GRPolitics
Stakeholders Urged Buhari To Wade Into Rivers APC Crisis


Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to wade into the crisis rocking the party in the state
While rejecting the outcome of the last Saturday’s ward congress of the party in the state, the stakeholders said Buhari’s intervention will ameliorate the fallout of the botched ward congress of the party in the state.
Addressing newsmen in Port Harcourt on Monday on behalf of the stakeholders, a former member of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon. Marcus Nle-Eji, disclosed that they were motivated by the need to keep the records straight and let the world know what is happening in Rivers State.
Nle-Eji noted that it is only presidential intervention anchored on Buhari’s reputation for integrity, justice and fair play that can ameliorate the negative impact of the disenfranchisement of party members and the outright betrayal of the ideals of APC “during the so-called sham ward congresses in the state”.
The former lawmaker, who further noted that what transpired in Rivers State in the name of the APC Ward Congress, was a theatre of the absurd.
He said: “In all my years in politics, I have never seen this trend of politics before.
“Even when we contested election under the military, during the Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha transitions, we never saw anything like this.
“I have not seen soldiers used for party congresses before.
“You all saw what happened here on Saturday.
“Police, SARS, soldiers, criminals were hired to intimidate, harass and torture our supporters.
“Members of the same political party, APC.
“You may ask what happened during the congresses.
“Let me use my local government area as an example.
“I am from Eleme LGA.
“Orji Ngofa, a former local government chairman and now an Ambassador, led people and police to Eteo community.
“They shot sporadically and cars were destroyed.
“They shot guns, chased people around and caused so much mayhem.
“Is that how they conduct primaries?
“SARS personnel were deployed all over the place, down to the unit level.
“Armed men took over entire wards.
“For me it’s strange.
“If you ask questions about the irregularities witnessed during the charade of as congress, you will be harassed, intimidated and asked to frog jump.
“I have received over four calls to report to the police.
“If this SARS people are not called to order, I wonder what will happen.
“If SARS can be used to intimidate people for a party congress, what will happen in the general election?
“Over 40 persons who went to the secretariat to collect their forms were arrested and detained and some of them are already being charged to court.”
Speaking on the development, another stakeholder and member representing Ikwerre/Emohua Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Elder Chidi Wihioka, disclosed that party congresses like elections is a process not an event.
Wihioka said: “Election is a process.
“Aspirants go to the bank, pay and take their tellers to the party secretariat, collect the forms and go back to their wards for their sponsors to sign and then take the form back to the secretariat before they can be declared candidates.
“That’s the process.
“Ward congresses are local based elections.
“Most of the aspirants are artisans, farmers, traders, etc.
“For them to get N10,000 to pay for the forms and come down to Port Harcourt is not an easy thing.
“So what we are dealing with here is a failed process, from the beginning to the end.
“How will APC print forms without result sheets?
“How is that possible?
“Without result sheets, what will the party national officers take back to Abuja?
“Will they cram the names of all the candidates?
“How could they claim to have sold forms to over 8,000 aspirants within a few hours.
“If you have two persons per position and per ward, that will make it 16,000.
“You can see that the congress was a sham.
“How could you have contested the ward congresses without a form?
“How come that for just ward congresses SARS was deployed?
“DCP OPS Steve Hasso ordered that I should be detained and my phones seized because I challenged the irregularities.
“Has SARS been re-created for congresses?
“There was no congress anywhere.”
Wihioka stated that the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, did not even go to Ubima for the congress, pointing out that at Ubima, there was shooting from 6am to 4pm to scare party members from coming out.
The federal lawmaker claimed that the same scenario was witnessed at Emohua local government area of the state, where shooting was recorded at Elibrada, Rumuakunde and other communities.
He therefore called on Buhari and the leadership of the APC to make a statement and distance the party leadership from the charade that was enacted in Rivers State in the name of ward congress, which was orchestrated and supervised by one of his appointees.
Also speaking, Hon. Worgu Boms, a former Attorney General of the State and Commissioner for Justice under Amaechi, faulted claims that there was a ward congress in the state.
