The Federal Capital Territory Revenue Board has pledged to rake in N150 Billion per annum as internally generated revenue. The Board, under the Permanent Secretary, Engineer John Chukwu and a former Director in the FCT Administration, Mohammed Ari, has as its mandate, the generation of N150 billion annual internal revenue, which it promised to fulfill. The board is also expected to harmonize its activities with the Federal Inland Revenue Board and the Six Area Councils of the capital city, for effective revenue synergy. Last Wednesdays visit to the President Muhammadu Buhari by the FCTA management has clearly brought out the need for the intensification of local revenue generation as hammered by the federal government during the visit. The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo had given the FCT delegation a marching order recently to intensify efforts in internal revenue generation. The Revenue board has former FCT-PRS Director as its Chairman with Mohammed Bomai, Director of Treasury, as deputy Chairman. The board, according to sources, is hoping to effectively implement property Tax and entertainment as well as other numerous taxes to be able to meet up the target. Other sources being targeted for the generation of such revenue, according to information, are market fees, rents from lock-up stalls, tenement rates, utility bills, levies and surcharges on local roads, parks, halls, rent on the big offices and houses, etc. [myad]
The Rivers State Chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC) has dismissed the corruption allegations against the immediate past Governor of the State, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, with a wave of the hand. In a statement today, in Port Harcourt, the State Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, said that the latest allegation by Governor Nyesom Wike camp that Amaechi has foreign bank accounts lacked substance. “These stories flooding the Internet and Social Media about former Governor Amaechi are mere fabrications intended to ridicule him and poison the mind of President Muhammadu Buhari, who is expected to make Amaechi a key member of his cabinet. For the avoidance of doubt, Amaechi has no account with a Bank in Minnesota, USA, as alleged by these devious rumour mongers. It is also not true that CNN’s Christiane Amanpour accused Amaechi of corruption, as being claimed by his detractors. Besides, at no time did Amaechi write to Bancorp or any bank in Switzerland, stating that he deposited any funds in error. “These are wicked lies concocted by evil-minded persons desperate to pull down Amaechi but are bound to fail.” Ikanya expressed regret that some saboteurs within the party have made themselves available for use by Chief Wike to tarnish Amaechi’s hard-earned reputation just because of pecuniary benefits. “We wish to warn these saboteurs to stop playing Judas and return Wike’s money to him or be prepared to face the consequences with their new-found master whose wrongful occupation of the Rivers State Government House will soon be ended by the State Governorship Election Tribunal.” The chairman assured Amaechi of the party’s unflinching support and that he would be vindicated at the end of the day. [myad]
As President Muhammadu Buhari recently disbanded federal delegation to the Saudi Arabia for the purpose of annual Muslim hajj rites, some Muslim leaders have volunteered to carry out an oversight over the Ad-hoc committees of government officials established by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON , to cater for the general welfare of Nigeria pilgrims. The volunteers, led the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Sa’ad Abubakar II, have already been accepted by President Buhari. The Sultan is being represented by a committee of Emirs under the Emir of Kano, His Royal Highness, Muhammadu Sunusi 11. A statement by senior special assistant to President Buhari, on media and publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said that the volunteers have nothing to do with the directive by the President that the Federal Government Delegation for the 2015 Hajj exercise be suspended in line with the cost-saving measures of his administration. Garba Shehu said that in accepting the voluntary offer of service by the Muslim leaders, the President made it clear that there will be no government funds involved in the mission. “Government will also not name any members into the Emir’s delegation.” The Spokesman of the President assured that all measures have been taken to ensure that the well-being of Nigerians on the holy pilgrimage is well managed by the various ad-hoc committees on medical, accommodation, transport, logistics, information and publicity, aviation and tour operators as well as security that generally assist the Commission in ensuring hitch-free Hajj operation. “The President commended the Emir for adding this responsibility to his own personal Hajj plans.” [myad]
The tenure of the National working committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will expire in March next year at the time the party will be fighting a serious battle of survival, especially with the large number of its members that have defected and may still do so to APC at both the federal and the state levels of the party.
One of my colleagues has described the PDP as a headless body and that it needs a tough leader to revive its lost glory. The question on the lips of many people is-who is that leader that can re-awaken and revive the lost glory of the PDP?
