Ibori administration, who polled 113 votes.
Ibori, a former governor, is said to be backing Edevbie, while Oborevwori is the preferred candidate of Ifeanyi Okowa, the incumbent governor.
Other governorship hopefuls and their vote counts include James Manager (83), Kingsley Otuaro, Delta deputy governor (9), Peter Mrakpor, former attorney-general (9), Fred Majemite (six), Ejaife Odebala (three), Abel Esievo (two), Braduce Angozi (two), Bright Onajefe-Gift (three), Chris Iyowaye (0), Lucky Idike (one), and Ikie Agbarianovwe (0).
MAKINDE GETS TICKET TO STAND FOR RE-ELECTION
Seyi Makinde, Oyo governor, was declared the winner of the PDP primary, after scoring 1,040 votes to defeat Hazeem Gbolarumi, who was his only opponent in the race.
The election was held at the Lekan Salami Sports Complex, Adamasingba, Ibadan.
According to NAN, Mutiu Agboke, resident electoral commissioner (REC) in Oyo, and Abiodun Onigate-Amosun, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) administrative secretary, witnessed the primary.
Announcing the results, Abdullahi MaiBasira, secretary of the PDP electoral committee, said 1,048 delegates were accredited to vote.
BENUE SPEAKER DEFEATS DEPUTY GOVERNOR
Titus Uba, speaker of the Benue house of assembly, clinched the governorship ticket in an emphatic manner.
Uba polled 731 votes to defeat his closest rival, Benson Abounu, Benue deputy governor, who scored 81 votes.
The speaker won 21 out of the 23 LGAs in the state.
A total of 851 delegates voted in the governorship primary.
EX-ATIKU CAMPAIGN SPOKESMAN WINS OGUN PARALLEL PRIMARY
Segun Sowunmi, the former spokesman of the Atiku Campaign Organisation, won the parallel primary of the PDP in Ogun.
Sowunmi polled 554 votes to defeat his closest rival, Jimi Lawal, who scored 30 votes, while Ladi Adebutu polled 15 votes.
Abayomi Daniel, chairman of the electoral committee, said 778 delegates were accredited, 702 votes were ratified while three votes were voided.
The election was monitored by officials of INEC and members of the Inter-Party Advisory Council of Nigeria (IPAC).
Politics
‘It’s ridiculous’ — LP debunks claim of working for Tinubu ahead of 2027
The Labour Party (LP) has denied allegations of working for President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 elections.
The party is reacting to a viral video in which Deji Adeyanju, a human rights lawyer, alleged that the LP is working for the president.
In a statement issued on Friday, Obiora Ifoh, national publicity secretary of the LP, said the party has no plans to support Tinubu.
“As a matter of fact, the Labour Party is the most visible opposition party as of today, and our national chairman, Barrister Abure, is the leading voice in the opposition camp and has been most critical of the present government,” the statement reads.
“After the 2023 general election, it continued to interrogate the system’s failure and has been very visible playing the role of the opposition, continuously critiquing the policies, proffering solutions, and advising the government.
“It is on record that the Labour Party has on several occasions spiritedly debunked the allegations that it has an unholy understanding with the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress, to collaborate ahead of the 2027 general election.
“Recently, the party, under the able leadership of Mr. Julius Abure, came up with a series of programmes, including the creation of the electoral reform committee.
“With it, we hope to enthrone credible, fair, and transparent processes, leading to the selection of leadership in the country, with the Labour Party being a major victim in the 2023 general election.
”All these efforts to reposition the party for someone to be demarketing such a party in such an unguarded and callous manner is most ridiculous and unfortunate.
“We are, therefore, challenging Deji Adeyanju and any other person to come up with facts and proofs that either the party leadership or Mr. Abure intends to work for President Bola Tinubu or his party, the APC, in 2027.
“Adeyanju’s assertion, which is presently trending globally, has caused the Labour Party enormous harm, and we are demanding that he refrain from causing the party further harm.
“As a political party, we view Deji Adeyanju’s now-viral comments as criminal defamation, a clearly motivated ploy to ridicule our hard-earned reputation.
“We are therefore calling on Mr. Adeyanju, who ought to know the grave consequences of a defamatory act, to without delay provide facts and evidence to prove that the Labour Party has been ‘bought’ over by President Tinubu.
“He also has a choice to withdraw his ill assertions and apologise to the leadership and millions of members of the Labour Party for the great harm he has caused the party.”
Politics
‘Absolutely ridiculous’ — APC chieftain faults Daniel Bwala’s appointment
Jesutega Onokpasa, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has faulted the appointment of Daniel Bwala as special adviser on policy communication to President Bola Tinubu.
Onokpasa’s remarks come amid controversy surrounding Bwala’s past criticism of the president.
Bwala, who served as the spokesperson for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the 2023 presidential campaign, was vocal in his allegations against Tinubu.
He called for the president’s arrest and prosecution over alleged corruption, including accusations related to drug proceeds forfeited in the United States.
At the time, Bwala also called on Nigerian law enforcement agencies to take action against Tinubu.
Speaking on ‘News Night,’ an Arise TV programme, Onokpasa criticised the president’s decision to appoint Bwala, describing it as a betrayal to the president’s supporters.
“Our dear and beloved President stabbed all of us, his staunch supporters, in the back with this absolutely ridiculous, meaningless and just inexplicable appointment,” Onokpasa said.
“I am a Tinubu supporter and not a sycophant; his apologists are calling his appointment of Bwala strategy, but I think it is stupidity.”
Onokpasa, who identifies as a loyal supporter of Tinubu, also expressed frustration at what he perceived as the president’s disregard for his base.
“Not all his supporters want an appointment. It’s just the insult that our president seems to take us (his supporters) for granted,” Onokpasa added.
Politics
Enugu LGA chairman appoints aides on garden egg, pepper, yam
Eric Odo, chairman of Igbo Etiti LGA of Enugu state, has appointed Ezeugwu Ogbonna as senior special assistant on agriculture (yam and pepper).
The appointment is contained in a letter dated November 1 and addressed to Ogbonna.
“I am pleased to inform you that the executive chairman Igbo Etiti LGA has approved your appointment as senior special assistant to the local government chairman on agriculture (yam and pepper),” the letter reads.
“You should report to the executive chairman Igbo Etiti LGA, Ogbede, for briefing and deployment.
“It is pertinent to note that this is not a career civil service appointment but a temporary appointment which you hold at the pleasure of the executive chairman of Igbo Etiti LGA.”
Odo also appointed Nwodo Ugonna as special adviser on garden egg and pepper.
The council chairman did not outline the specific duties of the appointees.
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