Boms said: “As at Wednesday, Ibiamu Ikanya, the party chairman, had admitted at a meeting that the election materials for the ward congress were with him.
“From that Wednesday to Friday, he failed to release the forms.
“On Friday, I went to the secretariat and met party members in their numbers who were peacefully waiting for the forms to be released.
“It was only after SARS personnel arrived and started shooting that some violence erupted.
“There were over 4,000 people at the secretariat as at the time of the shooting by SARS.
“How is it possible that all these people are Senator Magnus Abe’s supporters?
“Dakuku Peterside, Dumo Lulu Briggs, Tonye Princewill, Tonye Cole, Chidi Lloyd, Sekonte Davies, etc, are all coming out for governor, why are they not being singled out for blame?
“Were their supporters not at the secretariat?”
Also, another stakeholder, Dr. Ipalibo Harry, a former Commissioner under Amaechi, said it is sad that under APC, the same impunity that characterized the Peoples Democratic Party is being witnessed.
Harry said: “It is sad and unfortunate that young men and women who spent their hard earned money should be treated this way.
“Our party members expected a genuine congress and not this fraudulent sham.”
GRPolitics
PDP Crisis: Saraki, Dickson, Dankwambo Storm Enugu, Meet with Gov Mbah
… South East is important to PDP, says Saraki – REPORTER: SANDRA ANI


In a clear bid to stem the tide of crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the PDP Special Reconciliation Committee chaired by former President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, Friday, met with the governor of Enugu State and leader of the party in the South East region, Dr. Peter Mbah.
Other members of the Committee present at the meeting, which held behind closed doors at the Government House, Enugu, were former governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Seriake Dickson, and former governor of Gombe State, Dr. Ibrahim Dankwambo.
It is recalled that the leaders of PDP in the zone had in a communique issued after the South East PDP Zonal Executive Council, ZEC, meeting a fortnight ago announced the re-nomination of former PDP National Youth Leader, Hon. Sunday Udeh-Okoye, to serve out the remaining tenure of the National Secretary, threatening possible exodus should their decision not be respected.
“In the event that our position is not promptly implemented by the Party, the South East PDP, as a family, will be compelled to reconsider our relationship with the PDP going forward,” the communique stated.
But addressing newsmen after the closed-door meeting with Mbah, Saraki said, “We are members of the PDP Reconciliation and Strategy Committee that was set up recently by the PDP Governors’ Forum to work towards ensuring that our upcoming National Executive Council meeting and also likely convention is rancor-free and and works smoothly.
“In line with that, we are here in Enugu State to consult with one of our leaders, Governor Peter Mbah, who is the leader of South East PDP.
“This is the first state we are coming to because we appreciate the importance of the South East in our PDP family. As you all know, the South East has played a key role as the bedrock of the popularity and the strength of our party.
“In recognition of that, we are here to consult with him and first to commend him on the leadership role he has been playing in the party. More importantly also, to commend what he is doing in Enugu State, which is a reflection for Nigerians to see what happens when you have a PDP government.
“In doing that, we discussed how we will ensure that we carry out the assignment given to us and go ahead to have our NEC and our convention. We will have one that is rancor-free and smooth, peaceful and lays the foundation for the PDP that we all are wishing for.
“We have had a very good discussion. Frankly, we have had a very, very useful discussion. We are going away with some of the suggestions that we have here and hopefully work on that.
“With this, we can say here in Enugu we laid the foundation for a greater new PDP that is coming.
“What we have also seen today is that there is nothing insurmountable in the challenge ahead and the spirit, the commitment of all of us, especially our leaders, is very very inspiring,” he stated.
GRPolitics
Ratify Udeh-Okoye as National Secretary or Face Mass Exit, South East Threatens PDP


… It’s time to stand together – Mbah
… We’ve been trampled upon – Wabara
… We don’t want to be taken for granted – Achike Udenwa
The crisis currently rocking the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has worsened as the South East caucus of the party has threatened mass exit from the troubled party if its choice of Hon. Udeh-Okoye as the National Secretary is not respected for the umpteenth time.