Already there are about seven or eight contestants for the national chairmanship position. They include Senator Bala Mohammed, former FCT Minister, Prince Uche Secondus, PDP acting Chairman, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, PDP Zonal Vice Chairman, Dr. Peter Odili, Alhaji Mohammed Wakil, former Minister of State for Power, Alhaji Idris Umar, former Transport Minister. Many more other political heavyweights from other zones are likely to join the race since democracy has allowed this to happen in the party. Apart from the fact that the party’s fortune is at its lowest ebb, there is a distinct disharmony among its members at all levels. Moreover, there is an overriding need to get a dynamic and proactive leader that can unite the members and enable it to present a formidable opposition to the APC. Another important reason why the party needs a first class leader is for the purpose of ensuring that it will play a crucial role in the 2019 election that is not too far from now. There is no doubt that PDP really needs a strong leader to do a lot of work for its members all over the country. With the track record of achievements at both the National Assembly where he was a front –running senator from Bauchi South to the five-year tenure of office at the FCTA as its longest serving Minister, Bala Mohammed has garnered the experience needed not only to manage the party as at now but to propel it to greater height in the years to come. The party needs a leader with Bala’s Midas touch and a calm approach to issues and not the present antagonist and harsh manner of campaign of calumny which had led the party to lose the 2015 elections in many states and at the federal level. Months after Senator Bala Mohammed left office as FCT Minister, a few critics are still hauling insults at him. Though Bala is not a saint but many people will certainly not agree with the desperate attempt by his opponent’s and perceived enemies to disparage him. There seems to be a widespread belief that politics has a way of tainting noble people which obviously is the case with Bala Mohammed who after serving as FCT Minister from 2010 to 2015 is being disparaged. It goes without saying that Bala did his best towards delivering services to the people of the FCT and supported worthy causes. Bala is a complete gentleman of repute. He is humble, calm in his approaches, very receptive, level headed and above all, a de-tribalized Nigerian. He is also loyal to a fault. Before his stint at the FCTA, Bala had an unblemished record in the federal civil service where he rose to the position of a substantive director and later went through the grass-root politics to win an election as a senator. This was apart from his appointment to the position of Secretary of the Northern senators forum for many years. It is because of these facts that Senator Bala is considered as the right leader to be given the post of the PDP chairman. Apart from what Bala had succeeded in achieving at the FCT, he has become a bridge builder of sort, because he has followers and he is respected almost all over the country. Bala is also a leader who is trusted and accepted by many politicians, including his peers and people who have occupied ministerial positions like him. Moreover Senator Bala deserves to be given the PDP chairmanship position because it has been zoned to his area i.e. North – eastern part of the country and his colleagues, including those who wanted to be the chairman of the PDP have now indicated that Bala should be given that position. Bala, as chairman of the PDP, will properly reposition it to bring back those who have earlier decamped. This is because senator Bala is a strategist and will use his huge experience and contacts to woo those who have left the PDP. In other words, he will be able to make the party a much more vibrant one and ready for the 2019 elections when probably another popular politician from the northern part of the country will seek for the presidency after President Buhari’s tenure of office. [myad]
Before the inauguration of the 8th National Assembly, many Nigerians made a number of well-informed interventions in the media on how the leadership should be constructed. Some had prudently argued that the Federal Legislatures should not have any problem electing their leaders if they followed the convention, in the US presidential system after which Nigeria has patterned her system of government, of allowing leadership by progression, otherwise known as ranking.
The argument was simple: let the highest ranked legislators in the 7th session of both chambers be senate president and speaker. Had that been the sole determinant, the party caucuses in the National Assembly would not have engaged in unnecessarily scrambles for the plum positions. The party caucuses, especially the majority APC, would have known that the men who served as Minority Leaders in the Senate and House in the 7th session -Senator George Akume and Hon Femi Gbajabiamila-should conventionally move up as Senate President and Speaker respectively.
Had that been accepted prima-facie, it would have guided the APC to zone the presiding officers’ positions in the Federal Legislature, instead of throwing the race open to the vagaries of political forces. And because that path was not taken, desperate elements and vested interests did not allow that trouble shooting convention to flourish. The process, which would have been seamless, became convoluted when undue politicking was deployed into the mix.
