Wednesday, September 15, 2010

BREAKING NEWS:Jonathan Declares


image Mr President declares ....

AT last, President Goodluck Jonathan Wednesday broke his silence and formally declared to contest for the presidency in 2011.
He said although he does not pretend to have the magic wand to solve the nation's problems, he will do the right thing and live by the truth if given the chance by Nigerians.
Jonathan, who made his intention known on his Facebook site, said he would promise less and do more if given the chance because Nigerians are tired of empty promises.
Tuesday, the President's campaign team had sent a bulk mail to cross section of Nigerians stating: "We are on the road to rebuild our nation. Stand with me. Stand for transformation..."
He said he had spent the last few months to consult his family, the PDP, the opposition, labour unions and traditional institutions among others before deciding to throw in the towel for the race.
Although he said he would make a formal declaration on Saturday, Jonathan admitted that he had grown the economy by seven per cent and delivered on all his promises to qualify to seek a fresh manadate of four years in office.
His declaration of intent reads: "It was a very solemn and trying moment for me personally and for the country as a whole. My immediate task and priority was and still remains to give the nation purposeful leadership and to focus on the priorities of our administration in order to maintain national peace and stability and pursue our key development priorities.
 In these few months as leader of the country, I have concentrated on managing the affairs of the nation, and resisted all efforts to respond to the drums of partisan politics which have been sounding very loud across the land.
" As President and leader of government, I decided not to place partisan politics above the immediate needs and priorities of our people. I came under intense pressure to make a declaration concerning my political future, but declined to do so because that would have immediately distracted us from all the development initiatives we have accomplished so far.
"I therefore told Nigerians to give me time to concentrate on my work and that at the appropriate time I would make a public statement on my political future after due consultations with all the segments and leaders of our nation.
"Today, I confirm that after wide and thorough consultations spanning the six geo-political zones that make up Nigeria, with members of my family, my party, the opposition, civil society, the Private Sector, members of the Labour Unions, religious leaders, youths and student groups and our revered traditional institutions, I Goodluck Ebele Jonathan by the grace of God hereby offer myself and my services to the Nigerian people as a candidate for the office of President in the forth coming 2011 elections.
" In presenting myself for service, I make no pretense that I have a magic wand that will solve all of Nigeria’s problems or that I am the most intelligent Nigerian. Far from it. What I do promise is this -If I am elected President in 2011, I will make a covenant with you the Nigerian people to always do right by you, to tell you the truth at all times, to carry you along and most importantly to listen to you, fellow citizens in our communities and also those of you on this page.
"I do not want to win your affections by giving you promises of things I would do in the future which others before me have given and which have largely been unfulfilled. Rather, I would want you to judge me by my records. Since God Almighty and yourselves permitted me to serve you in the present capacity, I have busied myself with setting Nigeria on the path of peace and progress."
Jonathan said he had delivered on his promises when he became the nation's President four months ago to earn the trust of Nigerians to be elected as President for another term of four years.
He listed his achievements as ending recurring fuel crisis; N150billion bail out package for the aviation industry; Grade one certification for Nigeria's aviation industry; a brand new INEC under the electoral reform; and launching of a new national Super Grid and a Road Map for the power sector.
He added: "My team and I made no promises on adequate fuel supply in Nigeria. We
simply did what was expected of those who govern, we delivered it, and you are living witnesses to that. We made no promise to revamp the textile industry.
"We delivered a bailout package worth 150 billion naira that is being dispensed as I write. We made no promises of securing the highest U.S Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) aviation clearance, the Category 1 Certificate which enables Nigerian registered airlines to fly to ANY U.S city.
"We delivered. We made no promise to give Nigeria a brand new INEC under a proven God-fearing and incorruptible leader. We placed Nigeria first and delivered.
"We made no promises of protecting your loans, deposits and investments in the banking industry over and beyond what is covered under the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Scheme. We delivered it via AMCON.
"Rather than tell you what we could do to improve power, this administration demonstrated it by initiating a brand new national Super Grid as well as launching a concrete Road Map to the Power Sector with realistic goals tied to realistic dates.
" I understand from some of your mails that there has been some small improvements in electricity supply in some communities. We met an economy that was beginning to slow due to the global recession. Today, the economy has verifiably grown by 7% this half year ending in June.
"I know you are tired of empty promises, so I will make only one promise to you today. The only promise I make to you my friends, fellow citizens and Nigeria, is to promise LESS and deliver MORE if I am elected."
Jonathan pleaded with Nigerians to join him in building a nation founded onn
transparency, equity and justice.
He said: " I call on you to join me to work together in harmony and synergy to forge a nation where we understand our differences instead of pretending they do not exist and work towards a perfect union founded on transparency, equity and justice.
"A nation that is on her way to repairing her International reputation and project to the world that things have changed and the people of Nigeria have now taken Nigeria back from a few into the hands of her people who are eager, very eager to pull her weight in the forward movement of the African continent and the world in the pursuit of peace, prosperity and happiness."
The President reaffirmed that he would formally declare on Saturday.
He said: "I will by the special grace of God be making a formal declaration to this effect at the Eagle’s Square, Abuja, on Saturday 18 September 2011.
"I call on you my friends on this page and all Nigerians to give me your support and prayers so that together we can liberate our country from the confines and self –inflicted wounds and limitations of the past.
"My dear friends and fellow citizens, to borrow an often used slogan by our youths, please join me in proclaiming: Forward Ever, Backward Never! Please let us all unite across tongue and creed to move our long suffering nation forward together. I thank you and may God bless our country Nigeria."

