THURSDAY FEBRUARY 16, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY
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NEWSEXTRA
Ekwueme Laments Destruction of PDP Christopher Isiguzo in Enugu Former Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, yesterday in Enugu said the hijack and conversion of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to a “private estate” by some
individuals who lack knowledge of the underpinning principles behind the formation of the party was the major reason why the party lost the 2015 general election. The second Republic Vice president said he was always moved to tears each time he
Ezeife: South-east People Not Wanted in APC James Sowole in Akure The former Governor of Anambra State, Chief Chuckwuemeka Ezeife, yesterday said the people of South-east are not wanted in the All Progressive Congress (APC), saying those that are going to the party want to be governor by stealing the position. Ezeife spoke yesterday in Akure, during an interview with journalists in Akure at the public presentation of an autobiography written in honour of the Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko. The book entitled: ‘Mimiko’s Odysseys: A Biography of Revelations,’ was written by Professor Olu Obafemi. The presentation of the book attracted people from all walks of life including the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Abduazeez Yari of Zamfara State, the Governor of Adamawa State, Bindu Ibrahim Jubril, while the governors of Lagos and Delta States were represented. Ezeife, who spoke on the sideline of the event, said the people of the South-east zone are very consistent, stating that they are not going anywhere. “There is nothing for us to show in this government. Are we the Secretary to the Government of the Federation or do we have any
protocol position? “Okorocha is in APC but we know that we are not wanted. Some people who want to be governor are smuggling themselves in to APC but we will not allow them. “South-eastern people are not going to APC. What is happening is that some people who want to be governor by stealing the position about 12 of them are going to APC and they will discover that they will never win any election after going there,” he said. The former governor said some people, who saw what happened in Edo and Ondo States believed that they could win election only if they belong to APC. “We are consistent with All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Some people saw what happened in Edo and Ondo and they believed that the only way to be governor is to go through APC but we are assuring them that our people will not vote for them,” he said.. The governor, who commended the call by the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, that the South-east should show interest in the presidency, said: “We are going for presidency. I like what Obasanjo said. For that 2019, we are going for presidency.”
Katsina Speaker, Maduru Impeached Abubakar emerges new speaker Ibrahim Shuaibu in Katsina The Speaker of the Katsina State House of Assembly, Hon. Aliyu Sabiu Maduru, has been impeached. Twenty-three out of the 34 members of the assembly voted in favour of the impeachment and removal of the speaker. The House of Assembly Majority Leader, Hanbali Faruk, representing Katsina constituency, moved the motion for the impeachment
which was seconded by a member representing Funtua constituency, Abubakar Total. The lawmakers also elected Alhaji Yahya Abubakar from Kusada Local GovernmentAreaofthestateasthenew Speaker. Abubakar was immediately sworn-in during plenary. The assembly’s Chief Whip, Bishir Mamman Dutsinma, was also removed and replaced by Nasir Yahaya, representing Daura constituency.
Pa Onodjae for Burial PA Jonah Onodjae, a community leader and devout Christian who passed on last December will be buried in his home town, OzuakaOroguninDeltaState,Saturday,February 18, 2017. Astatementsignedbytheheadofthe family, Hon Friday Onodjae, a former member of the Delta State House of Assembly, noted that the burial will be precededbyaChristianwakeonFriday, February17at5p.m.atOnodjae’sfamily compound, and followed, the next day, with a funeral service at the First Baptist Church, Ozuaka-Orogun. Pa Onodjae who passed on at the ripe age of 84, is survived by two wives and several children and grand children He added that while guests
will be held to a reception at the Orhoerha Secondary School, Ozuaka, after the interment rites, there will be a thanksgiving service at the First Baptist Church, Ozuaka, on Sunday, February,19, 2017 at 10a.m.
