A former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara has officially parted ways with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Yakubu Dogara was received into the party during the presidential campaign by the presidential candidate of the PDP and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar in, Lagos.
This comes barely 48 hours after the Northern Leaders Consultative Forum led by Dogara adopted Atiku as the preferred presidential candidate for the 2023 election.
He was drafted into Atiku’s Presidential Campaign Council over the weekend.
The five Peoples Democratic Party governors led by Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike will today; Thursday, meet in London, United Kingdom.
Governor Nyesom Wike, Governors Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) and Samuel Ortom (Benue) recently withdrew their membership of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, insisting on the removal of the National Chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu.
Govenor Wike says He is not happy with the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar after the latter settled for the Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate despite reportedly having an agreement to run with the Rivers State’s governor on a joint ticket after Wike lost to him in the primary election.
The Governors who were conspicuously absent from the Atiku campaign flag off in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom state capital, are meeting in London today to take far reaching decisions ahead of the 2023 polls.
It was learnt that Monday’s decision by the party and Atiku to flag off the campaign without Wike and his allies may have informed the latest meeting.
So far, efforts to reconcile Atiku and Wike’s allies have not been successful. The Board of Trustees of the party led by the acting Chairman, Adolphus Wabara, set up a reconciliation committee to intervene in the lingering crisis but have been unable to broker peace as expected.
Wike has vowed to remain in the party, promising however not to have anything to do with the presidential campaigns unless Ayu leaves.
Ahead of today’s flag-off of the Peoples Democratic Party -PDP’s Presidential Campaign in Akwa Ibom State in Uyo, the state capital is witnessing a convergence of high profiled delegations of PDP stakeholders who started arriving on Sunday. Among them are the Vice Presidential candidate and governor of Delta State, Dr. IFEANYI OKOWA, Governor GODWIN OBASEKI of Edo State, Bayelsa state Governor DOUYE DIRI, former Cross River State Governor, LIYEL IMOKE, amongst others.The host Governor and Chairman of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, Mr. UDOM EMMANUEL, who was on hand to receive the delegations at the Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo, expressed delight over the hosting of the campaign flag-off and thanked the leadership of the Party for entrusting him and other members of the campaign council with the task of driving the Atiku/Okowa rescue mission.Giving assurances of the Campaign Council’s preparedness for a grand rally to launch the PDP to victory, Governor EMMANUEL said the flag-off promises to be stunning, adding that the outstanding performances by PDP Governors have given impetus to the party.
The Edo state Government’s land reclamation efforts in Benin city, the Edo state Capital had led to a war of words between top political parties in the state. The reclamation exercise which has led to the demolition of over 100 buildings in Irhirihi, Arougba, Obazagbon and Ogheghe communities is said to be targeted in order to take over APC strongholds.
The APC, in a statement on Monday, by its chairman, Col. David Imuse (retd.), accused the state government of hiding under the guise of building a new town to take over the area.
The party also faulted the state government’s claim that the area had over the years been acquired by the government and known as Ogba Forest Reserve, but still went ahead to issue a Certificate of Occupancy to genuine buyers.
He said, “As a party, we condemn in strong terms these illegal demolitions by the jittery and rudderless PDP-led administration in the state. We see this policy of regularly demolishing public and private properties by the Obaseki-led government as irrational, evil and undemocratic.
“Before this land was forcefully acquired by the same government in 2017, it was the world-renowned Ogba River Forest Reserve, which successive governments before Obaseki used for reforestation purposes.”
However, the Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media Projects, Crusoe Osagie, has lambasted the APC state chapter for faulting the government’s determination to end land-grabbing in the state.
He noted that the party and its leaders were afraid because they were the main culprits in the illegal enterprise and were scared that they would be caught in the web as the exercise progresses.
He said, “The APC in the state is jittery over the determination of Governor Obaseki to end land-grabbing in Edo, because they are the land-grabbers.
“The party and its leaders are throwing tantrums today over the repossession exercise in Irhirhi-Obazagbon-Ogheghe Road because while they held office, the APC and its chieftains promoted the appropriation of community land with the use of non-state actors and overlords, who in the run-up to the Edo State governorship election in 2020 were popularly known as lions and tigers.
“Obaseki parted ways with the APC, chiefly due to such ideological differences.”
