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Secondus Says PDP Rejects Shift In Election Date

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.says its Buhari’s agenda to cling to power 

..…….calls on INEC Chairman to resign immediately 

The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Prince Uche Secondus has said that shoddy arrangement for this election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is a deliberate pre determined agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari to cling on to power even when it’s obvious to him that Nigerians want him out.

Prince Secondus said that the postponement which is part of a grand design by the All Progressives Congress, APC, to thwart the will of Nigerians at all cost, clearly exposes INEC as a failure and calls on the Chairman of the Commission, Prof Mahmood Yakubu to resign immediately.

The PDP leader warns that the party will not accept anything short of a well organized electoral process devoid of manipulation, harassment and intimidation of voters and the opposition particularly members of the PDP.

Having failed in all their nefarious options to enable them cling on to power, the APC and the INEC came up with the idea of shifting election an action that is dangerous to our democracy and unacceptable.

The National Chairman said that the APC in connivance with the INEC have been trying all options including but not limited to burning down INEC offices in some states and destroying of electoral materials to create artificial problems upon which to stand for their dubious act.

According to a statement from the National Chairman’s media office signed by Ike Abonyi, Prince Secondus said that the party is privy to all the pressures from the APC and the federal government to arm twist the INEC, to dance to their new strategy after their earlier ones failed.

“With several of their rigging options failing, they have to force INEC to agree to a shift in the election or a staggered election with flimsy excuses pre manufactured for the purpose.

“For the avoidance of doubt the PDP sees this action as wicked and we are also aware of other dubious designs like the deployment of hooded security operatives who would be ruthless on the people ostensibly to scare them away.

He said that by the action of the President he has further demonstrated his insensitivity costing the huge cost after Nigerians including those who came home from abroad have all mobilized to their various constituencies.

The National Chairman recalls that the PDP had earlier alerted Nigerians that the APC was coming up with lined up rigging strategies including burning down of INEC offices and engineering crisis in PDP strong hold areas to scare away the people.

Prince Secondus said that the wicked killing of over 60 persons mostly women and children in Southern Kaduna on the eve of election is a copious ploy by the APC to frighten the people away from voting knowing too well that they were not going to record any vote from the area.

“Recall that the Governor of Kaduna state, Mallam Nasir el rufai had earlier threatened international election observers of going to their country in body bags and with the fatal violence in the state on the eve of election, it’s clear what the motives are, to frighten the observers from the state so that he can carry out his nefarious acts.

The National Chairman also drew the attention of all lovers of democracy to the statement of President Buhari on the international media that nobody can unseat him from office as an indication of what he wants to do.

Prince Secondus also regretted that President Buhari who made a promise at the signing of peace accord that the election will be conducted in a fair and transparent atmosphere has gone ahead in breach of the peace agreements to send soldiers and other security agencies to arrest, harass and intimidate opponents in Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Kwara, Kano, Kaduna states.

Punch

Sahara weekly online is published by First Sahara weekly international. contact saharaweekly@yahoo.com

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Nigeria’s Real Political Party: The Party of Defectors

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Nigeria’s Real Political Party: The Party of Defectors By George Omagbemi Sylvester

Nigeria’s Real Political Party: The Party of Defectors

By George Omagbemi Sylvester

In the ever-chaotic theater of Nigerian politics, there is one political party that has never lost a single election, one party whose membership transcends ideology, region or religion: The Decampee Party. Call it satirical, call it tragic, but it is the harsh and honest reality of Nigeria’s political ecosystem. This unofficial but most dominant party is powered not by vision or values, but by opportunism, betrayal and a deep-rooted contempt for the Nigerian electorate.

Across Nigeria’s political spectrum, party affiliation has become a farce. Politicians jump ship more often than they deliver basic amenities. The concept of loyalty to a party manifesto, ideology or principle has eroded. Instead, politicians dance to the rhythm of self-preservation, defecting whenever personal ambition or legal battles threaten their current status.