Leaders of the APC were not particularly enamored of the ranking rule; they were rather concerned about how to accommodate the legacy parties that came together to form the APC in the power sharing configuration. It was also exigent in the calculations for 2019 presidency to assume a strategic position to be able to compete favourably in the race for the soul of Nigeria. This explicates the interest of Bukola Saraki, who is not by any stretch of the imagination the highest ranked in the senate and thus not qualified to throw his hat in the ring for the prized seat.
Saraki belongs to one of the legacy parties-the New PDP-comprising the five PDP governors who defected to the APC. In the construction of the APC power sharing arrangement, after the CPC had produced President Buhari and the ACN had produced Vice President Osinbajo, it would only be fair for the ANPP or the New PDP to produce the senate president and the speaker. The matter was thoroughly considered at the topmost echelon of the party.
Buhari was said to have favoured the ANPP camp for the senate presidency, and by extension, Senator Ahmad Lawan being the highest ranked in the camp. With Buhari’s perceived proclivity towards ANPP camp and Lawan, Akume who was the most qualified candidate for the position decided to step down and queue behind Lawan in the interest of party supremacy: after all, Buhari is the leader of the party and he typifies the position of the party.
Unfortunately, the APC could not push through its position. Saraki was not interested in the party position. He had his eyes fixed on the senate presidency, which is a precursor to his interest in the 2019 presidency. He showed an uncommon courage by defying his party position. Leveraging on his acquaintances in his old party-the PDP- which has 49 members in the senate, he was able to clinch the senate presidency.
It is needless to ponder the ramifications of that defiance. The consequences are self-evident: there are possible and plausible sanctions. But the question is whether or not the party has the guts to impose them. As it is, it does appear that the APC wants to go about dealing with the issue in a manner that will not upset the system, which accounts for the peace of the graveyard in the senate. While the party has come to terms with the reality of Dogara speakership, with the strategic accommodation of the party nominee(s) in the principal officers’ positions (notably Gbajabiamila as House Leader), Saraki’s recalcitrance has continued to miff the party and its leaders.
Even when he (Saraki) had the opportunity, like Dogara had, to accommodate the party nominees into the principal officers’ positions, he still defied the party by turning down Lawan as Senate Leader and Akume as Deputy Senate Leader. Saraki cuts the picture of one who is prepared to fight to the finish. He is not ready to take prisoners. But how far can he go in the quiet, cold war of attrition with the APC leadership? The battle for the senate presidency is a long distance battle, especially where egos of the party leadership and the presidency are involved.
Surviving the battle is a big burden that Saraki now bears. He must necessarily be alert defending his position without losing focus on the pursuit of his legislative agenda. If he slips, and just anything could make him slip, he will be made to sing his Nunc Dimittis; those who helped him to climb to the top will help him to descend into the abyss. If that happens, although Saraki lovers would readily say “God forbid”, the APC would not have any problem picking a successor from the North Central. In that circumstance, Akume should understandably and explicably become the most favoured to succeed him.
The North Central zone will be surefooted to retain the position, Lawan’s Northeast zone having been eliminated by virtue of Dogara (from the zone) holding the speakership in his kitty. Even if some other senators in North Central throw their hats in the ring, Akume’s persona as the highest ranked APC senator from the zone, gentleman politician, believer in party supremacy, among other qualities, should coalesce with confetti of goodwill from across party divides to effectively throw him up for the position.
This, no doubt, is a new vista on the crystallizing scenarios around the position of the senate president. Simply blame the APC for my playing the devil’s advocate as the pro-Saraki camp is most likely to dismiss my notion.
No fewer than 8,700 strong military forces are now set to be deployed to fight Boko Haram in Nigerian, especially in the North East.
After a two-day meeting in N’Djamena, Military chiefs from the Lake Chad region finalised details of the deployment of a joint force, designating three command posts in Nigeria and Cameroon.
According to military sources today, military commanders from Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin agreed to accelerate the deployment of the 8,700-strong force, which will have its overall command centre in the Chadian capital.
“We have finalised the details of the deployment of troops,” said one officer who took part in the meeting, adding: “the force commanders will inspect the sites of the barracks in the coming days.”
