Politics
‘Drug conviction’: Tinubu now begging Atiku not to go to court – PDP
Emissaries are being sent to the camp of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council (PDP-PCC), not to follow through its threat to go to court to prove that Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu is a convicted drug baron, and to stop him from being elected Nigerian President on that score on the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Kola Ologbodiyan, spokesman of the PDP-PCC, made the revelation on Wednesday, while affirming that the party was already putting together all its papers to push on with the matter, insisting that it would be dangerous for a person like the former Governor of Lagos State to preside over Nigeria as the number one citizen.
A guest of The Morning Show, a breakfast programme on Arise Television, Ologbodiyan, who did not reveal the PDP response to the emissaries, said however wondered how such a rapprochement could work, when Tinubu himself, whom he described as the leader of the pack, was the main instigator of the aggression against Atiku and the PDP campaigns.
Responding on how far the case the APC Presidential Campaign Council (APC-PCC), filed by the spokesman, Festus Keyamo, had gone, he said: “To the best of my knowledge in the campaign, I’m not aware, because as at last night, I don’t think that we have been served and nobody has told me that there are court documents that are hanging around our campaigns of service. But I’m also aware that on the Colombian matter and the drug-related issue, concerning the forfeiture of $460,000 and the fact that a court convicted Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu, our people are in court.
“I’m also not unaware about emissaries being sent around on the need for issues to be resolved amicably and for the campaigns to continue. I’m also not unaware about some people running around in the court to find out where the matter is.
“When I said that emissaries are being sent, it is directly proportional to the fact that emissaries are being sent to our campaign on the need to leave all those issues and concentrate on the campaigns on the need to create a harmony between the Atiku campaign and Bola Ahmed Tinubu campaign.
“We’re also aware of the people going around the courts to go and search where the matter is being filed. But they should wait for it, whether Nigerians will allow a convicted personality to be their President. At any rate, the songs on the street are clear to listeners and even the campaigns as you can see gradually, the campaign of Tinubu has collapsed, internally and outwardly. So, we’re not bothered about those allegations. We’re not bothered about getting hirelings and going around to hire blackmailers to come after Atiku.
“We’re not bothered. Aitku was Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who has been investigated, and not one indictment has been found, and not one conviction has been found. But when the Tinubu people come out to the public arena to speak, what I normally ask myself is that do these people have a process of checking themselves? Do they do due diligence upon themselves before they come to the public arena?”
Accusing Tinubu of being the architect of the attacks, he said the Atiku campaign would never shirk the responsibility of defending him, having been the major victim of the attacks, adding that the former VP, remained the candidate of Nigerians, whom everybody was rallying around to make their President.
Dwelling on the issue of emissaries, he added: “I can repeat it over and over that emissaries are being sent. There’s no argument about that – that you people should drop all these allegations and all that. However, the leader of the pack, at every opportunity will still go after Atiku Abubakar. Speak to Nigerians on what you want to do. Come to Arise TV and let Nigerians ask you questions. Choose to even go to TVC and let Nigerians see you engaging in 10-minutes debate. They’ll run away, they can’t bring up their principal.”
A legal tussle is in the offing to determine the fate of the June 20 by-election to fill the vacancy in the Enugu North senatorial district at the National Assembly, following the decision of the Labour Party (LP) to challenge the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to exclude it from participating.
INEC had approved the participation of only three political parties for the exercise to fill the vacant seat left by Okey Ezea, who died last year, to the exclusion of scores of others including the LP under whose platform the former Senator won the seat in 2023.
Ken Asogwa, spokesman of the party, who gave the update on the next line of action, said LP had already approached the Federal High Court, Abuja, to challenge the decision on the ground of wrongful exclusion, saying that the party was deeply disturbed over INEC’s action, especially the reason it gave for it.
Asogwa, who conveyed the decision through a statement on Monday, wondered how its candidate would made to pay for the ineptitude of INEC itself, which failed to carry out its constitutional responsibility.
Stressing that the party complied with all statutory requirements and procedural guidelines, but was still denied access to upload the particulars of its candidate on INEC’s nomination portal, the statement, added: “Up until the close of the submission window on June 2, the party made several efforts, including formal protests and correspondences to the commission, seeking the resolution of the issue, but these efforts yielded no positive result
“The party fulfilled every legal and administrative obligation required under the Electoral Act and INEC’s extant regulations in the nomination of its candidate. Labour Party finds it difficult to understand the basis upon which it had been excluded from an election in which it had a legitimate and undeniable stake.
“It is both disturbing and deeply concerning that the head of Elections and Party Monitoring (EPM) in Enugu State reportedly justified his refusal to transmit the report of the Labour Party’s primary election on the ground that he was out of town on the day the exercise was conducted.
“This excuse is untenable and raises serious questions about the discharge of official responsibilities. Labour Party cannot be made to suffer the consequences of an official’s absence, negligence, incompetence or dereliction of duty.
“Electoral processes and the constitutional rights of political parties cannot be subjected to the convenience or personal circumstances of individual officers. If the officer was unavailable, it is incumbent upon him or INEC in Enugu to ensure that appropriate arrangements were made for the monitoring and reporting of the exercise.
