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Tag: Defections

  • Why defections can’t be avoided in Nigerian politics – APC Chieftain

    Why defections can’t be avoided in Nigerian politics – APC Chieftain

    An All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Malam Abubakar Abdullahi, has said that there is no way defections can be avoided in Nigerian politics.

    Abdullahi, in an interview with NAN in Abuja on Tuesday, attributed cross carpeting by some politicians to desire for political protection.

    “You see in Nigerian politics, defections cannot be avoided. There are certain issues that force people to defect.

    “Majority of the present crops of the elected officials and political appointees are not well-bred politicians. They are just opportunists.

    “Once they got elected or appointed, they indulge in all sorts of unruly behaviours which lead them to commit a lot of atrocities,” he said.

    Abdullahi, who is the Secretary of former ANPP members in APC, said that most defections were doing so as a way of escaping from being penalised for corrupt practices and other offences.

    “Most of them will be running helter-skelter, looking for where to hide,” he said.

    According to him, majority of the defections are occasioned by selfish and personal security rather than principle.

    The APC chieftain, however, assured that defections would not lead Nigeria to one-party state ‘because at the end the day, the defectors will definitely betray those who believe in them’.

    Abdullahi expressed dissatisfaction with the attitudes of Nigerian political elite, saying that they had polluted the system through manipulation of the process, to detriment of the larger populace.

    He, therefore, called for change in attitudes and value system as a way out of the situation.

  • Defections: PDP patiently waiting for ten governors to dump APC soon

    Defections: PDP patiently waiting for ten governors to dump APC soon

    …Umahi and Ayade are on a misadventure -PDP Scribe
    …as four more PDP govs may pitch their tents with APC
    … PDP now 14 while APC hits 21

    By Emman Ovuakporie

    After the exit of Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade from the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, the ruling All Progressives Congress APC now controls 21 states of the Nigerian federation.

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG in this piece will review developments in both leading parties in Nigeria and their standing before 2023 general elections.

    As it’s now, the PDP parades 14 governors after Ebonyi Governor, Dave Umahi and Ben Ayade defected to the APC.

    APC now controls 21 states across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria while APGA in the South East controls only one state.

    A further probe into the matter by TNG revealed that the PDP is already in talks with ten APC governors who are patiently waiting for the coast to clear for them to dump APC.

    A top member of the party from the North Central geo-political zone who spoke to TNG under the condition of anonymity said:

    “We are patiently waiting for our own yields from the APC which will entail ten serving governors defecting to our party.

    “We are already talking to them and we have been assured that they will join us because they know the APC is a sinking ship.

    Asked whether it’s true that two PDP South East governors and two governors from northern Nigeria are at the verge of dumping his party, he said:

    “Yes we are aware that they are in talks with the ruling party but we are not really disturbed because we too are in talks with ten APC governors.

    “We know that a PDP Governor in the north east and another from the north west and as for the south east governors we know they have been working with Buhari since 2019.

    “Anytime from now we are expecting them to defect but like I said earlier we are not perturbed at all.

    “At the end of the day we shall have the longest laughter after we reap our yields from the APC.

    “The APC is already a sinking ship and Nigerians are aware that the ruling APC will soon bury itself.

    PDP Scribe reaction to Ayade’s defection

    Deputy General Secretary of the PDP, Emmanuel Agbo in his reaction to Governor Ayade’s defection said:

    “Ayade is on a misadventure though we know he has been with them but the truth is that what does he have to offer Buhari that he couldn’t do in PDP.

    Reacting to Ayade’s boast that if he moves the party moves, Agbo said,”starting with Umahi who said in 16years PDP has done nothing, you know that the two parties that had ruled Nigeria, we all know that we did well.

    “Both men are a set of insincere humans and as for Ayade’s comment, what’s is he going there to do that he can’t do from PDP.

    “The APC knows that it’s not feasible to win election in 2023 but they want to use the conspiracy of the elites to write figures to claim victory and lure PDP governors to achieve this.

    “Ayade’s move is the greatest joke of the century and a political misadventure, let us see whether he would win his local council in 2023.

    A cursory look at 2023

    The APC with 21 governors in its kitty and going to the polls could upstage any political party and hold onto power beyond 2023.
    The reasons are not far fetched because governors in Nigeri are like monarchs they dictate what should happen.
    And if it’s true that APC still have four PDP governors lurking around the corner to increase their states to 25 then PDP has a lot of legwork to do in ,2023.

    On the other hand, the PDP is hopeful that at least nothing less than ten APC governors may soon join their stock then ,2023 general is going to be explosive if PDP contests with 20 governors.

  • Imo: PDP reacts to mass defection of lawmakers to APC

    The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declared vacant, the seats of the eight members of the Imo State House of Assembly who on Tuesday, defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    At a media briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the defectors cannot continue to hold on to the mandates given to them on the platform of the PDP.