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Governors win order of PDP primaries battle


image PDP Governors


Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors won a major battle yesterday.
They forced the ruling party’s National Working Committee (NWC) to reverse the proposed order of primary elections, which many said would be in favour of the President’s camp.
The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party is to meet today in Abuja to ratify the modalities for the primaries.
The NWC had three weeks ago adopted a tentative order for its primaries as follows: National Assembly, presidential, governorship and state assembly.
The presidential primaries were slated to start on October 3 and the candidate to emerge on October 10 at the Ratification National Convention.
But the governors mounted pressure on the party to reverse the order. They succeeded yesterday. In the new arrangement, the governorship primaries will come before the presidential primaries.
The development has caused disquiet in the camp of President Goodluck Jonathan as the change in the order of primaries is regarded as a booby trap.
The Nation
It was gathered that the survival of the PDP formed a major plank upon which the NWC changed its stand.
The new order of primaries to be ratified today is: National Assembly; governorship and state Houses of Assembly; and presidential primaries.
A source said: "While the NWC meeting was going on, some governors, including a few of them serving as coordinators for Jonathan, asked members to allow the presidential primaries to come last to preserve the unity of the party.
"The governors threatened that if the NWC allows the presidential primaries to come ahead of governorship primaries, they would move for the dissolution of NWC at the NEC meeting.
"So, the threats from the governors and the G-84 (state chairmen and secretaries of PDP) were real and the NWC had no choice but to allow peace to reign in the party.
"The governors have had their way, it is left for the NEC to accept or reject it."
It was also learnt that the NWC had sent a three-man delegation to the Presidential Villa to explain the situation to the President, who is the leader of the party.
"What the NWC did was to bow to the governors and avoid a stormy session today at the NEC.
"But all is not well in Jonathan’s camp because some of the governors can renege on their promise to back Jonathan once they secure own tickets.
"The order of primaries is slippery for Jonathan in a country where politics is more of abracadabra. The governors have won round one, let us see if they will laugh last at the NEC meeting."
A top party source added: "There is no way the governors can betray the President because they still have a major hurdle to cross. The party has the final say on whose names will be sent to INEC as its governorship candidates.
"I think the fear of the unknown is worrying most of the governors."
Besides the NEC meeting, the choice of a running mate is still a major challenge that Jonathan may need to address.
There is a fresh plot by some Northern leaders to convince the President to drop Vice-President Namadi Sambo, despite his robust input into Jonathan’s campaign plan.
Sambo is also the Deputy Co-ordinator of Goodluck-Sambo 2011 Campaign.
It was, however, learnt that the President has remained adamant on his decision to swim and sink with the Vice-President.
A source said: "At the Presidential Campaign Council meeting on September 7, the President told the Council that he has nominated Sambo as his VP for 2011 poll.
"An excited Sambo even stood up and made an acceptance speech before the council."
Some politicians from Kaduna State and Northern leaders have been pushing for a Northern governor as Jonathan’s running mate.
It was learnt that there is fresh pressure on Jonathan to have a change of mind on Sambo so as to make an inroad into the North.
They also claimed that ex-President Ibrahim Babangida has almost taken over Kaduna State where Sambo ought to naturally hold the forte.
A source, who spoke in confidence, said: "In the last few days, President Jonathan has been under suffocating pressure from his supporters from Kaduna State and some leaders in some parts of the North to drop his deputy.
"The people are saying that there are growing political sentiments against Jonathan’s presidential bid, especially from prominent politicians from Kaduna State, who are known to be very close to the Vice-President and that he {Sambo) has not been able to handle them.
"We were shocked that even Gen. Ibrahim Babangida has large followers in a state where the VP comes from. He was a governor in the state for years, yet the VP has not been able to curtail the growing political opposition against the President.
"Their argument is that if the VP cannot deliver his state to the president, then he has no business being Jonathan’s running mate.
"I think these aggrieved Northerners have their preference for a sitting governor, who could assist to sway the North to back Jonathan."
But a Presidency source said: "There is no doubt that there is pressure on the President but he has had a good working relationship with VP Sambo and will not change his mind.
"I think it is absolute rubbish to assume that the President will abandon Sambo midway."
learnt that the NWC decided to reverse its earlier decision on order of primaries, following threats of a showdown by governors, state chairmen and secretaries of the party at the NEC session.

Olubadan rejects Akala's car gift


image Oba Samuel Odulana

THE last is yet to be heard about the car gift distributed by Oyo State governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala as The Nation learnt yesterday that the Olubadan of Ibadan land, Oba Samuel Odulana, also rejected the Sallah car gift sent to him at the weekend.
Former governors Rashidi Ladoja and Lam Adesina had rejected the same offer on Thursday. They described the Subaru Sport Utility Vehicles as ‘Greek gift.’
But the Deputy Governor, who hails from Ibadan, and a group of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members of Ibadan origin yesterday said that those criticizing Akala are not doing so for the purpose of the collective good of Ibadan but to achieve personal gains.
Arapaja, who spoke at the opening of the Akala-Arapaja campaign office at Yemetu, Ibadan yesterday said members of the PDP faction criticizing the governor are only expressing frustration at their failed efforts to gain the control of the party in Oyo State.
Arapaja said: "The battle for the control of PDP in the state is tied to the inordinate ambition of some Ibadan politicians to secure 2011 governorship ticket of the party against the wishes of the majority of party members. I wish to state here that their opposition to Akala’s government is not based on performance or non-performance. Rather, it is based on greed and selfishness. They are suffering from frustration occasioned by their failure to capture the soul of Oyo PDP through the back door."
Aligning with the Deputy Governor in a statement, the Forum of PDP members of Ibadan origin in the present administration condemned the celebration of the rejection of the gifts in the media, saying it does not portray the politicians as statesmen.
The group, led by Prof. Soji Adejumo and Dr Kola Balogun, said Adesina and Ladoja’s latest gesture has exposed their "ungodly gang-up, bitterness and unwarranted hatred" which it said, cannot stop Adebayo Alao-Akala from emerging the first ever governor to serve the state for a second term.
SPEAKING under the aegis of the Forum of Political Office Holders of Ibadan land, the politicians stated that with the celebrated rejection of the noble and well intentioned gifts from the governor by some politicians, particularly two former governors, it has further become glaring that the former leaders were simply exhibiting sheer jealousy and hatred against Alao-Akala.
"This is an ungodly gang up of well known enemies who are now afraid that a non Ibadan governor, having surpassed their performances put together in all ramifications is all set to break the jinx of second term in Oyo State. This is a clear case of jealousy and hatred of a very dangerous dimension. But like their other ill-motivated projects, it will fail flatly, " the statement said.
Adejumo, who is the Chairman, Oyo State Universal Board for Primary Education (SUBEB) and Dr. Kola Balogun, the State Commissioner for Commerce and Cooperatives, said it was sad that while Alao-Akala was showing love and obediently heeding the advice of well-meaning Nigerians, including the National Chairman of the PDP, Chief Okwesilieze Nwodo, that he should find means and ways of bridging the gap between him and the aggrieved politicians in the state, Governor Akala was only being reciprocated by malice through rejection of friendly gifts.
The statement read in part: "It is irritating, while the governor is seeking peace and promoting love in the spirit of the season, these people are publicly fanning the embers of hatred and disunity not only in the political circles but in all spheres of the state. This act is unbecoming of people who had been duly honored and given good opportunities to serve the state", adding: "They should have been statesmanly enough to do it without any form of press celebration."
Reacting to the criticism, the Personal Assistant to Ladoja on Media, Alhaji Lanre Latinwo dismissed the group, saying it is not strange that they are protecting their means of livelihood.
He challenged them to walk the streets of Ibadan and identify themselves as Alao-Akala’s associates and watch the reaction of the people to them.

