Connect with us

News

Damagun, NWC sabotaging us – Abia PDP *Says, party risks missing council polls

Published

on

Unless Wadata Plaza, headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), acts fast to reverse its current nonchalant attitude towards the party’s structure in Abia State, its chances of participating in the forthcoming Local Government Area (LGA), election scheduled for November, are now heavily threatened, among other dire consequences.

This was the alarm raised on Monday by the Rebranded Abia PDP Forum (RAPF), a PDP group in Abia State, as it accused the National Working Committee of the Party (NWC), of deliberately neglecting and sabotaging the party in the state, an attitude, which it alleged was part of a grand plot being hatched to undermine its fortunes.

Directly accusing the NWC of acting in cahoots with an opposition party in the state and a member of the party’s Board of Trustees to destroy the party, the group, which was at the party’s National Secretariat to submit their protest letter to Iliya Umaru Damagun, the PDP Acting National Chairman, and other members of the NWC, the group expressed shock that more than two months after some members obtained a court injunction against the former State Working Committee (SWC) and the conduct of the state congress, no efforts whatsoever had been made to constitute a caretaker committee to supervise the affairs of the party in the state, pending the exhaustion of the court processes.

John Okiyi Kalu, former Commissioner for Information, Trade & Investment in the state, while railing against the alleged sponsorship of some elements to obtain the court injunction, expressed dismay that the party leadership in Abuja has not been supporting the state chapter and appears to be playing a script aimed at polarising and paralysing its affairs.

Advertisement

He said: “For more than 10 months after Hon Aaron Uzodike of PDP was declared winner of the Aba North State Constituency election, the Alex Otti-led government and the Labour Party in Abia State did everything to frustrate his inauguration. We were therefore locked in a serious battle with Governor Alex Otti and members of Labour Party to ensure that Hon Aaron Uzodike was inaugurated as ordered by the courts. Despite this long battle, we did not receive any support from the NWC of our party even after repeatedly briefing them on the matter.

“Not even a single press statement came from the NWC to condemn the governor’s despotic action and join us to pressure him to do the right thing. And as if that was not enough, it is now more than two months since some fifth columnists were sponsored to obtain a court injunction against the party’s congress in Abia. Unfortunately, the NWC has not deemed it fit to constitute a caretaker committee since then thereby leaving the party to float without leadership.

“We wish to bring it to your notice that LGA elections in Abia State have been scheduled for November with party primaries expected to commence Tuesday, September 24, yet PDP members in the state are unable to obtain nomination forms and contest due to the absence of a constituted leadership. We find thus both strange and worrisome.

“Whereas PDP remains the strongest political party in Abia State with 12 elected members in the state House of Assembly, and National Assembly members, yet, it has no SWC. At the moment, there is even no known effort by the NWC to vacate the obnoxious court injunction, and also punish the infiltrators who took the party to court for not first utilising the internal conflict resolution mechanisms of the party, in line with our constitution. Instead, all we hear from the rumor mill is that there are members of the NWC and BOT involved in the destabilisation agenda.”

While delivering the letter, which was endorsed by party chieftains from the three senatorial districts of the state, including Christopher Enweremadu (Abia Central) and Kingsley Nna (Abia South), Okiyi as a PDP chieftain from Abia North called for unity of purpose within the party to ensure that it wins all future elections in the state.

Advertisement

He added: “Our party can easily win all elections in the state because we remain the only party with structures across the state and members who know how to win elections based on experience over the years. Let the NWC do its job and allow us to do the rest otherwise they should all bear responsibility for the looming total disintegration of the party in the state.

“We won’t hesitate to put all their names in our hall of shame, if they don’t act expeditiously. We call on the national leadership of the party to immediately constitute a caretaker committee to conclude the congress of the party and carry out the functions of the state working committee pending the inauguration of a new state working committee.”

Share this story:

News

BREAKING: Death penalty for fake drugs! *NAFDAC to push new law at NASS

Published

on

Those peddling fake and substandard drugs in Nigeria should be ready for the hangman’s noose, if the thinking of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), becomes the new law.

Mojisola Adeyeye, Director General of the body, who said on Friday that no other form of punishment is fitting enough, gave instances of where the application of such dangerous substances in form of health drugs, had led to fatalities.