    The assembly members, including the Speaker, had announced their defection on the floor of the House on Tuesday, a development the PDP said was ostensibly for selfish gains.

    The party described the actions of the lawmakers as unpatriotic and an unpardonable betrayal of the people of their respective constituencies who chose and identified with the ideal and visions of the PDP as the platform for their representation at the state assembly.

    “The defectors have indeed shown absolute lack of character, failure of leadership capacity in moments of challenges and absence of faith to stand with the people in their most trying moment, but are easily bought by personal pecuniary and political interests.

    “These defectors are fully aware of the grave implication of their actions to the effect that by their defection to the APC, they have automatically lost their seats and membership of the Imo state House of Assembly as they can only hold such position on the mandate of the party on which they were elected -the PDP.

    “It is settled under the 1999 Constitution (as amended), that a legislator who defects from a party upon which he was elected a member of a legislative house, automatically loses his or her membership of that house as the seat belongs to the political party upon which platform the election was won and not the individual”, Ologbondiyan said.

    The spokesman further said that the vacation of seat, as a direct consequence of defecting to another political party other than the party upon which one was elected to occupy a seat in the legislature, was clear and unambiguous under Section 109 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

    Continuing, Ologbondiyan said, “For the avoidance of doubt, section 109 (1)(g) provides that “a member of the House of Assembly SHALL VACATE his seat in the House if …(g) being a person whose election to the House of Assembly by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected:

    “The Constitution went further to state ‘provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored.

    “Consequent upon the above constitutional provisions, these defectors have vacated their seats, they no longer have a place in the state assembly, as there is no division or merger of any kind in the PDP at any level whatsoever”.

    The party spokesman said the PDP is left with no other option than to request the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately commence the processes for the conduct of fresh elections into the respective state constituencies where the legislators have vacated their seats, in line with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

    The party called on its members and supporters in Imo state to remain calm, as the national leadership proceeds with arrangements ahead of fresh elections in the affected constituencies.

    The PDP assured the people of Imo state that processes were already on towards achieving a judicial review and reversal of the “defective judgment” of the Supreme Court, on the Imo state governorship election.

  • Defections: APC lacks legislative votes to impeach Saraki, Eweremadu – PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party says the All Progressives Congress (APC) lacks the legislative number and constitutional facilities to remove Senate President, Bukola Saraki and his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu.

    In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, on Friday in Abuja, the party advised the Presidency and the APC to “accept the reality.’’

    It said that Presidency and the APC, having realised that there was no way they could muster the constitutionally required two-thirds votes of the 109 senators, representing 73 senators, was now engaged in “under-hand tactics.”

    This, according to it, include the invasion of the National Assembly.

    “Even before then, Nigerians were already aware of moves to use humongous funds to induce lawmakers to trigger crisis in the National Assembly and pave the way for the removal of presiding officers.

    “Now that they have discovered that there is no way they can achieve their intentions, they have commenced a war of blackmail, distortions of fact and media trial against the Senate leadership.”

    It said that the attempts would end up as another wasteful venture, as Nigerians were aware of “the long-drawn desperation to annex the legislature.”

    The PDP added that even among the ranks of APC senators and members of House of Representatives, there is huge aversion to the tactics being deployed to force out duly elected presiding officers of the Assembly.

    It said that such lawmakers were fully aligned with Nigerians, the PDP and the National Assembly leadership in the protection of the independence, sanctity and integrity of the parliament and all democratic institutions in the country.

    “It is therefore instructive for both the Presidency and the APC to know that there is no way they can remove the leadership of the National Assembly, particularly the Senate.”

    It cautioned against overheating the polity and attempts to circumvent rules and the Constitution, saying that such would not change the resolve of Nigerians to vote out APC in 2019.

  • Defection: God has removed stones from our rice, gari —Lai Mohammed

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has described the defection of some National Assembly members from the ruling All Progressives Congress as “the removal of stones from (the party’s) rice” and sieving of “sand from [its] gari (cassava meal).”

    He added that the defection to opposition parties had “exposed the faces of traitors.”

    Mohammed spoke in his country home of Oro, Kwara State, on Sunday when members and supporters of the party welcomed him at the playground of Muslim Community Primary School, Oro.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the minister told the party’s supporters, in their thousands, that the defection of the lawmakers in the National Assembly had exposed the “faces of traitors” in the party’s fold.

    “Today is a special day. God has answered our prayers by exposing our political traitors.

    “God has removed stones from our rice and sands in our gari,” Mohammed, who addressed the rally in Yoruba language, said.

    He assured that the defection would have no significant negative effect on the party; instead, he said, it would offer an opportunity for its re-positioning.