Jonathan,IBB,Atiku shift battle to NEC meeting


image Jonathan, Babangida and Atiku

EXCEPT there is a last-minute hitch, the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) National Executive Committee (NEC) will on Tuesday meet to ratify the guidelines for its presidential primaries and other elective positions. Ten NEC members last night confirmed that the session will hold.
The party’s governors and the camps of two of its most prominent presidential aspirants, ex-vice president Atiku Abubakar and ex-military president Ibrahim Babangida, see the meeting as a crucial one. Both aspirants are fighting for relevance within the party, with Atiku expecting the NEC to ratify his recent waiver to return to the party.
The order of primaries is on the front burner, with the governors reportedly uncomfortable with the schedule as it is. The Nation learnt that the governors want the governorship primaries to hold before the presidential primaries.
As at press time, there were indications that the governors would like the presidential primaries to hold last, and are busy lobbying NEC members for a change. Abubakar and Babangida are also said to favour a re-worked time-table, and their camps are reportedly engaged in political horse-trading over the NEC meeting.
According to a tentative timetable adopted by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) about three weeks ago, the presidential primaries will start on October 3, and its candidate will emerge on October 10 at its Ratification National Convention.
The order of primaries is as follows: National Assembly, Presidential, Gubernatorial, and State Assembly.
It was learnt that those who favour a review of the schedule argue that it is deliberately tilted to boost President Goodluck Jonathan’s chances in the presidential race and get the PDP governors to back his ambition. However, the governors are said to be unsure of Jonathan’s game-plan, believing that after helping him to get the party’s nomination, he could dump them during the governorship primaries.
A highly-placed source said: "While the governors are not disputing their support for Jonathan, they also want him to allow their request to hold the presidential primaries last. They want to be sure of their return tickets before mobilizing support for the President.
"Jonathan’s camp is also asking the governors to live up to their promise to back the President before looking for re-election tickets.
"So, there is anxiety over the order of primaries ahead of NEC meeting because in politics anything can happen. Most governors see the order of primaries as a booby trap."
He added: "Any gambling can cost them return tickets. They can however lobby NEC members and secure simple majority to change the order of primaries. They have faith in Jonathan but they don’t want to fall into any trap."
However, reacting to the view that the existing order of primaries is to Jonathan’s advantage, a member of the party’s NWC told The Nation: "The order of primaries is fashioned after the Electoral Act 2010, it is not meant to serve anybody’s bidding.
"So, if PDP does things according to the law of the land, is that a bad thing? Is our order of primaries not in line with the timetable rolled out by INEC? Will you say INEC is working for the President too?"
Speaking on the Atiku and Babangida, and their interest in the outcome of the NEC meeting, a source said: "Babangida and Atiku’s camps also would like governorship primaries to hold before the presidential. If they succeed in convincing NEC members, they would prove a point that they can cause upset during the presidential primaries.
"The Babangida-Atiku alliance won the first round by forcing the party to retain its zoning formula. But after re-strategizing, Jonathan’s camp is not ready to take things for granted again.
"But if Babangida and Atiku fail in reversing the order of primaries proposed by the NWC, Jonathan would have shown that he has an edge over them in the race for PDP ticket."

44 years after ;controvesy trail Tafawa Belewa death


image The late Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria's first Prime Minister ...controversy trail his death

THE sentence was seemingly as innocuous as a message sent some 44 years ago from Lagos to Kaduna, yet changed the course of Nigeria’s history for ever.
The seemingly harmless piece of information two weeks ago, that Nigeria’s first number one citizen actually died of an asthma while in the hands of coup plotters, rather than from gun shots in the course of the country’s first coup, may be unearthing a pandoras box.
The Nation can authoritatively now say the last has not been heard about what actually killed Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, between the night of January 14, 1966 and January 22, 1966 when his body was discovered along with those of others known to have been shot to death on in the wee hours of January 15, 1966.
The message sent 44 years ago, was so harmless that it went through the secured communications radio of a Nigerian Army formation in Apapa. It was also somewhat terse, from an Army Major in Lagos, to Major Kaduna Nzeogwu in Kaduna.
The message was about ‘days of a holiday to be spent in Lagos and Kaduna’. But it was actually to confirm, that a long-planned coup against a "corrupt" civilian regime headed by Sir Balewa, should be executed from the night of January 14 through January 15, 1966.
The night of January 14 came as expected and the morning of January 15, gave birth to Nigeria’s first coup. That was in 1966.
Two weeks ago in Ikoyi, Lagos, almost at the point of departure after a four hour video interview with The Nation Databank, Nigeria’s youngest Minister ever and one of just a handful of surviving members of Nigeria’s first Federal cabinet, Dr. Mathew Taiwo Mbu, said almost casually that he was reliably informed that soldiers did not shoot Nigeria’s first and only Prime Minister, Sir. Tafawa Balewa to death.
Mbu was merely giving an example of things he knows or had reliably been told and which he may want to die with to avoid possible misinterpretation. He was only reacting to a plea from the interviewer that he should please write and leave a comprehensive memoir of their memorable era.
But it was a bomb of a sort, although casually delivered. Yes, the information could not have been meant to destroy, the information had the potential of rewriting a part of Nigerian history books. It automatically meant Nigerian soldiers in all their years of coup-making, never killed a civilian head of the the Federal government before taking over the governance of the country.
Dr. Mbu, a British trained lawyer, would not normally give any information of doubtful authenticity. He was called to the same English bar as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and on the same day too.
He was Nigeria’s first High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, immediately after independence from that country. He has held at least five ministerial appointments over Nigeria’s first 30 years as a nation.
He is also not known to be flippant. He must have a measure of trust in whatever information he was giving out. He had to be taken seriously.
But how come virtually nobody until now, and almost all accounts of Nigeria’s first coup, never hinted at the possibility of soldiers never actually shooting the first Prime Minister to death.
Instinctively one knew there would be more than one reaction to the new information on the January 15, 1966 coup and so it has been.
Barely 24 hour after the report in The Nation last Sunday, the reactions began. First to react was former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode. The younger generation Federal Minister was livid with rage when he reacted. No it could not have been he said. No one should rewrite history, Fani Kayode screamed.
Then came other reactions. From the Balewa family and friends of the late Prime Minister. A former Commissioner of Police who claimed he discovered the bodies was also reported to have spoken with Daily Trust in Abuja.
Of course, a better counterpoise it seemed for the ‘Mbu story’ when the retired Police Commissioner, said the Prime Minister must have been shot to death, going by what he saw one Friday afternoon in the forest off the Abeokuta road. He was an Inspector of Police then.
He said he discovered the decomposing bodies of the late Prime Minister and his Finance Minister Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh and two officers of the Nigerian Army in the forest just after Otta on the road to Abeokuta. It was late in the afternoon on Friday, January 21, 1966.
The Nation then began an investigation, starting from a natural port of first call- the first and only journalist who saw the Prime Minister’s body, Chief Segun Osoba, then a roving reporter with Nigeria’s number one newspaper then, Daily Times.
Chief Segun Osoba spoke with The Nation over the weekend and totally new questions, never asked in the last 44 years will now be asked and answered in the best possible way, in the report of a special investigation of a definetely cold trail coming out next week.
Claims of an autopsy on the body of the late Prime Minister could still not be substantiated as at the weekend, just as the exact number of bodies dumped at Otta, early in the morning of January 15, 1966.
Indications are that, seemingly contrary to claims by Chief Fani Kayode that autopsies were carried out on the body of the late Prime Minister, which confirmed the Prime Minister was shot, The Nation has confirmed that Sir Abubakar’s body was evacuated from the Otta forests straight to the Ikeja Airport and was on its way to Bauchi within eight hours of it been discovered.
In fact, a special military flight took off from the Ikeja Airport, with the body of the late Prime Minister at 30 minutes after midnight on Saturday, January 22, 1966. Only two civilians were on the flight, a British pilot and an Indian flight engineer. It was a very tight military operation at the Lagos Airport, with even the airport route, tightly secured against any civilian presence.
The Nation confirmed that the Prime Minister was buried in Bauchi on Saturday, January 22, 1966 at a ceremony that had large civilian attendance. At noon on that day, the Federal Military government, officially announced the death of the Prime Minister, giving no hint as to time or cause of death. Before then, the government had said the Prime Minister was missing, having been abducted in the early hours of January 15, 1966, from his official residence in Onikan, Lagos.
But using published facts and unpublished scrolls from close bystanders and some of the main participants of the January 15, 1966 coup, The Nation has been able to piece together some facts and some very likely possibilities of an incident that changed the history of Nigeria. No-holds-barred interviews with some of the few surviving witnesses of the events will shed some light on one of Nigeria’s darkest dawns. Full Report next Sunday.