The military sources said the two command posts for the joint force in Nigeria would be in Baga, on the shores of Lake Chad, and in Gambaru, on the border with Cameroon.
The third command post would be established further south in the Cameroonian town of Mora, on the other side of the border from the Nigerian settlement of Gwoza, where Boko Haram formerly had its headquarters.
The chiefs of staff also ordered officers seconded to the headquarters of the force in N’Djamena to report immediately to their posts, as it was almost ready to become operational. [myad]
The presidency has made it clear that under President Muhammadu Buhari, the office of the First Lady shall be completely different from what obtained in the past and that the era of the First Ladies issuing oil wells and licenses was gone.
“President Buhari promised that there would be a clear difference between the role played by his wife during his tenure and that played by many previous First Ladies. All that ostentation, ubiquitousness and arrogance we have come to expect from the office are over and done with. Change has come.”
Reacting to allegations in some Nigerian media that the wife of President Buhari has moved into the First Lady’s office in the Aso Villa, the senior special assistant to the President on media and publicity, Garba Shehu said that even though there was absolutely nothing wrong with Mrs. Buhari making use of the office space reserved for the First Lady, but that she had not done so in her capacity.
“The ideal platform from which she will be useful to Nigeria’s women and children is still being thought out. Once this has been concluded, Mrs. Buhari’s role will become clearer to all Nigerians. There will be nothing shady or hidden about it. There will be no access to public funds. It will be purely private and voluntary,” Garba Shehu stressed.
The presidential spokesman recalled that the time Mrs. Buhari had to make use of the office was at the beginning of the present administration, adding that the meeting during which she hosted the wives of governors was held in a section of the Villa’s banquet hall, not in the First Lady’s office.
“Her only visit to that office was at the point of the take-over of the Villa by the incoming administration.
“Out of respect to Mrs. Buhari, the Sierra-Leonian First Lady, Mrs. SiaKoroma recently surrendered her position of head of Africa’s First Ladies to Mrs. Buhari, inviting her to take up the same seat which Mrs. Jonathan hurriedly handed over a few weeks to the handover of her husband’s government to President Buhari. Again, all these things are currently under consideration and no decision has been arrived at presently.” [myad]
Former Lagos State Governor and leader of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has pleaded to editors in the country to support the president’s media aides to make their jobs less challenging..
Tinubu, who was represented by Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state, spoke today in Abuja at a reception organised by the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE) for its members and current special adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, and senior special assistant to the President o media and publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu.
The APC leader said that the two presidential aides needed the support to make their job less difficult, adding: “I can already see that Femi and Garba are going to have real challenges but the men and women in this hall have all what it takes to help you to make the job less difficult,’’ he said.
Tinubu called on the editors to keep fighting corruption and other vices that undermine the growth and development of the country.
“For me, the media are the best fighters. If you don’t fight, the society will not grow. Today, there are debates about poor governance. Nothing is going to change if we don’t fight.
“It is important to fight the war until we get the country of our dream; for me, let us fight a cause that is necessary in order to deliver prosperity to our people,’’ Tinubu said.
He asked editors to keep fighting until the war against corruption is won and Nigeria is freed from Boko Haram insurgency.
Adesina, thanked members of the Guild of Editors for the grand reception, and asked the media to be fair in its reportage of the president’s activities.
Present at the occasion were Mr. Ima Niboro, the Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr. Shola Omale, Director-General of Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and others. [myad]
The wives of the late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, the Olubuse II, by tradition cannot re-marry after the demise of their husband.
According to a palace chief the order was prescribed by the Ife tradition since the Ooni is not considered dead but to have transited to a higher realm.
The source insisted that since Ooni is considered to still be alive, it is forbidden for wives left behind by Oba Sijuwade to re-marry.
He said: “The rules is general and applies to all Ooni that has passed on and not peculiar to the wives of Oba Sijuwade, the immediate past Ooni. There may not be a clearly defined repercussion against the tradition but it is advisable that the order is obeyed at all times and for all generations. The best that can happen to the oloris left behind by any late Ooni is for them to remain single or be inherited by the reigning Ooni.”
He added that it does not matter whether the wives are young or old: “what matters is that the tradition must be sustained in the overall interest of the society.”