    “We are here today to assure that it is a new dispensation in Kwara APC politics. We are at home today to assure you that the party will be re-organised and re-positioned.

    “By exposing the enemies and traitors in our fold, God has given us the opportunities that we have been looking for to re-position our party.

    “These are people who had never given us peace and progress.

    “Today, by the grace of God and with your support, APC will wax stronger in Kwara. What is in the offing is a mega party,” he said.

    Mohammed said they were prepared to take the party structure back and give it back to the people.
    “The party belongs to you all. We therefore reassure you that God is with us and the people of Kwara are with us.

    “Since the day they decamped, you can see those who have come to our camp are more than those who left,” he said.

    The minister appealed to the members and party supporters to give new entrants a chance.

    He assured that the new dispensation would allow level playing ground devoid of candidate imposition or godfather syndrome.

  • 2019: Buhari, APC will stay focused despite defections – Oshiomhole

    2019: Buhari, APC will stay focused despite defections – Oshiomhole

    The National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole on Wednesday night reiterated that the party would remain focused on the task of providing good governance to Nigerians despite the recent massive defections by some lawmakers.

    Recall that about 14 senators and 37 reps had on Tuesday decamped from the APC to other political parties. A sitting governor in Benue State, Samuel Ortom also on Wednesday announced his defection to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of a meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and APC Senators at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Oshiomhole said the meeting was held at the instance of the senators, who wanted to show their solidarity for the President and his administration.

    He said: “The senators have come in huge numbers to prove that the APC remains the party with the largest number of senators as well as members in the House of Representatives. Also to prove that we still have what it takes to continue to provide good governance for Nigeria.

    “We have agreed that going forward, the APC cannot be intimidated, the government will not be intimidated or distracted. We remain focused and committed to addressing the critical challenges that confront our country, namely security, economy and fight against corruption.

    “On all three, the President is consistent and determined and the senators have come to reassure him of their full backing on these three core commitments which we have made to the Nigerian people and for me as party Chairman, we are very excited.”

    According to him, the legislators that defected on Tuesday were victims of misinformation.

    He said some of them would retrace their steps and come back to the APC.

    The Majority Leader in the Senate, Ahmed Lawan, who led the APC Senators to the Presidential Villa, said they were in the State House to pay courtesy call on President Buhari and also give him details of what transpired at the Senate on Tuesday.

    He said: “We have come to pay a courtesy call on our leader, the President of this country and then inform him about what happened yesterday (Tuesday) in the Senate and indeed the National Assembly; the defection by some of our colleagues from the APC to the Peoples Democratic Party and various political parties. We informed the President on how we stand in the Senate.

    “As at today, the APC caucus in the Senate is 53 in number, followed by the largest minority party the PDP with 48 Senators and then the ADC with two Senators, APGA has two Senators. We have two vacant seats which were occupied by APC Senators who are late now.”

  • Defections: Buhari holds emergency meeting with IGP

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday met behind closed doors with the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The agenda of the meeting was not made public.

    The meeting was however held a few hours after news broke that security operatives laid a siege on the residences of the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki; and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu.

    It also came a day after the police high command again invited Saraki for questioning over the recent Offa robbery.

    The police had asked Saraki to report on Tuesday at 8 am but he had not complied with the directive as of the time the police boss was meeting Buhari.

    His failure to honour the invitation forced the police to issue a statement threatening to use all legal means to get him.

    Idris did not speak with State House correspondents after the meeting he had with Buhari.

    The Presidency has yet to issue a statement on the meeting at the time of filing this report.

    It is however believed that Idris would have seized the opportunity of the meeting to brief the President on the developments.

     

  • BREAKING: Oshiomhole meets Buhari, reacts to lawmakers’ defections from APC

    BREAKING: Oshiomhole meets Buhari, reacts to lawmakers’ defections from APC

    The National Chairman of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, has said that losing majority of the lawmakers to opposition parties on Tuesday will not in any way affect the party’s victory in the 2019 elections.

    Recall that 15 senators and 37 members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday defected from the ruling APC on Tuesday with majority joining the PDP.

    Oshiomhole, who spoke with State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, said those who left are “mercenaries” who were in APC just to win election.

    He said the governing party is “not disturbed at all” and that he is not losing sleep over the defections.

    Oshiomhole also said it is good that those who never believed in the APC are leaving ahead the electioneering activities because that would enable the party concentrate on its campaigns.

    He said those who defected cannot affect the electoral fortunes of APC because President Muhammadu Buhari got more votes than them in their own constituencies in the last election.

    He described the defectors as right wing politicians who believe in the philosophy of “share the money” and did not belong to the progressives group.

    He said even while they were in the APC, they constituted themselves as opposition to the governing party.

     

    More to come…