Dokpesi alleges threat to life from Aso Rock


image Dokpesi

DIRTY politics may have reared its ugly head as the 2011 Presidential election draws near, with the Director General, IBB Campaign Organization, Chief Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi, raising the alarm that his life is under threat because of his political activities. But the High Chief from Weppa Wanno clan said that he was not intimidated, and would not step down despite the growing threats to his life for supporting General Ibrahim Babangida’s (IBB) presidential ambition.
Dokpesi, who is also the CEO of DAAR Communications, said that his family members and investments across the country were being threatened by some unnamed key supporters of President Goodluck Jonathan.
In a reaction, the presidency however issued a denial, calling Dokpesi’s allegations "a tissue of lies." The counter-statement accused Dokpesi of "introducing chilling and quite sinister dimensions to the contest for the presidency in 2011." According to the presidency, "Nigerians know those who are the "Masters" in the art of political violence and it is not President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Nigeria had enough of such deadly power games under the jack boots of dictators past, and in embracing democracy and freedom, we have said a resounding NO to them once and for all."
Dokpesi spoke in Abuja at a press briefing organized by the IBB Campaign Organization on the threat to his life. According to him, "If you push me a little further, because I was chairman of the South South People’s Assembly, I know the source. There is no point mentioning Cynthia Whyte; it is from the Villa itself that they made the contact and requested that the statement be issued. It is directly from the Villa.
"Well, let me state clearly out of respect for the Nigerian constitution and the people of Nigeria that I do not have direct evidence of the fact that he(Jonathan) is involved but I will not rule out the possibility that he is aware."
He said that his eldest son, Raymond Dokpesi Jnr, received a message, warning that he would be kidnapped if his father did not resign from the position of the Director General of IBB Campaign Organization by Monday, September 13.
Dokpesi also recalled that a group under the umbrella of South South Elders and Leaders Forum had also urged him to resign. He added that a similar threat came from the Joint Revolutionary Council comprising part of MEND or Combatant Arm of the Revolutionary Council and some other militants. The group allegedly issued a statement trying to twist his arm and make him to resign from the IBB organization.
His words: "You have all reported widely the incident of the last 72 hours starting with a purported meeting held by a purported South South Elders and Leaders Forum, which was chaired and a communiqué signed allegedly by E.K Clark and 10 others which included three serving ministers of the Jonathan administration and seven others that are from the South South Zone.
"Barely 24 hours after that, a new statement said to have been issued by the Joint Revolutionary Council, which comprises part of MEND or Combatant Arm of the Revolutionary Council and some other militants that are involved. The unfolding scenario is definitely masterminded and supported actively by the Jonathan Group Campaigners. I also go further to say that at 9.30pm yesterday (Friday), my relations and children received telephone calls from various lines threatening the kidnap of my eldest son, Raymond Dokpesi(Jnr) by Monday, 13th September, if I do not step down as the Director General of this(IBB) campaign organization."
According to him, if the Jonathan organization is so sure of victory, it would not resort to intimidation and blackmail of its opponents. This ugly development, he alleged, is the beginning of the rigging of the 2011 elections. "The rigging of 2011 elections has begun by the Jonathan Campaign Organization," he declared.
Dokpesi had, in a letter addressed to the Inspector General of Police, urged the police to investigate the threat to his life and his family by a group called the Joint Revolutionary Council. The Director, Media & Communication of the IBB campaign group, Prince Kassim Afegbua also said that the Campaign Organization had also written to inform the police and other security agencies to provide a round-the-clock security for Dokpesi.
Afegbua said: "When there are security lapses, the society will blame itself." He also argued that should IBB win the next election, he would push for laws for the establishment of state police to complement the activities of the Nigeria Police Force.
Dokpesi pleaded with the police to protect him, his family and investments in the country, adding, "I must also state that government has been putting pressure on my investments by inciting various creditors to pressurize me to step down from IBB 2011 Campaign Organization even if I will not support them. My National Radio and Television Network Licence has been put under threat once again by the government.
"I am reliably informed that the President Jonathan Campaign Group has also decided to blow up DAAR Communications Plc and television stations and investments across the country with the connivance and support of the JRC. This is in addition to an earlier call that all south southerners should boycott AIT and Raypower stations."