The late Ooni’s wives are Oloris Morisola, Ladun, Odunayo, Adedolapo and Linda and their ages are between 40’s and 60’s.
The first wife, Olori Yetunde, the mother of the first son, Prince Adetokubo, died some years ago, long before Oba Sijuwade. [myad]
For better or for worse, the reality is getting more glaring as Kogi State gubernatorial election draws nearer. For the first time since the creation of the state, the Igala political fortune seems to be threatened by numerous factors which have come to define the forthcoming election in the state.
The renewal of ethno-political realignment in the state coupled with the abysmal performance of the current Wada administration amongst other factors, have combined to send strong signal that the fortune of Igala political dynasty cum hegemony is under threaten.
It is a truism that politics and election in kogi state has always been characterized by acrimony, manipulation and impunity. Available facts show that the state is severely hit by the 16 years of PDP mis-governance despite the availability of huge human and material resources. The reason for this undesirable experience in the state is not far fetched. Perpetual bad leadership that evolves from fraudulent elections in the past and ethnic struggle have been identified as the major factors for this mess. Even with the state’s proximity to the federal capital territory, Abuja, being one of the closest, it seems almost perpetually backward in terms of development. This is against the backdrop of the reality that the state ought to benefit from its closeness to the federal government by enjoying rapid economic development, but unfortunately, the reverse has been the case. Indeed, the government at the center had always sought to influence the elections of top political office holders in the state without recourse to imbalance in the political structure and bad governance. This has been the case since 2003 until the recent political development that even changed the structure at the center. Before then, the federal government has always influenced the state politics as evident in the 2012 political activities, which led to the former governor of the state, Ibrahim Idris turning power over to Idris Ichala Wada as governor. But, with President Muhammadu Buhari at the center, the hitherto existing culture of political rascality, election manipulation, injustice and impunity in the state are likely to take flight. It is therefore, generally agreed that the forthcoming election in the state would serve as a litmus test for the President Buhari/APC change mantra. If the Buhari factor finds expression in state’s election, even as governor Idris Wada recently admitted that the APC Presidency could influence the way the pendulum would swing, the future of the current regime is indeed bleak. And of course, there is no way the current clamour for change in the state can easily be subdued in the forthcoming election as it may turn out to be a replication of the just concluded presidential election. As a matter of fact, it is safe to infer that just like former President Goodluck Jonathan, governor Wada appeared not to have prepared for the governance, save for the usual political manipulations by politicians from the eastern senatorial district. For that reason, Wada turned out to be a clueless governor who, since he assumed office in 2012 after surviving several court cases, has been churning out policies and programmes that are anti-people: the worst among the 36 states of the federation. There has been no visible development in the state rather, he continued to drag the state down the pit of poverty, misery, infrastructural decay, debt accumulation, corruption, political instability and general loss of morality. Instead of addressing the decade old institutionalized oppression, subjugation of certain sections of the state by evolving an equitable and inclusive developmental master plan for the state, he decided to put in place the existing status quo by appropriating all the most important appointive positions to his ethnic/political dynasty and awarding several contracts to the people from his district. It bares repeating that about four years after he became the governor, the state has remained in deep mess even as civil servants are being starved to death; major roads in and across the state, including the state capital, are in deplorable conditions; no drinkable water. There are, in addition, high rate of unemployment, crimes and perpetual state of insecurity amongst others. To cover up his four years administrative misfortune, the governor recently initiated another deceitful campaign for his re-election bid. A few months to election with several debt burdens, he recently awarded a multi million naira road project in his eastern senatorial district and promised to award same in other two senatorial districts in due course. This has proven his disdain for other parts of the state and represents one out of other notable failure of his administration. And this would contribute in no small measure to send him and his PDP out of the Lugard House come November. It is obvious that PDP politicians specialise in monetized politics, which they call “stomach infrastructure” even as they lack internal democracy or democratic ethics. They have been out manipulating the party’s primary to secure Wada/Awoniyi ticket but that indeed has already guaranteed their humiliating defeat at polls by a credible candidate that may eventually emerge from a free and fair convention of the opposition APC. This is even as it has been acknowledged that there has been institutionalized oppression, subjugation and marginalization of central and West senatorial districts by Igala ethnic group since the state was created. This is despite the recent review which showed that the Igala alone used to corner about 90% of the state’s revenue while they contribute less than 10% to the state internal generated revenue. Because of this glaring cheating, high ranking professionals, academics, civil servants, politicians and civil society organizations came together from the two oppressed and subjugated sections