This was even as the governor of Enugu State and leader of the PDP in the zone, Dr. Peter Mbah, said it was time for the zone to speak with one voice, while the Chairman of PDP Board of Trustees, Senator Adolphus Wabara, and former governor of Imo State, Chief Achike Udenwa, expressed fury over what they described as the party’s disrespecting and trampling of the region.
The zone vented its displeasure in a communique read by the Zonal Chairman, Chief Ali Odefa, at the end of a meeting by the South East Zonal Executive, ZEC, at the Government House, Enugu on Wednesday.
It said the meeting was convened to nominate a candidate to complete the remaining term of the position of National Secretary in line with the directive of the party’s National Working Committee, NWC, during its 600th meeting in Abuja.
Rendering the communique, Odefa said, “The South East ZEC exhaustively deliberated on the directive of the NWC and came to the conclusion that it offered a sure pathway to peace, unity, stability, and progress of our party. Consequently, the ZEC unanimously recommended Hon. Sunday Udeh-Okoye as the candidate to complete the term of office of the National Secretary.”
The South East PDP, however regretted that it had to go through the process of nominating Udeh-Okoye severally since October 2023, and urged the NWC to not only immediately ratify his nomination, but also ensure that Arch. Setonji Koshoedo effectively occupies the Office of the National Secretary in acting capacity pending Udeh-Okoye’s ratification by the NEC.
The South East PDP, however, threatened to review its continued membership of the party should its position suffer further delay despite its agelong loyalty to the PDP.
“The South East has consistently served as a stronghold of the PDP from inception. In PDP’s near three-decade existence, we have given our loyalty and all to the party.
“Currently, while the party has been losing key members post-2023 general elections, the South East PDP is at the vanguard of strengthening the Party by rallying major opposition figures such as in Enugu where the Labour Party, LP, gubernatorial candidate, two LP House of Representatives Members, numerous members of the House of Assembly, among other stalwarts into the PDP fold.
“Therefore, we hope that this time around, the position of the South East PDP regarding the Office of the National Secretary is accorded the honour and immediacy it deserves. This would bring to a closure to the needless lingering dispute over the matter.
“However, in the event that our position is not promptly implemented by the Party, the South East PDP, as a family, will be compelled to reconsider our relationship with the PDP going forward,” the communique concluded.
Wabara, on his part, said it was in order to review the region’s relationship with the party should what he described as trampling of the zone by the party persist.
“We have been trampled upon, not taken seriously. If such a position were vacant in the South-South, it would not be like this. And now, it came to us. I mean, the usual thing is to play politics with the Igbo man. Yes, we may have to reconsider our stand as far as the party is concerned. But I trust the NWC,” he stated.
Udenwa, on his part, Udenwa said, “We are expecting that this issue will be finally ironed out once and for all. We do not want to be taken for granted by anybody again.”
GRPolitics
2nd anniversary: Nsukka leaders score Gov Mbah’s administration high
…as Nsukka retired army generals, DSS, police throw weight behind Mbah’s security reforms


Leaders of Enugu North Senatorial District, also known as Nsukka Zone, have scored the administration of the state governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, very high and satisfactory, stating that the governor’s second anniversary in office deserved commendations.
This was as retired senior security chiefs, comprising army generals, directors of the Department of State Services (DSS), commissioners of police, among others, declared support for the governor’s security reforms and tech-driven policing system.
The Nsukka leaders who converged on Adada House, Nsukka, weekend, under the aegis of Enugu State Coalition for Progress, Enugu North Senatorial Zone Chapter, comprised a cross section of socio-cultural groups, senior academics, retired security officers, captains of industry, traditional rulers, association of farmers, politicians, among others, drawn from the 6 council areas, said the governor had done well in the governance of the state.
The gathering which featured a dialogue series themed, H.E Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah Administration – The Journey So Far (Education, Politics & Security), had the former Minister of National Planning and Chief Economic Adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Prof Osita Ogbu, delivering the keynote address.
Referring to the former Singaporean Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew’s sacrifices that led to the transformation of Singapore from a third world country to a developed nation, Prof Ogbu said the country was in need of leaders that were committed to the welfare and growth of their people.
He commended the governor for substituting partisan politics for all-inclusive, people-driven governance in the state.