ANPP;Once upon a virile opposition


image Buhari, Ume-Ezeoke and Shekarau


The All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) once regarded as the strongest opposition party in the country in 1999, is gradually becoming the weakest, owing to a number of factors. Assistant Editor OLAYINKA OYEBODE and GBENGA OMOKHUNU chronicle the crises that have crippled the party, the personalities involved and the PDP involvement. They examine what it portends for the party in the 2011 elections.






The All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) is not a stranger to crisis, especially one involving leadership tussle. Since 1999 when it emerged as the strongest opposition political party till date, when its influence has abated, it has always hopped from one leadership crisis to another. Curiously, as many of the over 62 registered political parties in the country are busy preparing for the 2011 general election, the ANPP leadership is enmeshed in yet another crisis, which is seen as a potent threat to its preparations.
The current crisis started on May 15, at the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, when the leadership of the party under the immediate past National Chairman, Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, fixed congresses for July 9. As the date was approaching, it was again shifted to July 17 and later July 31. And in all the instances, the explanation came from Ume-Ezeoke that the 21 days notice was not given to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as required.
Later, the party leaders could no longer arrive at any particular date for the congresses, which inadvertently meant no date for the party’s much anticipated convention. It was learnt that as the Ume-Ezeoke- led executives kept shift the dates for the convention, INEC had already provided materials to aid the conduct of the election. Not a few leaders of the party became worried by the continued shifting of the congresses by the National Working Committee (NWC) without any cogent reason. They felt that urgent steps had to be taken to save the situation. This led to the emergence of a faction in the party which fixed its NEC meeting for August 27, to decide on the convention date.
An attempt to hold the meeting earlier at Agura Hotel, Abuja was stalled by the then National Secretary of the Party, Seidu Kumo, who allegedly led a team of Policemen to the hotel to dislodge the group.
Determined to carry out their plans, the aggrieved party members relocated to Toprank Hotel, also at the Federal Capital Territory, where they    eventually held the meeting. The state chairmen, secretaries and some national officers of the party present at the meeting, passed vote of no confidence on the Ume-Ezeoke executive and announced the sack the NWC of the party. The 88 members present unanimously said the party’s NEC, which was led by Ume-Ezeoke had outlived its usefulness in the party.
Constitutionally, the tenure of the Ume-Ezeoke –led NWC is expected to terminate on September 6. Delegates at the meeting also constituted a six-man committee to see to the affairs of the party until September 17 and 18, when the party is expected to hold its national convention. Members of the committee, which is chaired by Senator Muhammed Muhammed include Abdulsalam Sumaila, Dr. Vitalis Ajumbe, Prince Martins Bishop, Farouk Yahaya and Chief Abiodun Oyebolu. The faction announced the dissolution of the national executive committee of the party, following a vote of no confidence passed on the Chief Ezeoke leadership over alleged inept leadership and moves to illegally perpetuate themselves in office beyond the constitutionally allowed term.
Many participants at the meeting argued that the wanton postponement of the party’s national convention was meant to allow them stay beyond their tenure in office. They also mandated the Board of Trustees of the Party to recover all the party’s property in their possession since they no longer represent the party. At the meeting which was witnessed by two representatives of INEC, the group claimed that the number of delegates present was more than the required number needed to form a quorum in order to convey a National Executive Committee meeting as stipulated in the party’s constitution.
After the meeting Senator Muhammed Muhammed said in an interview with The Nation that he would lead the party to the path of glory. He said: "We will do everything possible under the sun to move this party forward. ANPP used to have a lot of potentials, but we will do everything to bring back those glories. We are poised to reposition this party. We are not going to sack people from the party but those who are working against the interest of the party will be allowed to go. Those who want the progress of the party will always want us to win elections. However, the agent of other party masquerading as members of our party has to leave us. Let them go to where they belong."
A former Governor of Edo State, Chief John Odiegun-Oyegun described the event as victory for the people. He said then that the ANPP had been snatched from agent of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who he said, were working to destabilize the party. The former governor, who is also aspiring to succeed Ume-Ezeoke as the chairman of the party said: "From now on, we have ceased from being the appendix of the PDP; we are now the party of the people. It is indeed victory for the people." With that development Ume-Ezeoke however described his sacking as wishful thinking.
But, Ume-Ezeoke, who was Speaker of the House of Representatives in the Second Republic told The Nation that the authentic members of the party’s NEC would meet on September 2. He said the issue of his tenureship would be trashed at the meeting. He said: "I can assure you that those who took that decision were unknown to the party. The real executive will meet on September 2, where decisions will be taken."
True to his position, On September 2 , the Ume-Ezeoke- led exco held its NEC meeting amid tight security. The party also set up a nine-member Transition Management Committee (TMC), headed by a former Minister of State for Defence, Alhaji Abdulrahman Adamu from Yobe State, to pilot the affairs of the party from September 6 when the tenure of the national officers of the party expired. The committee members are to hold sway until new national officers of the party are elected. The party equally resolved to hold its national convention on the 17
th and 18th
of this month at the Eagle Square, Abuja with the Governor of Yobe State, Alhaji Ibrahim Geidam as the Chairman of the convention committee.
The NEC meeting unlike that of the other faction was attended by the Governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sherrif, former Presidential candidate of the defunct National Republican Convention, NRC and leader of the party, Alhaji Bashir Tofa, National Secretary, Alhaji Saidu Kurmo, former Governor of Kano State and serving Senator, Alhaji Kabiru Gaya, Leader of opposition in the House of Representatives, Alhaji Mohammed Ali Ndume and former National Secretary of the party, Chief George Moghalu. Some of the elected members of the party in the National Assembly, State Chairmen and other NEC members were also present. The NEC meeting equally resolved to adopt the option of indirect primaries in the choice of its presidential flag bearer for the 2011 elections, while the party’s candidates for Governorship, Senate, House of Representatives, State Houses of Assembly, Chairmen of Councils and Councilors would emerge through direct primaries. The Six key members of a faction of the party, led by Senator Mohammed A. Mohammed, who had earlier announced the sack of Ume-Ezeoke and other national officers of the party, were suspended at the meeting. Ume-Ezeoke alleged that the other faction was sponsored by some persons whom he did not name.
But, members of the Senator Mohammed-led ANPP Transition Committee, described their suspension as unconstitutional and null and void.
The faction headed by Senator Muhammed Muhammed, at the weekend, filed a suit seeking an interim order stopping the newly inaugurated TMC of the party.
In the beginning
 
