NUHU RIBADU MAY EMERGE PDP CHAIR

Weeks after the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was defeated in the 2015 general elections, indications have emerged that the pioneer chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, may emerge its next chairman.
LEADERSHIP learnt that the leaders of the PDP are zeroing in on Ribadu because of the public perception that he has integrity to match that of Buhari who is now APC’s leader which could be used as a bargaining edge in successive elections.
PDP apparatchiks believe that the party lost the last general election because of President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption credentials.
The PDP national convention where Ribadu and other Board of Trustees (BoT) members of the party will emerge is billed for August.

PDP BERATES POLICE, DEMANDS UNSEALING OF RIVERS COUNCILS

ABUJA- NATIONAL leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Friday, accused the Police of playing double standard in barring caretaker committees lawfully appointed by the state government from taking charge of the Area councils in Rivers State.
In a statement yesterday by PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisah Metuh, the PDP asked for immediate unsealing of local councils in the State by the Police.
According to Metuh, the party described the action as unconstitutional, reprehensible abuse of power and brazen show of partisanship, just as it fingered the All Progressives Congress, APC-led federal government as the mastermind, using its controlled police to carry out the act.

NIGERIANS’LL BEG US TO RETURN IN 2019 – PDP

Following the crisis rocking the ruling All Progressives Congress, the Peoples Democratic Party has said Nigerians will beg it (PDP) to come back to power in 2019.
The National Vice Chairman, South-South Zone, of the PDP, Dr. Cairo Ojugbou, made this remark on Monday at the party’s zonal secretariat in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Ojugbou, who criticised the APC for not been able to manage the recent crisis engulfing it, explained that the ruling party had shown that it lacked coordination and ideology.
On the Rivers and Akwa Ibom State tribunals going on in Abuja, the PDP national vice chairman expressed optimism that the PDP would win.
He added that no amount of intimidation would make the party lose elections that it won squarely, adding that the people of Akwa Ibom and Rivers voted for the PDP.
Ojugbou said, “Rivers and Akwa Ibom State tribunals are sitting in Abuja. No amount of intimidation will make the PDP lose the elections it won freely and fairly in these states. Any move to rig us out will be resisted.”

FRESH CRISIS LOOMS IN PDP OVER CHOICE OF PRINCIPAL OFFICERS

A crisis is looming in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the choice of principal officers of the party in the Senate.
Nigerian Tribune learnt on Thursday that the fresh crisis had already pitched some influential leaders of the party against one another.
According to the investigations, some leaders of the party and some governors were said to be against the choice of Senator George Sekibo as minority leader, as the immediate past governor of Akwa Ibom State and now senator, Godswill Akpabio, was also alleged to be eyeing same position.
It was further gathered that Akpabio’s ambition was being threatened by the Senate rules on ranking.

NASS LEADERSHIP: TINUBU, OTHERS OFFERED US DEALS –PDP

Fresh facts have emerged on the horse-trading and trade-off that led to the emergence of Senator Bukola Saraki, Ike Ekweremadu and Yakubu Dogara as Senate President, Deputy Senate president and Speaker of the House of Representatives, respectively.
A member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Working Committee, Olisa Metuh, in an exclusive interview with Daily Sun had alleged that former Lagos State governor and National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu actually reached out to certain leaders of the PDP to sell his anointed candidates for the positions of Senate President and Speaker, House of Representatives.
The PDP national publicity secretary further disclosed that the camps of Femi Gbajabiamila and Senator Ahmed Lawan promised PDP lawmakers in both the Red and Green Chambers, juicy committees.

PRAY FOR BUHARI, APC; NIGERIA IS IN SLOW MOTION – PDP TELLS NIGERIANS

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has called on Nigerians to pray for President Mohammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress, APC, as his thirty days in government has been very stagnant.
The party in a statement by PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, said the prayer for President Buhari had become necessary because it was a very unfortunate that having been elected since March 28, he was yet to decide on key appointments such as ministers, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), a Chief of Staff and advisers in key sectors of the economy.
According to PDP, the APC was yet to get its bearings right, adding that the new administration was showing no inclination towards implementing its numerous campaign promises for which they were voted into office at the centre.
Metuh said, “After a careful evaluation of the first 30 days of President Muhammadu Buhari and All Progressives Congress (APC)’s administration, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) notes that it has become obvious that Nigerians need to join hands in prayers to save the government from further inaction and dithering”.