to form a coalition, tagged Kogi Central And West Peace Forum, for Equity and Justice, with a view to fight for justice, equity, transparent and good governance. As a matter of fact, just like the political merger in recently concluded general elections, several attempts in the past to form a vibrant front to confront the perceived ethnic hegemonistic posture of eastern senatorial district had failed. But the recent re-alignment appears to be more realistic and may eventually yield useful result. Unlike the previous ones, the current coalition is made up of people with high and outstanding pedigree that cut across all fields of human endeavours. Among them are Professors, Doctors, veteran media managers, retired military generals, high ranking politicians and elder statesmen. In its recent statement, the Forum vowed to resist any attempt by the two major political parties (APC and PDP) in the state to field candidates from the eastern senatorial district. It added that if such thing happened, the group would have no option than to float a new party that would be supported by the two marginalized sections of the state to fight for their right. The group however advised the two major political parties to beam their searchlight for credible candidates from the central or west senatorial districts. The efforts of this group thus far, if sustained without sentiment, would go a long way in providing a viable ground for emergence of a credible candidates from the two opposing parties (APC and PDP) and in the end, the conduct of a violence free election in the state. Indeed, Buhari victory in recent presidential election has thought a lesson on the importance of fielding credible candidates for election in a competitive electoral process. It showed that having in place a vibrant political party with well articulated party programs are not enough for the party to emerge victorious. Fielding of credible candidates that are accepted by majority of the masses has always turned out to be the magic. Even though PDP has been searching in vain to locate the sources of its unfortunate defeat at the just concluded elections, political observers and analysts have attributed the political tsunami that nearly annihilate the largest political party in Africa to lack of credible candidates and or lack of internal democracy. Fielding credible candidates therefore, remains the best criteria for any party to emerge victorious in a segmented society with competitive electoral politics. And, as APC has cleared all the 27 candidates aspiring for the party’s governorship flag, the need for the party to provide a level playing ground for all the candidates and ensure that a free and fair primary is conducted cannot be over emphasised. The political merger of the defunct four political parties that saw the formation of the current APC appears to have boosted former governor Abubakar Audu’s political influence in the state. After successive merger of the parties in 2013, it was alleged that the Audu tried to hijack it for his governorship ambition in the state but later triggered intensive leadership crisis in the party. In spite of the assurances by the APC national leaders that the crisis was long resolved, it is obvious that the party is still contending with the same crisis, as Abubakar Audu continues to parade himself as the sole candidate. It is instructive however that the party national leadership has vigorously debunked his claim and described it as baseless. However, those that have been following the political trend in the state since Abubakar Audu left office in 2003 would acknowledge the decline of his political influence. The Prince was first thrown into political wilderness when his successor (political rival), Ibrahim Idris, accused him of financial misappropriation during his stewardship and was eventually arrested and humiliated by EFCC. Since then, he has been battling to regain his lost position but has been outrightly rejected at the polls thrice by the three senatorial districts. The political gladiators from his eastern senatorial district where his political rival, Ibrahim Idris who humiliated him also hailed from, has been, and still see him as a threat to their political fortune in the state and afraid of his possible revenge if he manages to regain power. Hence, they are working hard to frustrate his governorship ambition. This is even as the central senatorial district, which would always remember Audu’s ethno-centric tendencies during his stewardship, will rather prefer Idris Wada to him. The later is generally perceived in the central part of the state as a betrayal of trust as well as the architect of the current lopsided political structure in the state. And, the western senatorial district also has its own grouses against Audu’s leadership style which they still characterized as being spendthrift, ostentatious and high degree of ethno-centric tendencies among other factors. However, though Audu is occupying a prime position in the state opposition APC as leader and chieftain of the party but the above numerous dark spots on his personality raise a big credibility question mark on his democratic credential which may eventually foreclose his re-election bid at the forthcoming party’s primary. It is noteworthy therefore that, if his party leaders turn blind eyes to the above facts and allowed him to emerge through fraudulent mean then, they should prepare for their outright defeat by other party. And if by such act of commission, the PDP that has been rejected in almost 19 northern states wins the election, it would be a shame on APC. It may affect its success at the center in the future polls. Those factors enumerated herein are a few that have created a module of tough decisions that currently confront the Igala political godfathers and for the first time, threaten the decade old political hegemony in the state. As we anxiously await the major political parties’ primaries, whose outcomes would give more insight on the political direction of the state, the pendulum in the governance of the state is expected to swing to the party that does it right this time.