One towering figure in the ANPP is former head of state and two times presidential flag bearer of the party, General Muhammadu Buhari, who recently left the party for the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), a party he founded and on whose platform he intends to contest the 2011 presidential election. With the exit of Buhari, many believe that the soul of the party had also left, especially as he left with his huge followers and some prominent members of the party.
But Buhari’s exit is also traced to Ume-Ezeoke’s perenial disagreement with
Ezeoke was Buhari’s running mate for the 2007 election and the embattled national chairman was believed to have manipulated some events to achieve that.
When Buhari went to court to challenge the result of the election, Ume-Ezeoke was not comfortable with the option, especially as the administration of the late Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua had started dangling the Government of National Unity (GNU) carrot before the ANPP and two other prominent opposition parties- The Action Congress and the Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA).
Buhari, owing to his resolve to pursue the petition did not show any interest in the GNU. But Ume-Ezeoke felt otherwise. Using the party apparatus, Ume-Ezeoke mounted pressure on Buhari to withdraw the case and when the former head of state remained adamant, Ume-Ezeoke dissociated the ANPP from the case, thus leaving Buhari, like an orphan, to fend for himself.
While Buhari was busy with the presidential election tribunal, the ANPP led by Ume-Ezeoke joined the GNU, resulting in the appointment of some members , including Ume-Ezeoke’s son, to the government.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), had put the total number of votes polled by the ANPP and the AC at 6, 605,227 and 2,637,848 votes, while it credited Yar’Adua with 24,638,063 votes to emerge winner of the April 21, 2007 election. Thus, the president’s offer to the parties was in a bid to ostensibly run a broad based national government and assuage the feelings of those who felt they didn’t get a fair deal in the election. But many saw it as an attempt to hoodwink the two parties to join the GNU and in the process, prevail on their respective candidates to drop their legal battles Challenging Yar’Adua’s election.
Both the ANPP and the Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA) joined the GNU, while the AC stayed out of the pact. The GNU succeeded in widening the scope of support for the then new administration. The two parties, in turn, were rewarded with some ministerial and special adviser slots.
However, the political fortunes of the ANPP appears to have being on the decline since its participation in the GNU.
As countdown to the 2011 election commences with the release of the election time table by INEC, ANPP has gradually moved from its enviable position as the biggest opposition party to just one of the parties. Much of blame for the party’s waning political relevance stems from its participation in the GNU.
The ANPP with its enormous numerical strength and national spread as demonstrated in the outcomes of the 1998, 1999, and 2003 elections, lost much grounds to the PDP in the 2007 election. The party has lost much more between 2007 when it embraced the GNU till date.
One major demerit of its GNU participation, as pointed out by many of its leaders, especially Buhari, was the fact that ANPP lost its enviable position as the main opposition party in this dispensation. The AC, with just two states and a handful of lawmakers in the National Assembly is playing the role of main opposition party now. While the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) is also playing opposition role on behalf of parties.
The presence of ANPP in the Yar’Adua government prevented it from being able to oppose some of the obnoxious policies of the administration.
As the GNU romance thickened, more ANPP lawmakers lost their identities, sometimes pursuing PDP agenda at the National Assembly with vigour. Governors elected on the ANPP platform later caught the bug, leading to the defection of two of them to the ruling party.
In a feeble defence of the GNU, Spokesman of the party under Ume-Ezeoke’s leadership, Mr Emma  Enukwu said that there was no GNU in the actual sense of the word.. "What we have is a situation where the President merely invited some parties to be part of government. In a normal arrangement, there should have been discussion where the various positions would be shared based on agreed formula. But we were only given two meagre ministerial slots and other positions, so we can’t really say we are part of the government."
Enukwu who insisted that the ANPP embraced the GNU with good intentions, said that one of the party’s agenda in the government was to ensure that the administration come up with an electoral reform.
With the defection of the governors of Zamfara, Alhaji Aliyu Shinkafi and his Bauchi State counterpart, Mallam Isa Yuguda, to the PDP, the ANPP, which had nine state governors in 1999, is now left with three- Modu Sherif (Borno), Ibrahim Shekarau (Kano) and Ibrahim Geidam (Yobe)
In contrast, the PDP increased its number of states to 28, having lost two- Ondo and Edo- to annulment by the Appeal Court. The PDP has also gained Abia and Imo states, following some back hand arrangements.
The PDP however believes that it has no hand in the ANPP’s misfortune, despite the party’s participation in the GNU. The National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Prof Rufai Alkali, was quoted in a recent interview as saying that the disintegration in the party had been long foreseen. Alkali described it as an evidence that the party could not be entrusted with government of the country.
Within ANPP fold, many have also come to the conclusion that the crisis in the party had remained intractable owing largely to the inept leadership of its NEC. Earlier in the year, a stakeholders forum in the party, had alleged that the Ume-Ezeoke leadership had failed to hold the party together. The forum had accused the leadership of anti- party activities. Rather than support its candidates in their electioneering campaigns and litigations, the party according to the forum, " has done a good job of frustrating them and facilitating their failures at the election tribunals."
The group says, "The case of  its Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, Gubernatorial candidates Barrister David Umaru in Niger State, Senators Ibikunle Amosun in Ogun State, Abiola Ajimobi in Oyo; Usman Albashir in Yobe, Prince Abubakar Audu in Kogi, Barrister Solomon Ewuga in Nassarawa are cases in point."

