Politics

Why PDP Performed Woefully In Cross River —Chieftain

Published

1 year ago

March 29, 2023

Editor

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

JUST IN: Ex-PDP Deputy National Chair, Oyedokun Defects To APC

Published

5 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Editor

A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Shuaib Oyedokun, has resigned his membership of the party and announced defection to the All Progressives Congress.

Oyedokun, a notable personality within the political circle in Osun State and beyond, said he decided to dump the PDP after consultation with his loyalists.

He said he would be joining APC, where his experience, efforts, and leadership roles would be valued and appreciated.

His resignation letter addressed to the National Chairman of the PDP through the ward, local government and state chairmen of the party obtained late Thursday further read, “As a functional member and leader of PDP (Ward 13, Jagun/ Osi-Bale Ode, Odo-Otin South Local Government, Osun State,) whose high electoral productivity and value have been credibly and positively acknowledged in my ward, across the local council, state and country-wide for the enhancement of the fortune of the PDP, I have the honour (though with pain) in announcing the renunciation of my membership of the party on principle, having observed that the ideals of we, founding members, had been sorely contaminated.

“In taking this step which is not even without due consultation with my teaming loyalists in the PDP, I have consequently decided to shift my allegiance to the All Progressives Congress (APC) where I believe my experience, efforts and leadership roles would be valued and appreciated.”

Oyedokun’s defection to the APC is coming at the time the aspirant he supported during the 2022 Osun governorship primary of PDP, Mr Dotun Babayemi is also moving to the national ruling party.

Osun APC said on Wednesday that Babayemi and his supporters would be dumping PDP and joining the party at a rally scheduled to be held in Osogbo on Friday.
PUNCH

Politics

Poll: APC Has No Sellable Candidate, Nothing To Campaign On – Edo Govt

Published

3 days ago

May 13, 2024

Editor

The Edo State Government claimed on Monday that the All Progressives Congress, APC, has no credible candidate for the September 21 governorship election.

This was an assertion made by the Edo State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, at a press conference in Benin City.

Nehikhare also alleged that the party is using lies and propaganda as its campaign strategy.

According to him: “The only APC strategy for the governorship election is to resort to lies and propaganda. When a party takes lies and propaganda as an election strategy, it means it has nothing to offer the people. The party lacks people with character, capacity, and intellect.”

The commissioner who took journalists through a screened shot WhatsApp chat said: “What we have here is the official APC WhatsApp platform, their own people screenshot their discussion. One of them who has a conscience asks, is this the only thing we have?”

Nehikhare, who said APC is ashamed to campaign for its candidate, noted that, as of today, nobody had heard of what the party has for the state.

“All we heard is how they are going to help their paymaster, lies and propaganda that will not help the state,” he added.

He opined that lies and propaganda are not strategies the opposition party, like APC, can use to win the September 21 governorship election.

The commissioner, who warned against misinformation and fake news ahead of the governorship election, urged media practitioners to be neutral in matters concerning lies and propaganda.

He, however, noted that Governor Godwin Obaseki’s administration has a lot of achievements to market and sell its candidate for the election.

Politics

Defection: Edo Govt, Ex-PDP BoT Member, Idahosa In Verbal War

Published

3 days ago

May 13, 2024

Editor

Edo State government and a former member of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Board of Trustees, Charles Idahosa, on Monday traded words over the latter defection to the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Recall that Idahosa resigned
formally resigned who had last month resigned from PDP, rejoined the APC on Monday in Benin City.

Speaking during his formal presentation to the APC in Benin City, he noted that he left the party four years ago due to internal crisis.

Idahosa added that he dumped the PDP because of what he described as the “damning deeds of the Obaseki-led administration in the last four years”.

He took a swipe at Obaseki for saying that PDP would win the forthcoming September governorship election with 80 per cent of votes.

“I thank God, four years later we all are wiser now. Like the Secretary said, I was a founding member of ACD, ACN and APC. The damage we did four years ago, the APC never remained the same.

“But I am glad we are back to the family. I was nominated to the Board of the Railway when I was in the APC. When I moved to the PDP, I wrote to resign my membership but it was rejected and showed my wide acceptance.

“At 71, I am not here to contest position with anybody, I am here to work. I want to urge APC to keep their eyes on the ball. It is not over until it is over.”

While lambasting Governor Obaseki for his comment that those leaving PDP have been given money, he noted that his greatest regret was not allowing the governor to resign after his first four years in office.

“When he came to beg me like a weather beaten chicken, how much did he give to me? Anytime he goes religious gathering he would say those leaving PDP have been given money.

“He came to me three times in my house to say he wants to resign, that he was tired of being governor but I appealed to him, telling him it was not about him but Benin interest.”

But in a swift reaction, the state Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare alleged that Idahosa was never a PDP member.

Nehikhare noted that Idahosa was also never a BOT member of the party, because the party in the state rejected his nomination.

He alleged that it was as a result of the rejection that he found his way back to APC.

“I heard that he claimed to be a member of BOT of PDP but I want to challenge him to tell us when he was sworn in as a member of PDP BOT. He was not a fit and proper person. Even though he was nominated he was shunned by the party.

“It was this that drove him back to APC which he never left in the first place. He was holding on to the board appointment which was offered him while in APC prior to 2020 governorship election.

“He has reached the end of his political career. He has nothing to offer any political party or any group he joins because he believes in bread and butter politics,” Nehikhare said.