PDP DISOWNS GROUP CALLING FOR BUHARI’S RESIGNATION

The Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday distanced itself from a group, PDP Media Watchdog, over the latter’s call on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign.
PDP said the group was not working within and in the interest of the opposition party.
The group had in an earlier statement signed by its head, Mr. Tunde Lawal, called for Buhari’s resignation over comments attributed to the President that there was a limit he could do because of his age.
But a statement by the National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Mr. Olisa Metuh, said, “this group is absolutely unknown to the PDP and has no connection whatsoever with our party at any level, neither is the content of their statement a reflection of the position or stance of the party.

MUAZU RESIGNS AS PDP CHAIRMAN

The crisis rocking the PDP took a turn for the worst as the national chairman of the party, Adamu Mu’azu has resigned as the national chairman.
His resignation took effect immediately.
Also , it was reliably gathered that President Goodluck Jonathan has asked the chairman of PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Anthony Anenih to resign his office as the BOT chairman. But it is not known whether Anenih has accepted to resign or not.

PDP CRISIS: MUAZU SIGHTED IN SINGAPORE

•Governors plot mini-convention
•There is a case in court, says NWC member
Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have set in motion machinery for a mini convention of the party to thrash out the fate of the PDP embattled national chairman, Mallam Adamu Mu’azu.
Mu’azu, who is currently out of the country on ‘medical vacation’, was reportedly sighted in Singapore yesterday.
A source close to him said yesterday that he might not be back in Nigeria until after the May 29 change of guards at the Aso Rock Villa.
Mu’azu has come under severe pressure to relinquish his position following the defeat of the party in the last elections.

“IT’S TIME TO STOP LYING”, PDP TELLS APC SPOKESMAN, LAI MOHAMMED

Press Statement
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has admonished the spokesman of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed to learn to be truthful, honest and desist from fabricating lies that could be injurious to democracy and peaceful co-existence in the country.
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh in a statement on Wednesday said “but for the maturity of President Goodluck Jonathan and the head of the APC’s Transition Committee, Alhaji Ahmed Joda, who cleared the air, the country would have been thrown into crisis over the false alert by Lai Mohammed that the Presidency was frustrating the transition process.

“After Alhaji Joda debunked Lai Mohammed’s false statement and denied that his committee was being frustrated by the PDP-led Presidency, we waited for forty-eight hours expecting the APC spokesman to apologize to the nation, but this has not been done.

PDP’LL BE BURIED IF I RESIGN – MU’AZU

The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, and the party’s National Working Committee on Sunday dared members threatening to factionalise the party.
Muazu, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Tony Amadi, in an interview with The PUNCH, said that he would not resign despite the threat of some members to form a faction of the party.
The national chairman said that the PDP would be buried if he succumbed to calls that he should resign.
Sunday PUNCH had reported that there were moves by some aggrieved members to form a faction of the party.
But Mu’azu and the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, said those making the threat should go ahead and carry it out.

WE’RE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR LOSS, PDP TELLS JONATHAN

ABUJA — THE leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has washed its hands off the defeat of President Goodluck Jonathan in the last presidential election, blaming it on what it described as the tactlessness of the President’s hand-picked campaign team led by Dr. Ahmadu Ali.
The party directly blamed the hate campaign launched against the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari for the defeat.
The National Working Committee, NWC, of the party also, yesterday, dismissed reports of profiting from the N9 billion raised for the party’s campaigns, affirming its readiness to defend the N30 million paid to each NWC member which it claimed was approved by the President.

PDP SETS UP POST-ELECTION ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE

• Governors Akpabio, Orji, Dankwambo, Wike others as members
The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party has constituted a post-election assessment committee to review and evaluate the performance of the PDP in the just-concluded 2015 general elections and make recommendations for the repositioning of the party.

According to a statement by the National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Olisa Metuh, the membership of the committee is as follows: the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu as Chairman). Other members are Governors Godswill Akpabio, T.A. Orji, and Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo.

AIT BAN: PDP RELEASES PRESS STATEMENT , SAYS IT'S DANGEROUS FOR DEMOCRACY

Press statement from the PDP on AIT ban, which the APC has since lifted..
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described as unacceptable the Monday’s directive by the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to bar a television house, the AIT, from covering his activities, saying the suppression of the media under any guise portends danger for the nation’s democracy.
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh in a statement on Tuesday said that after carefully studying the defence posited by General Buhari’s campaign spokesperson as well as the smokescreen statement by the APC to cover and mitigate his anti-media posture, the PDP and indeed all lovers of democracy are persuaded that the action was not only unjustifiable, but also unconstitutional and completely against the spirit of liberty and the rule of law in a democracy.