Governors in power struggle
The healing needed by ANPP to bounce back is also being threatened by the internal power play by the remaining three governors in the party.
There is no gainsaying that fact that the governors, as the remaining financiers of the party, are tired of the situation. And in an attempt to provide alternative leadership , have also fallen victim of the overriding power which they once criticized.
It was gathered that the governors, in the absence of any centrally coordinated presidential campaigns, have diverse stands on the coming election.
While Shekarau has never hidden his desire to fly the ANPP flag in the 2011 election, he needs the backing of the two other governors, who interestingly are also from the Northern part of the country. That request for assistance, it was learnt is not fort coming from the Shekarau camp, a development which has also made many of the governors to give some endorsement to other aspirants.
Giaedam is said to be in support of the presidential aspiration of Dr Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP, on the condition that he, he will be supported for a second term in return. Sherif who is serving out his second term is also said to be backing the president, on the condition that his succession plans are not truncated by the PDP machinery.
Ume-Ezeoke, on his party, is said to be committed to ceding the party’s ticket to former Military President, Ibrahim Babangida, as it is becoming increasingly difficult for him to pick the PDP ticket. Before emerging as ANPP chairman, Ume-Ezeoke, had nurtured the United Nigerian Peoples Party (UNPP) as a platform for IBB in 2003. after the plan failed, his faction of UNPP merged with APP to form the ANPP.
Before the cookie crumbled
Regarded as a party that lost much of its political goodwill and relevance to its insatiable appetite for crass opportunism the ANPP has since 1999 been under the shadow of PDP.
In the 1999 election, the APP (as it was then known) opted for alliance with the Alliance for Democracy (AD), under the much celebrated APP/AD alliance with its candidate- Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi running as Vice Presidential candidate to Chief Olu Falae of the then AD.
Also, with all its promises and potentials as demonstrated in the 1999 elections, the party has also dwelt so much under the shadows of the ruling PDP since 1999. Its pioneer national chairman, Alhaji Mahmud Waziri, accepted to serve in the capacity of a Special Adviser (Inter party affairs) to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo shortly after the 1999 election. The party also appeared short-changed when it merged with the UNPP to form the ANPP, leading to a situation where leaders of the UNPP occupied strategic position in the new alliance.
After Waziri, two former chairmen of the party had also found their ways into the PDP. They include Chief Alani Bankole (father of the Speaker, House of Representatives) who served as Acting National Chairman after Waziri’s tenure. A former Petroleum minister, Chief Don Etiebet, also served as the party’s national chairman before returning to the PDP. Former governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Atahiru Bafarawa who also occupied the seat briefly is now the main sponsor of the Democratic People’s Party (DPP).
As 2011 approaches, the travails of ANPP has called to question the state of the opposition political parties.

Special tracking INEC machine


image Attahiru Jega




For the first time in the history of elections in Nigeria, each of the 120, 000 Direct Data Capture Machines (DDCMs) to be used for voters registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is being configured to have a satellite location tracking device.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Kayode Idowu, at the INEC headquarters on Tuesday evening, said the tracking system would boost the integrity of the voters registration.
The tracking system is meant to enable INEC foil any attempt by politicians or their accomplices among INEC’s ad-hoc staff who
may wish to take the DDCM out of a location it is officially assigned.
During the registration of voters under erstwhile INEC Chair Maurice Iwu, some notorious politicians relocated the registration machines into their private premises where they engaged in illegal activities.
Idowu emphasized that INEC had concluded arrangements to ensure that the machines’ manufacturers implanted the tracking device in all the DDCM laptops to be used for the registration of voters scheduled to take place between November 1 – November 14.
"The tracking system works in such a way that the machines’ location can be easily monitored. That device will be one of the security tools or software that the DDCMs will have to help ensure the integrity of the process," Idowu stated.
A source in INEC’s ICT department told The Nation that the software being developed by INEC for the voters registration would take imprints of each person’s ten fingers to effectively prevent multiple registration.
Ongoing sensitisation processes at INEC, including the programme for a special retreat in Calabar, focus on the inevitability of serious sanctions, including legal prosecution, against staff who collude with politicians to subvert plans for free, fair and credible elections.
One of the major highlights of a two-day training programme organised by INEC at Reiz Continental hotel in Abuja for officers that would handle logistic operations, including distribution of the 120, 000 DDCMs across Nigeria was the stern warning from Professor Jega who asserted that any form of unethical behaviour would not be tolerated.
While speculations over plans to award contract for the supply of DDCMs continue to mount, both Idowu and INEC’s National Commissioner in charge of Information, Publicity and Communication, Prince Adedeji Soyebi, told The Nation that INEC had chosen not to dignify such developments with a response.

What i Discussed with-IBB

Former military president and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB), yesterday gave his own side of the meeting he had with President Goodluck Jonathan. A national newspaper (not Daily Sun) had reported that President Goodluck Jonathan had during the secret meeting with the former president begged him to drop his presidential ambition.

But speaking with journalists yesterday while on a sympathy visit to the PDP national secretariat in Abuja, to commiserate with the National Working Committee (NWC) over last Saturday’s fire outbreak, the former military president disclosed that he only discussed the state-of-the-nation with President Jonathan and conveyed his appreciation to the President’s wife, Patience, who has shown sustained interest in the wellbeing of Babangidas‘ children.

“Unknown to most of you, there is a very robust relationship between the family of President Jonathan and the Babangidas. His wife has been very kind, she asks after my children all the time and I appreciate that. I don’t run away from my friends, my brothers and I had an opportunity to thank the wife, through her husband.
“His wife has taken a lot of interest in my children and I used the opportunity to convey my appreciation to his wife for his concern about my children.

“Of course, we discussed Nigeria. But not what you guys have been insinuating. So, whenever you find two heads of state, they talk about this country. How can we improve this country? What can we do? All the heads of state, about 10 of us, still living. That’s what we talk.”

The presidential aspirant, however, expressed confidence in his ability to pick the party presidential ticket, even as he submitted that he was not bothered by pockets of opposition to his ambition across the country. “2011 belongs to God and I am fully prepared. The negative I do appreciate, that people have to. I will be a fool, if I accept that everybody loves me. But there are also others who do. That’s life.”

Chairman, Daar Communications and Director-General, IBB Campaign Organisation, Dr Raymond Dokpesi, who accompanied Babangida during the visit told the PDP National Chairman, Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo that the campaign group was deeply touched by the unfortunate inferno and assured the party of its support. “We are deeply touched by the unfortunate fire and we believe that as members of our great party, we will be there to assist. We intend to send a set of engineers to be able to assess and see what kind of contributions, we can make as members of the party.

“We will do everything within our power to ensure that we comply with the rules and regulations of the forthcoming presidential primaries, for which the organization is working very assiduously.”

Nwodo thanked Babangida for showing empathy over the incident.
“We are very happy to receive our very revered leader, former military president of Nigeria, who today is visiting us in a different capacity as one of the frontrunners in our party, for the ticket of the PDP in the forthcoming presidential election and we receive him as a member of our party, who has come to commiserate with us on the unfortunate fire in our secretariat.