A Culture of Defection: A Brief History

Defection in Nigerian politics dates back to the First Republic, but it has become a normalized tradition in the Fourth Republic. The 1999 Constitution under Section 68(g) provides a loophole: legislators can defect if there is a division in their party. Nigerian politicians have weaponized this provision to justify shameless defections that have little to do with principle and everything to do with political survival.

In 2014, five PDP governors—Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), and Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto) defected to the APC, a defection that laid the foundation for Muhammadu Buhari’s victory in 2015. By 2018, some of them returned to PDP when the tides changed.

Who can forget the spectacle of Femi Fani-Kayode, Nigeria’s master of U-turns, who once described the APC as a “Satanic party” and President Buhari as “a curse to Nigeria,” only to later join the APC with the fanfare of a prodigal son returning to his father’s mansion?

A Game of Survival, Not Service

Political parties are supposed to be vehicles for policy direction and ideological clarity. In developed democracies, parties represent core values. The Democrats and Republicans in the U.S., the Labour and Conservative parties in the UK, each has a distinct identity. In Nigeria, however, the only ideology is power and the only constant is greed.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo once said, “There is no political party in Nigeria; they are all platforms for capturing power.” That quote, though stinging, is spot-on.

The average Nigerian politician does not defect because of a disagreement with policy or a change in personal ideology. No, They defect to escape corruption trials, reclaim lost political relevance or align with the federal might ahead of an election.

From PDP to APC and Back Again: Who’s Fooling Who?

In Nigeria, it is common to hear phrases like “I have returned to my political family.” But what family changes every four years? The PDP ruled Nigeria from 1999 to 2015 and was dubbed the “largest party in Africa.” Then came the APC, a merger of desperate opposition forces, including disgruntled PDP members. As soon as the APC took power, the PDP was declared dead. Yet, like a zombie, it came back to life as more APC members became disillusioned.

Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria’s current president, himself is a classic product of this decampee culture. A one-time PDP supporter in the early 2000s, Tinubu eventually became the brain behind the APC. Today, his administration is filled with recycled PDP members, proving once again that the Nigerian political class is just one extended family quarrelling over control of the national pot/cake.

Power for Power’s Sake

Nigeria’s economy has been crippled by leaders who see public office as a meal ticket. Unemployment stands at over 33%, inflation at nearly 30% and over 133 million Nigerians live in multidimensional poverty. Yet, politicians spend billions campaigning and cross-carpeting, while hospitals decay, universities strike and roads kill.

They defect from the party they helped destroy to join the one they once condemned, only to resume the cycle of looting and neglect. They promise “CHANGE,” then deliver “CHAINS”. They preach “RENEWED HOPE,” but all they offer is “RECYCLED FAILURE”.

The PEOPLE as COLLATERAL DAMAGE

The biggest losers in this culture of defection are the Nigerian people/masses. With no real ideological compass, the masses are dragged along in confusion. A politician elected under PDP defects to APC mid-term and expects his constituents to accept the change without question. Votes are rendered meaningless as parties are no longer platforms of choice, but mere logos to print on ballot papers.

Political campaigns have become carnivals of lies. One day, a politician is fighting corruption under the EFCC’s radar. The next day, he defects to the ruling party and all investigations mysteriously vanish.

We Must Judge Leaders, Not Labels

So many a citizen(s) with a conscience, have long abandoned party loyalty. Many allegiance is to performance, not platform. They evaluate every leader based on their stewardship. If you build roads, equip schools, secure lives and create jobs, you earn their respect, regardless of the party that sponsors your ambition.

According to Hon. Sam Iweka (BoT chairman PDP-SA) “This may sound anti-party, but it is the only logical position in a political landscape where parties mean nothing and politicians belong to all and none”.

As Nigerian author and Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka once said: “The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny.” We must stop enabling incompetence just because it wears the color of our preferred party.