Noting that the governor was fulfilling his campaign promises, Prof Ogbu pointed at the revitalization and completion of abandoned projects, funding of quality education, financial independence through fiscal discipline, private sector mentality and efficiency in public governance.
Speaking on the concept of “Tomorrow Is Here,” the renowned economist said the governance philosophy had zero tolerance for lazy and unintelligent acts, zero tolerance for corruption, strive for new opportunities, adherence to strict democratic accountability, clean and green environment, and the pursuit for healthy and happy citizens with rights and responsibilities.
“We did analyses of the budgets of all the states and we did a comparison. Enugu State, in absolute terms, in relative terms, spends more on education than even Lagos State. It’s the highest spender on education across the federation,” he added.
Speaking on security, a discussant, Maj. General Victor Ezeugwu (rtd), said the retired veterans from the zone met with the governor on some of the challenges facing the zone with proposals, adding that the governor had already done almost 60% of them.
“We visited the Command and Control Centre in Enugu today, and from that centre we watched Uzo Uwani and the forests around Uzo Uwani, and other areas, and all of us were very amazed that he has brought technology to bear on security. We’ve proposed to the governor that all the senatorial zones have a replica of that spectacular innovation which he has promised,” Ezeugwu said.
The veteran, who called for a joint taskforce where all the security apparatuses would work in sync to tackle the menace of killer herders and the ESN, said Governor Mbah had provided welfare and also informed them of the planned increment of salaries for local vigilante and neighbourhood watch operatives.
Acknowledging that veterans from the zone were already working in synergy with the governor through a 5-man committee approved by him, Gen Ezeugwu called on the people of the district to support the state government to do more.
Also speaking were the Member representing Igboeze North/Udenu Federal Constituency, Rt Hon Dennis Agbo, the Deputy Speaker of Enugu State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Ezenta Ezeani, Special Adviser to the Governor on Education Innovation, Dr. Chinyere Onyeisi, Coordinator of the group, Hon Chinedu Onuh, and the secretary, Prof Simon Ortuanya, who lauded the governor for championing landmark projects in the zone.
Justifying the significance of the gathering, Hon Agbo said the governor had done well particularly for the people of the zone which was the motive behind the discussion. He called on the people to continue their support for the administration.
Lending his voice, the Deputy Speaker said it was time to tell the world the remarkable projects the governor was championing in the senatorial zone, and to also convey a message of appreciation to him.
“From what we have gathered from our people, the governor is getting more popular on a daily basis. It’s because of the litany of development projects and it has never happened, so we’ve come out en masse to appreciate his good works. We’re a very grateful people, and we are grateful to the governor. What we’re discussing here is governance beyond politics,” he added.
On her part, Dr Onyeisi stressed that the world-class 260 smart schools in the state were an initiative of the Mbah administration to address inadequate infrastructure, outdated curricula, and equip both teachers and students with the essential soft skills for the 21st century tech revolution.
Declaring support for the governor on behalf of other security chiefs, Maj. Gen. Godwin Ugwuoke (rtd) said security comes first in any clime at all levels, saying the governor had accepted to set in motion all that was required to execute the terms and proposals made by them.
According to him, “Everything that he’s putting in place, it’s only security that will make us enjoy it – the economy, education, health, and all that the government is doing. The most important thing we from the Enugu North Zone can do is to encourage him to continue to do more, and let us not distract him unnecessarily. From afar, you’d think that the governor is unapproachable, but if you approach him with a good idea, you’ll discover that this is a leader.”
Other dignitaries at the dialogue moderated by the Chairman of Udenu LGA, Mr Aka Eze Aka, were the former Secretary to the Enugu State Government, Dr Dan Shere, the Chairman of Enugu State Traditional Rulers Council, His Majesty, Igwe Samuel Ikechukwu Asadu, State Secretary of PDP, Chief Chukwudi Nnadozie, foremost entrepreneur, Mr. Emeka Ugwu-Oju, and the chairmen of the 6 local government areas of the zone led by the Deputy Chairman of the State Chapter of ALGON, Barr Ferdinand Ugwueze, among others.