Advocating that only stiff penalties would deter peddlers especially when deaths of children became involved, the NAFDAC boss, who appeared as a guest on The Morning Brief, a breakfast programme on Channels Television, said: “Somebody bought children’s medicine for N13,000 or something like that, another person was selling about N3,000 in the same mall. 

“That raised an alarm. Guess what? There was nothing inside that medicine when we tested it in our Kaduna lab. So, I want the death penalty. Because you don’t need to put a gun on the head of a child before you kill that child. Just give that child bad medicine.”

Advertisement

Advocating that the National Assembly and the judiciary to make the proposal a reality, adding that the agency was open to partnering with lawmakers and other stakeholders on the matter, she added: “You cannot fight substandard, falsified medicine in isolation. The agency can do as much as it can but if there is no deterrent, there’s going to be a problem.

“Somebody brought in 225mg of Tramadol that can kill anybody, fry the brain and you give a judgment of five years in prison or N250,000. Who doesn’t know that that person will go to the ATM and get N250,000? That is part of our problem.

“There are no strict measures to deter [people] from repeating the same thing. We can do as much as we can but if our law is not strong enough, or the judiciary is not strong enough to stand up, we’re going to have a problem.

“So, our judiciary system must be strong enough. But we are working with the National Assembly to make our penalties very stiff.  But if you kill a child by bad medicine, you deserve to die. We have a lot on our plate in stemming drug peddling.

“Withe about 2,000 staff members nationwide and limited funding, NAFDAC is constrained in carrying out its activities. So, when it comes to staffing, you’re right on the point. We are short-staffed and I am hoping things will be better.”

Advertisement

Share this story:
Continue Reading

News

Give us electoral offences tribunal to take care of heist – INEC  

Published

on

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday, made a fresh push for the creation of an electoral offences tribunal, to curb the cases of attacks on the Nigerian democratic system.

Mahmood Yakubu, INEC Chairman, told reporters at the commission’s first regular quarterly consultative meeting with the media that the tribunal had become important owing to the backlog of electoral offence cases.

He said: “A major obstacle to the speedy dispensation of justice in this regard is that electoral offences are not time-bound as is the case with post-election offences through the tribunals. Furthermore, they are solely prosecuted by the Magistrate and State High Courts in the jurisdiction where the alleged offences are committed,” the INEC chief told the gathering.

“No priority attention is given to such cases as the courts deal with a variety of other cases. Consequently, electoral offences are carried over from one General Election to another which may sometimes affect the diligent prosecution of the cases. It is therefore imperative to renew our call for the creation of the Electoral Offences Tribunal that have a specific jurisdiction and limited timeframe for the speedy dispensation of cases.”

Advertisement

Bemoaning the delay in the justice delivery system, citing the conviction of a returning officer in Akwa Ibom after six years in court, the INEC boss, said: “The recent successful prosecution of a Returning Officer in Akwa Ibom State is a case in point.

“The Commission has been diligently pursuing the case which arose from the 2019 General Election. In this particular case, it took nearly six years to achieve the successful prosecution at the trial court.

“Through our collaboration with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) cases involving 774 alleged offenders from the 2023 General Election are being prosecuted. So far, successful prosecutions have been recorded in Kebbi and Kogi States while our collaboration with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on vote-buying has yielded similar results in Lagos, Kwara, and Gombe States. Yet, many cases are still pending.”

Advertisement
Share this story:
Continue Reading

News

Again, terrorists attack Sokoto, kidnap 10 worshippers at a mosque

Published

on

A mosque in Bushe community, Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State, fell into the hands of bandits on Friday, after which 10 worshippers including the Imam were spirited away, adding to growing cases of terrorist attacks.

Channels Television reports that the gunmen invaded the mosque on Thursday while worshippers were performing their early morning Subhi prayer, quoting residents as saying that the gunmen had been molesting the people of the community for some time now, even with the presence of security agents.

Ahmed Rufai, spokesman of the Sokoto State Police Command, who confirmed the attack on Friday, said the police authorities were working with other security agencies to rescue the abducted victims.

A member of the Sokoto State House of Assembly, representing the Sabon Birni B state Constituency who also confirmed the attack, commended the security agencies for their timely intervention.

Advertisement

Share this story:
Continue Reading

Trending