Politics

Why PDP Performed Woefully In Cross River —Chieftain

Published

3 years ago

March 29, 2023

A Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Cross River State, Barrister Essien Ita, on Wednesday 29th March, said that the abysmal performance of the party in the just concluded elections was due to the refusal of the state exco to respect the zoning principle that had existed since 1999.

Barrister Ita contended that the outcome of the 2023 gubernatorial polls was a referendum by the people of Cross River State that zoning must be maintained and power must go to the South.

In what appeared to be a consensus and protest votes, the majority of the Cross River state people irrespective of party affiliation decided to pitch their tent with the APC candidate, Prince Bassey Otu, which in turn gave the party the victory.

Reacting to the development, Barrister Ita congratulated the governor-elect for the victory at the polls and also advised him on the key areas he should concentrate on in view of the poor economic status of the state in order to make an impact.

According to him, “The 2023 gubernatorial elections have come and gone and the APC candidate, Prince Bassey Otu has been declared the winner. He trounced Prof. Sandy Onoh of the PDP like a mother would do her little stubborn child and showed Sandy political superiority. Prof. Sandy says he wants to go to court, it’s within his rights to do so but he needs to know that the court will find it extremely difficult to upturn an election that he lost with such a wide margin.

“There is a Chinese saying that a farmer who plants his seeds on “sandy” soil is doomed to a poor harvest, so PDP’s defeat did not come to me as a surprise, it is actually a well-deserved defeat. The treachery in the party has finally nailed the coffin for those who sold their birthright for a bowl of porridge, they failed to understand that when you sell your brother to a stranger for a piece of silver, the stranger treats you with a lot of suspicion and disdain.”

He further stated that ”the Cross River State PDP Exco also contributed to the party’s poor outing in the elections. For crumbs, they blindly supported and officially promoted Wike’s anti-party posture and refused to openly campaign or support the candidacy of Atiku Abubakar. For crumbs, they worked against the laid down zoning formula of the state which culminated in the party’s waterloo at the polls”.

He maintains that “now that the elections are over and the PDP intends to wield its stick of discipline, it should immediately invoke Articles 9.1 (d)(f)(k) and Article 21.1(c)(f)(h) of the PDP Constitution and properly discipline the rudderless state Exco for dividing the party and officially upholding an anti-party posture that led the party to defeat.”

Continuing, he said, “For Prince Otu Bassey, the governor-elect of Cross River State, I don’t envy you at all for the task ahead of you is quite enormous and daunting. The first issue you will encounter I suspect, will be shabby and untidy hand-over documents calculated to conceal discrepancies in your predecessor’s government.

“The proper status of the numerous projects of your predecessor may not be known, and monies spent and profit made on projects may not be known. You have also been incapacitated by Cross River State’s inability to assess loans because of our huge debt burden and our dwindling revenue occasioned by the loss of Bakassi”.

“You must look inward and help Cross River state stand tall on its feet.”

He further continued by stating that “all hopes are not lost, instead of immediately commencing new projects, please leverage on some of the industrial projects that your predecessor has put in place that are viable but not the superhighway please.

“The Automated Cocoa Processing factory in Ikom, Ogoja Ultra-Modern Rice Mill, 23 Megawatt Power Plant in Calabar, Bekwarra Groundnut Mill, and Cally air are some of them”.

He noted that, “the 2nd Subnational Ease of Doing Business Ranking of 2023 shows that Cross River State has dropped from 28th position to 33 positions in Ease of Doing Business, meaning the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) is dwindling. It, therefore, behoves you the governor-elect to attract investments and create enabling environments for businesses to thrive with ease in Cross River in order to ramp up the state’s IGR.

“You will also need to demand from the Federal Government an improvement and timely disbursement of the Bakassi Stabilization fund.”

Ita advised that “now that President Muhammadu Buhari has assented to the Fifth Alteration Bill allowing states to generate, transmit and distribute electricity, you may need to look in this direction with a view to commencing power projects that will bring about the generation, transmission and distribution of sufficient megawatts that will help strengthen small scale businesses and boost Cross River state IGR.”

He concluded by advising that ” Cross River governor-elect should please jettison the idea of having a “food on the table” cabinet, it will not bring you or Cross River State any good. Focus on how to rejig the economy of the state and not the stomach of a few.”

Politics

Ambassadorial Nominees: Ndume Asks Tinubu To Withdraw List

Published

1 day ago

December 7, 2025

Editor

Ahead of the Senate’s screening and confirmation of the ambassadorial nominees sent to the Red Chamber by the Presidency, former Senate Leader Ali Ndume has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to withdraw the list from parliament.

The federal lawmaker declared that the composition of nominees was in clear breach of the Federal Character principle, as enshrined in the Constitution.

Checks revealed that while certain states have three and four nominees, states like Gombe have no representation, while the only nominee from Yobe, Senator Adamu Garba Talba, died last July.