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Why PDP Needs Bala Mohammed As Its National Chairman, By Ibrahim Biu
The tenure of the National working committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will expire in March next year at the time the party will be fighting a serious battle of survival, especially with the large number of its members that have defected and may still do so to APC at both the federal and the state levels of the party.
One of my colleagues has described the PDP as a headless body and that it needs a tough leader to revive its lost glory. The question on the lips of many people is-who is that leader that can re-awaken and revive the lost glory of the PDP?
Already there are about seven or eight contestants for the national chairmanship position.
They include Senator Bala Mohammed, former FCT Minister, Prince Uche Secondus, PDP acting Chairman, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, PDP Zonal Vice Chairman, Dr. Peter Odili, Alhaji Mohammed Wakil, former Minister of State for Power, Alhaji Idris Umar, former Transport Minister. Many more other political heavyweights from other zones are likely to join the race since democracy has allowed this to happen in the party.
Apart from the fact that the party’s fortune is at its lowest ebb, there is a distinct disharmony among its members at all levels.
Moreover, there is an overriding need to get a dynamic and proactive leader that can unite the members and enable it to present a formidable opposition to the APC. Another important reason why the party needs a first class leader is for the purpose of ensuring that it will play a crucial role in the 2019 election that is not too far from now.
There is no doubt that PDP really needs a strong leader to do a lot of work for its members all over the country.
With the track record of achievements at both the National Assembly where he was a front –running senator from Bauchi South to the five-year tenure of office at the FCTA as its longest serving Minister, Bala Mohammed has garnered the experience needed not only to manage the party as at now but to propel it to greater height in the years to come.
The party needs a leader with Bala’s Midas touch and a calm approach to issues and not the present antagonist and harsh manner of campaign of calumny which had led the party to lose the 2015 elections in many states and at the federal level.
Months after Senator Bala Mohammed left office as FCT Minister, a few critics are still hauling insults at him. Though Bala is not a saint but many people will certainly not agree with the desperate attempt by his opponent’s and perceived enemies to disparage him.
There seems to be a widespread belief that politics has a way of tainting noble people which obviously is the case with Bala Mohammed who after serving as FCT Minister from 2010 to 2015 is being disparaged.
It goes without saying that Bala did his best towards delivering services to the people of the FCT and supported worthy causes.
Bala is a complete gentleman of repute. He is humble, calm in his approaches, very receptive, level headed and above all, a de-tribalized Nigerian. He is also loyal to a fault.
Before his stint at the FCTA, Bala had an unblemished record in the federal civil service where he rose to the position of a substantive director and later went through the grass-root politics to win an election as a senator. This was apart from his appointment to the position of Secretary of the Northern senators forum for many years.
It is because of these facts that Senator Bala is considered as the right leader to be given the post of the PDP chairman. Apart from what Bala had succeeded in achieving at the FCT, he has become a bridge builder of sort, because he has followers and he is respected almost all over the country. Bala is also a leader who is trusted and accepted by many politicians, including his peers and people who have occupied ministerial positions like him.
Moreover Senator Bala deserves to be given the PDP chairmanship position because it has been zoned to his area i.e. North – eastern part of the country and his colleagues, including those who wanted to be the chairman of the PDP have now indicated that Bala should be given that position.
Bala, as chairman of the PDP, will properly reposition it to bring back those who have earlier decamped.
This is because senator Bala is a strategist and will use his huge experience and contacts to woo those who have left the PDP. In other words, he will be able to make the party a much more vibrant one and ready for the 2019 elections when probably another popular politician from the northern part of the country will seek for the presidency after President Buhari’s tenure of office. [myad]