PDP CRISIS: S/SOUTH GOV TO REPLACE MUAZU

•Govs, Clark, Anyim fingered in plot
An outgoing governor from the Southsouth is being tipped to take over as national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the plot to unseat the incumbent, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, thickens.
Mu’azu is being targeted by many party faithful for the party’s disastrous outing in the recent elections, its worst since it swept into power in 1999.
The ‘Mu’azu must- go’ campaign is being spearheaded by chieftains of the party including governors in the Southsouth and Southeast who see the two zones as the new power base of the party and which must now be in the PDP’s driver’s seat with a view to repositioning the party ahead of the 2019 elections.

POLLS: PDP CHIEFTAINS DEMAND MU’AZU’S RESIGNATION

As part of the fallout of the Peoples Democratic Party’s failure at the last general elections, top party men are calling for the resignation or removal of the party’s National Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu.
PDP stalwarts who spoke with SUNDAY PUNCH said it behoves on Mua’zu to turn in his resignation letter even without since he had been unable to take the party to victory.
The PDP not only lost the presidential election to the opposition, All Progressives Congress, it also lost its National Assembly majority status and governorship seats including state Houses of assembly.
But the embattled national chairman, Mu’azu, has said he would not resign despite the loss of the party he leads.
Mu’azu said it was also wrong for anyone to call for the sacking of any member of the party’s National Working Committee because of what happened to the ruling party during the elections.

PDP TALKS TOUGH

• We’ll resist attempt to deny our candidates victory
Following agita¬tions for the disso¬lution of the Peo¬ples Democratic Party (PDP) National Working Committee (NWC) by certain chief¬tains of the party, the Adamu Mu’azu leader¬ship has alleged that All Progressives Congress (APC) is plotting to cause division in its ranks.
National Publicity Sec¬retary of PDP, Olisa Metuh, at the end of the party’s NWC meeting, told news-men that the call for the dissolution of the national working committee was part of the orchestrated plot to destabilise the party and continue to deplete its ranks.
He said the PDP NWC would meet with its ag¬grieved candidates next Tuesday, “to have a holis¬tic view of what really hap¬pened, to enable us take a final position on the 2015 general elections.”

PDP CONDEMNS BUHARI’S APATHY TO NATIONAL ISSUES

The Peoples Democratic Party has expressed deep concerns over the alleged indifference of the President-elect, Maj.Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) to what it described as burning national issues threatening the unity and stability of the country.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Olisa Metuh, said this in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday.
Metuh said, “While well-meaning Nigerians and the international community are celebrating the peace fostered by the patriotic action of President Goodluck Jonathan in conceding defeat, Buhari and his party, the APC have been moving around the country instigating division, engineering crises and heightening tension in the polity.
“Whereas Buhari had assured Nigerians that he would be the President of the entire nation and not of a political party, his actions in the last one week show otherwise as he has continued to display sectionalism and insensitivity to matters inimical to the survival of our democracy and well-being of Nigerians.

PDP HIT BY GALE OF DEFECTIONS

Gale of defections has hit the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following the party’s defeat in the March 28 Presidential election.
In Gombe state, the Majority leader State House of Assembly, Mamman Alkali, over fifty Personal Assistants and Special Assistants to Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo and thousands of PDP members yesterday defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In Jigawa state the former Governor, Saminu Turaki, the current Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Mahmud Gumel were among many who dumped the PDP for the APC at a ceremony in Gumel yesterday.

OBA AKIOLU, EKITI IMPEACHMENT THREATS, ROAD TO ANARCHY – PDP

…Vows To Resist Anti Democratic Tendencies
The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) condemns the emerging height of political recklessness in Lagos and Ekiti states ahead of Saturday’s governorship and House of Assembly elections and calls on all Nigerians to stand up against such anti-democratic tendencies.
The senseless and unpatriotic impeachment move against Governor Ayo Fayose by out-going APC state legislators and the barbaric death threats on non-indigenes in Lagos by the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu if they vote for the PDP candidate, Mr. Jimi Agbaje ascend to a height of unruliness that should not be accommodated.
The PDP totally and unequivocally rejects the flimsy and unsubstantiated allegations concocted by the APC legislators against Governor Fayose. We state in very clear terms that we will stand with him and bear our full weight in defense of the mandate freely given to him by the people of Ekiti state.