The entire North East state has 7 nominees in the list.

Further checks revealed that the South West geopolitical zone has 15 nominees, while the North West and South East have 13 and 9, respectively.

North Central region has 10 nominees in the list of career and non-career ambassadorial nominees, while South South region has 12 nominees.

The Senate President at plenary on Thursday formally read the list of nominees and referred it to the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs for further legislative action.

The Senator representing Borno South in a statement issued on Saturday maintained that the list of nominees was in clear breach of Section 14(3) of the Nigerian Constitution which mandates that the composition and conduct of the federal government must reflect the “federal character of Nigeria” to ensure national unity and loyalty.

The section reads: “The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few State or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies.”

The former Chief Whip of the Senate admonished President Tinubu to avoid taking decision that will fuel ethnic tension and promote distrust in the country, amidst the wrong narrative being promoted by the Western world against his administration.

He said: “My sincere appeal to President Tinubu is to withdraw this list. At this critical time in the life of his administration, he should avoid missteps that could endanger national unity and promote ethnic distrust.

“I know him to be a cosmopolitan leader who is at home with every segment and stakeholders in the country.

“He should withdraw that list and present a fresh set of nominees that will align with the spirit of the Constitution on Federal Character Principle that government’s structure and operations must represent the diverse states and peoples of Nigeria.”

Politics

PDP Issues Certificate Of Expulsion To Wike, Fayose, Anyanwu, Others

Published

5 days ago

December 3, 2025

Editor

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said it has issued certificate of expulsion from the party to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and other 10 members earlier expelled from the party.

The party National Chairman, Tanimu Turaki, disclosed this while speaking with newsmen after the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.

The other members, according to him, include the embattled National Secretary, Sen. Samuel Anyanwu, the Legal Adviser, Kamarudeen Ajibade, former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose.

They also included Sen. Mao Ohuabunwa, Austin Nwachukwu, Abraham Amah Nnanna, George Turna and Chief Dan Orbih, expelled during the party National convention in Lagos.

Turaki said that the original copies of the certificate had been dispatched to the owners through a courier service to serve as proof that they were expelled from the PDP.

“We have taken note of the fact that Nigerian law frowns on dual membership of political parties, and so we have sought to make it easy for them.

“Now that they are no longer members of our party, and now that the National Convention, which is the highest decision-making organ of our party, has expelled them, we have decided to issue them certificates of expulsion.

“So, when they go to register with other political parties in Nigeria, they will show these certificates as proof that they are no longer members of the PDP.

“By that, those parties will not accuse them of trying to belong to more than one political party,” he said.

He called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies, including the Nigeria Police, the Department of State Services, and other government agencies, to take note.

“Very soon, members of the society will be informed via proper disclaimers that any person henceforth who decides to do business with them, any or all of them, does so at his or her own risk.

“They are no longer members of the PDP. They have been expelled,” he added.

He added that the NWC also reviewed some of the cases filed against the party and lawsuits instituted by the party, particularly the one that related to the “unlawful and illegal” closure of the party’s national Secretariat, the Legacy House, and the Wadata Plaza.

“The brief we received from our lawyers is that we are on sound ground, and that very soon, the law will take its course,” he said.

Turaki said the NWC was prepared to be saddled with the responsibility of performing its functions as the leading opposition party in Nigeria.

“We are going to provide a credible alternative to Nigerians. We are going to provide credible leadership to Nigerians by the special grace of God from 2027,” he said.

Politics

Adebayo Adedamola Wins Osun PDP Governorship Primary

Published

6 days ago

December 2, 2025

Editor

Adebayo Olugbenga Adedamola, popularly known as FRYO, has emerged as the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate for the August 8, 2026 governorship election in Osun State.

The primary election took place in Osogbo on Tuesday amid heavy security presence.

Announcing the result, chairman of the primary election committee, Humphrey Abba, stated that Adebayo secured 919 votes out of 957 accredited ballots, giving him a clear victory in the contest.

Explaining that there were 20 void votes following the withdrawal of one of the candidates, believed to be Governor Ademola Adeleke, Abba added, “The candidate that got the remaining votes is Adebayo Adedamola with 919 votes and he stands elected and returned.”

DAILY POST reports that despite announcing his resignation from the party, Adeleke’s name appeared on the ballot paper for the PDP governorship primary.

Party officials said the exercise was conducted in accordance with established guidelines, with accredited delegates participating in the voting process.

Adeleke announced his resignation in a letter dated November 4, 2025, and addressed to the PDP leadership at his ward.

On Monday, Osun PDP chairman, Sunday Bisi, had announced that the governorship primary slated for Tuesday, December 2, 2025, has been postponed due to leadership crisis at the national level.

But a faction of the party went ahead with the exercise in Osogbo on Tuesday.