Time for the Electorate to Defect Too

The tragedy is not just the defections by politicians, but the tribal, religious and party-blind loyalty of the electorate. Nigerians must begin to defect from the politics of ethnicity and emotion to the politics of accountability and metrics.

Enough of “HE IS OUR SON,” “IT’S OUR TURN,” or “NA OUR PARTY.” Ask: DID HE/SHE SERVE? DID HE/SHE DELIVER? DID HE/SHE LOOT or LEAD?

To quote Chinua Achebe, “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership.” But that failure thrives because we, the people, have accepted mediocrity as destiny. We must break this spell and become citizens, not spectators.

By and Large: Rebuilding the Broken System

The cure to this sickness is institutional reform. Nigeria needs independent political parties built on ideology, backed by enforceable party constitutions and run by patriots, not godfathers. The judiciary must stop legitimizing sham defections. INEC must stop rewarding political prostitution with automatic tickets.

Above all, the Nigerian voter must rise. The real power lies not with the defector-in-chief, but with the citizen. When we begin to judge politicians by results and not slogans or party colors, then and only then, will we reclaim this republic from the hands of serial defectors.

Let it be known today: Nigeria’s biggest political party is not APC, PDP or LP, it is the Decampee Party. And unless we reform our democracy, it will remain the only party that always wins, while the people continue to lose.

Nigeria’s Real Political Party: The Party of Defectors
By George Omagbemi Sylvester

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You’re a liar, apologise to seyi Tinubu within the next 24 hours or you will be arrested

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By Collins Nkwocha

The prophet to the president of the federal Republic of Nigeria, the prophetic hall of fame and Ambassador of peace, Prophet Godwin Ikuru of Jehovah Eye Salvation Ministry has outrightly criticised the factional leader of NANS Atiku Abubakar Isah for the allegations he labelled against the son of the president,Seyi Tinubu,he recapitulated that it’s malicious, politically engineered to denigrate the image of the Tinubu family.

Speaking to newsmen today in Lagos, prophet Ikuru maintained that Isah’s accusation is a guesswork without any backing “I know Seyi Tinubu very well, Seyi knows me too, he’s a well behaved person,Seyi Tinubu is not someone of questionable character and I know that everything Isah is saying is politically motivated with the aim of denigrating and denting the image of the Tinubu’s family,the Tinubu’s family is my family because the mother to Mr.president ,mama Mogaji fed me on so many occasions when I was coming up as a man,i will not sit back and watch anyone rubbish that family”

The prophet of the nation demanded an immediate apology from Isah for the false allegations “I want to state it categorically that he must apologise to seyi Tinubu or I will order his immediate arrest, and his plan will never work against Tinubu,Baba is retaining his seat in 2027”

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Stop the killing, Tinubu will make Nigeria great,Hon.Ashara drops Easter message

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The Vice Chairman of Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area,Hon.Ashara Maureen chika has beckoned on Nigerians to stop the rampant killings that’s ravaging the country at the moment and embrace love in the quest to stimulate and foster national unity and togetherness as Christians celebrate Easter.

Speaking to newsmen today in Lagos, the beautiful politician enunciated the need for Christians to promote peace and love, using it as tool to bring the nation together ” Christianity promotes peace and love, it’s not a religion that promotes cruelty,viciousness and wickedness, Christians are known for their endurance and perseverance, Easter, being the period of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ,is a period of reconciliation and we should channel it in a way that it’s going to have a salutary effect on the Nigerian nation and stimulate unity, let’s stop the killing that is going on the country because it’s not healthy for any nation”.

She also beckoned on Nigerians to be patient with the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu because he’s capable and will make Nigerians to smile very soon “the process of building is always tough, rough, hectic and cumbersome, Nigeria was decaying before the president assumed office,all the policies he’s implementing will ultimately be to the boon of Nigerians,all will need is little patience and everyone will smile;I want to wish all the Christians in Nigeria and all over the world a happy Easter celebration and appeal to Nigerians to be patient with the government of Asiwaju because he’s on a mission to salvage the image of the country and revamp the entire nation”.

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