“We have received other distinguished leaders of our party, who have come on the same visit. The President has been here himself. So, the tremendous empathy that this unfortunate incident has generated within the leadership and rank and file of PDP, shows that the party is strong, the party has tentacles in all parts of this country and committed members of the party. The ways they have shown their interest in what has happened here, we thank all of them, those who have come and those who are yet to come.

“We also thank those who have made promises to assist us to put together what had been burnt in our Conference Room and we hope that in no distant time, we would be able to resume our work in that part of the building. I want to thank our former president who is here today; I know that he had been busy with his campaign, but he has found time to come, we are deeply touched. For members of your team who have come here with you, we say thank you very much for coming.”

South South elders endorses Jonathan Iin Uyo

UYO — President Goodluck Johnathan again won the endorsement of no fewer than 45,000 South South elders, who thronged the Uyo Township Sports Stadium,  Akwa Ibom State to declare support for his presidential aspiration, barely few days to his official declaration for the 2011 general elections.
At the campaign rally, which enlivened the metropolis of Uyo, elders of the South South geo-political zone, comprising people from  several political parties, who spoke one after the other, said the decision was arrived at, after several consultative meetings on the state of the nation, to seek his acceptability as the nation’s presidential candidate.
Considering the crowd and  calibre of people who  showed up at the rally, which  can be considered the biggest and the most successful political convergence in the area and in view of the wind of political consciousness, reportedly blowing across the area, the South South Governors, who were said to be the forces behind the endorsement may have chosen to work together to return the President.
Speaking at the rally, the group led by the Niger Delta leader, Chief Edwin Clark, reassured the people that President Johnathan would run and that Governor Godswill Akpabio and the entire people of Akwa Ibom were 100 percent in support of the candidacy of Johnathan.
Clark said the crowd  at the venue had shown that the people of the South South were solidly behind Johnathan, adding, “when we took the decision about five days ago in Abuja, I told my people that Akwa Ibom State was a fertile ground for us to have the rally.”
At the rally, which  was witnessed by Vice President Mohammed Sambo, and tagged, “South South Solidarity Rally  for Johnathan/Sambo Ticket in 2011 Presidential Election” the Akwa Ibom State Governor,  Chief  Akpabio said the Johnathan/Sambo ticket was the best thing to happen to Nigeria as a nation and assured of the victory of the duo at the poll.
Akpabio called on the South South people to throw their weight behind the two worthy sons of the nation who have had unbeatable track records in their political scorecard, noting that Johnathan’s acceptance by the entire nation would mean part of the Amnesty Programme to right the wrongs done to the nation for the past fifty years.
Akpabio said Nigerians should demand from those seeking to rule the country again what they did when they had the opprtuinity to correct the wrongs of several years and for them to give account of what they did with the money of this country.
The President may not be left with much to do other than to consolidate on the endorsement so far recieved with the call by the people of the South South for the setting up of a Commission of enquiry that would investigate, look into and recommend appropriate sanctions for the sons of the area who would betray the collective will of the South South people.
The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Godsday Orubebe, Minister of Environment, Mr. John Odey, Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Renewal, Hon. Nduese Essien who were present at the rally led their voices to the aspiration of the President.
Present also at the rally were former Edo State governor, Prof. Oserhiemmmen Osunbor, former Bayelsa Governor, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, former Secretary to Government of the Federatio, Obong Ufot Ekaete, Deputy Governor of Delta, Cross River State, Bayelsa.
Vice President Sambo in his reaction said that Johnathan was fully commited to the transformation of the Niger Delta throgh the awards of contract for the constuction of the East_West road to attract foreign investors to the region.

2011;Itsekiri women tackles imposition of candidate

LAGOS—THE Warri Women Consultative Assembly, WWCA, has urged all aspiring political office holders in the Itsekiri nation to make themselves available to the electorate for assessment, saying that it would help in eliminating the problem of imposition of candidates. The group also called on the aspirants to come with their respective programmes to a town hall meeting, which is scheduled to hold on Saturday,  September  18, 2010 in Warri.
Disclosing this, yesterday, in Lagos,  WWCA Facilitator,  Chief Rita  Lori-Igbebor, during a visit to Vanguard Corporate Headquarters, regretted that the Itsekiri nation had not been fortunate to be governed by its best brains in the past.
CHIEF RITA LORI-OGBEBOR
According to her, “We are ready to queue behind any Itsekiri son or daughter who will get us out of this doldrum. We will give our support to any of our child with vision, who is ready to serve. Even if the person has no money, we will support that person, because we have suffered deprivation because of imposition. We only need people who are intellectually sound and patriotic.
“We know it is not going to be easy because of people who want it to be business as usual but we will not be afraid. We will fight. We are not condemning anybody, what we want is for the people to come and talk to us about what they will do for us. We are not talking of political parties, we are talking about individuals.”
Lori-Ogbebor further said that elections in Warri Kingdom  will be issues driven unlike when the candidates were imposed from the top.
She said, “The town hall meeting will be an issue driven thing and not party driven. The political parties must start now to cooperate with the people, because they can’t stay in Abuja and impose people on us. If we know the people and their programmes, we can vote for them. We can vote for people of different political parties with good background and vision.
“We are sensitising the people on the need to vote good people, because we had suffered in the past. This time around, it is not only women that will be involved, the programme involves all Itsekiri sons and daughters. We are readdy for change for the benefit of our people,” she said.
In addition, the WWCA facilitator said, “In the last 12 years, the people representing Itsekiri nation were products of imposition. As such, we never had the benefit of fielding our best candidates who will represent us. And this has been a big disadvantage to us. This time around, we intend to field our first 11.
“Today, the world is a global village where you have great thinkers such as  doctors, engineers, professors and other great men of intellect. And they abound in Itsekiri nation.  That is why we are calling on such people to avail themselves for the service of our dear nation,” she added.
According to her, “Since the deaths of Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh and the Rewane Brothers, aspirants have been imposed on us. They don’t campaign nether do they know where they are representing. They are imposed upon us and they owe their allegiance to their God fathers. The consequences are what have brought Itsekiri to the state in which we have found ourselves. They go there to serve their pockets, their children and their wives.
This situation can no more be tolerated. We own our lands on which they seek to represent. A nation without a vision perishes.
It is therefore necessary that all aspirants meet Itsekiris on one-to-one, face-to-face, to introduce themselves and their agenda to the Itsekiri people.”