“INEC should not be penalising a political party that duly complied with all statutory requirements. The Electoral Act only requires political parties to duly notify INEC of their primaries. The party complied fully with this statutory requirement. The legality and validity of the exercise cannot be vitiated by INEC’s absence, as neither the Electoral Act nor the commission’s regulation made its physical presence a mandatory condition for the conduct of a party primary election.”
Expressing confidence in Joash Amupitan, INEC Chairman to do the right thing, he however called on the commission investigate the actions taken by its staff members in Enugu and take decisive action against anyone found culpable.
His words: “Electoral institutions derive their legitimacy from public trust and every effort must be made to protect the integrity of the electoral process. It would amount to a grave injustice for Labour Party to be denied the opportunity of presenting a candidate in an election convened to fill a vacancy created by the death of one of its serving senators.
“Such an outcome would not only undermine the rights of the party and its supporters but it tends to diminish the democratic choices available to the people of Enugu North senatorial district in the coming by-election.
“As the party places its confidence in the impartiality and wisdom of the Nigerian judiciary, it urges all its members and supporters in Enugu North and across the country to remain calm while the matter is being determined by the courts.”
A conciliatory Atiku Abubakar, in magnanimity with victory, extended the olive branch to Rotimi Amaechi and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, the pair he defeated on Wednesday night to clinch the ticket of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for next year’s presidential election.
He appealed to both men never to abandon the party ahead of the election, scheduled for January 2027, but to close ranks to ensure victory for both party, Nigeria as a country and the people currently under the bondage of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Extending the olive branch shortly after being handed the party flag, officially declaring him as the candidate, he said: “I therefore appeal to all those who feel aggrieved to come back to our party and close ranks with the rest of us. In particular, I invite Chief Rotimi Anechi and Alhaji Muhammad Hayatu-Deen to join me in this fight to save our democracy and our country.
“As I said previously, there are no winners and no losers. Our people look up to us for leadership and I am ready to lead,” he said.
He added that he would work with other aspirants and stakeholders to build the party ahead of the general election.
“I shall work with you all to continue to build our party. I will campaign with you and if Nigeria’s leaders demand it, govern with you to build a country that works for all of us.”
The appeal is coming hours after both Amaechi, former Governor of Rivers State and former Minister of Transportation and Hayatu-Deen, former Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), rejected the result, even before it was announced, citing what they described as manipulation of the voting process, with Hayatu-Deen saying he would not attend the announcement of the result.
Regardless, Atiku, Nigeria’s former Vice President between 1999 and 2007, said he truly humbled and excited to lead the party into the next elections, adding that he was particularly excited by the party’s demonstration of internal democracy despite the position of naysayers.
Hear him: “I must state at this juncture that this is not the time to celebrate. No one was defeated because we are one party and we all need to recognise the fierce urgency of the moment.
“Therefore, we have to unite, as we pledged before this process, to work to pull our country and our people out of the destructive grip of a corrupt, incompetent and polarising APC government.
“I thank the primary elections Committee for organising peaceful, free, fair and transparent primaries. I thank the various leadership organs of our party, the various stakeholders, and volunteers for their hard work and dedication and all our party members and supporters for their efforts, patience and conduct during the process.
“With the primaries behind us, the real hard work is about to begin. We have to prepare to campaign hard to win the next general elections in order to begin the difficult process of rescuing our country and its long-suffering people from this government.”
“I will not be attending the announcement of the ADC Presidential Election Results today. I am concerned by reports from across the country of widespread vote rigging, some of which I myself observed, and will therefore be taking advice on my next steps.”
These were the exact words of Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, one of the presidential aspirants of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), with which he cast a slur on the ongoing presidential primaries of the party, hinging his position on reports of fraud trailing the exercise.
Hayatu-Deen, a second timer in the search for the nation’s number one job, ran against Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria’s former Vice President and Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation.
In a statement on his assessment of the exercise which began on Monday, the renowned economist Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), used his X platform to convey his dissatisfaction with the process.
The ADC which said the collation for the exercise would take place in Abuja had urged aspirants, party leaders, delegates, and members to conduct themselves peacefully and uphold party unity.
Bolaji Abdullahi, its spokesman, who described the exercise as a defining moment for both the ADC and Nigerians seeking a credible political alternative, maintained that it remained committed to internal democracy and a transparent leadership selection process.
“The ADC remains proud to stand today as the only truly democratic party in Nigeria because it is the only political party whose choice of presidential candidate is determined through open primaries,” he said adding that the conduct of aspirants and party members during the exercise would reflect the leadership culture the ADC seeks to promote.
-
News4 weeks agoBREAKING: US-Nigeria troops slaughter 175 ISWAP fighters
-
Columns3 weeks agoDear General Gowon: That apology you’re running from is your nemesis
-
News2 weeks agoBREAKING: Terrorists strike Ibadan again! Abduct ex-Minister’s sister, twin children
-
News4 weeks agoBREAKING: Wait over! Arsenal are CHAMPIONS! Win EPL after 22 years hiatus
-
Columns3 weeks agoSee Tinubu’s terrible damage on Option A4 and its precious memories
-
News4 weeks agoBREAKING: Jonathan emerges presidential candidate *Gets automatic PDP ticket!
-
News4 weeks agoPresidency: Obi met all requirements – NDC *Cleared to contest primaries
-
News2 weeks agoEmeka Ike: I’ll make example of Lere Olayinka for prying into my privacy