remembered the story of the PDP, especially how the party which was initially formed to be a mass movement for Nigerians had suddenly become a shadow of its old self. Ekwueme who received members of the party’s Strategy Review and Interparty Relations Committee led by Ambassador Aminu Wali at his Enugu residence who came to hand over a copy of their report to him said the “hijackers who did not understand the principles behind the party’s formation deviated totally as imposition, impunity took centre stage while internal party democracy took flight.” He said: “The story of the PDP makes me sometimes to weep. When our founding fathers said the party will be in charge for 60 years or more, some thought they were just bragging, PDP was packaged to be a mass movement of all Nigerians just like the ANC of south africa, we started that way, the first election in 1998, December 5 council election, we won massively across the country, we took control
of 28 out of 36 states. “In 1999, we ended up with 21 of the 36 governors. All the five states of the South East and six states of the South-south were all PDP; 10 of the 19 governors of the North-east, North-west and Northcentral were PDP, it was a strong showing, we also had control of the National Assembly. With that showing, all we needed to do was to manage the party properly as envisaged by the founding fathers, making it a mass movement and expanding its power base “Unfortunately, some people who did not know how the party was formed or what informed its philosophy, got involved in the party and decided to convert it to a personal estate without regard to the underpinning principles that formed its formation and gradually we started to lose ground. At one stage, in my state, Anambra, they decided to commence the re-registration of members so as to exclude members who they thought were not in their camp, instead of attracting more members, they decided to exclude,
that was the genesis of our present situation, coupled with lack of internal democracy. “I can’t remember how many times I’ve been called to come and spearhead the process of bringing back people to our party, that was what late Yar’Adua invited me to do as soon as he took over as president, we went round all the six zones, met with aggrieved members but unfortunately Yar’Adua passed on and that initiative was not conclusively implemented. I’m happy that after the debacle of 2015, there was been this need for retrospection as evidenced by this strategy committee to try and find out where we went astray and try to bring the party to its original plan,” he noted. He further pledged to read the content of the 12-page report of the committee, positing that he was optimistic that with the calibre of persons in the committee, once the report was fully implemented, the PDP would regain its lost glory. Earlier, the leader of the delegation and Nigeria’s former Ambassador to China, Alhaji
Aminu Wali, disclosed that the committee was able to take a closer look at all the problems that faced the party as well as their causes and also proferred the way out, adding that the party’s leadership under the Caretaker chairman, Alhaji Ahmed Makarfi was determied to return the party to the true owners. He said by the time the report of the committee was fully implemented, the PDP would be on its way to reclaiming the nation’s presidency by 2019. “The report has addressed the probelms, we’ve done a good job that will help revive the party. Impunity, to party discipline, impositions and intra-party probems were looked into and solutions proferred. We’ve presented the report to the caretaker committee. We’ve learnt our lessons, the indiscipline that bedevilled the party over the years were tackled, we want to rebrand our party and get back to the visions of the founding fathers which made the party, a winning party. We will revive the party and win back power by 2019,” he said.
TOUCHING LIVES
L-R: Head, Consumer Policy Development and Monitoring, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Ephraim Nwokonneya; Bobby Ephraim Nwokonneya (Jnr) of Vodacom Nigeria Limited; and Director, Corporate Communications and CSR, Airtel Nigeria,Emeka Okpara, at the premiere of Airtel Touching Lives Season 3 in Lagos....recently
NEMA Denies Discrimination against Christians in Adamawa Kasim Sumaina in Abuja The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) yesterday denied report of discrimination against Christians in the distribution of relief assistance in Adamawa State. The spokesperson of NEMA, Sani Datti, while reacting to the report on some of media outlets where Christians from seven local government areas in the state affected by the insurgency were reported to have accused the agency of bias and discrimination in the rehabilitation of the Northeast geo-political zone ravaged
by the Boko Haram insurgency, said there was nothing like that in their activities in the state. Sani revealed that at no point does NEMA determine who gets what as it is the job of the community leader to work with state governments to ensure that all those that are affected get to benefit from the intervention. According to him, the activities of NEMA centred around providing assistance to distressed persons and communities in the country, not minding if they are Christians or Muslims.
He hinted that “when NEMA engage on humanitarian activities and presentations of relief items, these are handed over to the state governments for distribution to the persons.” Recall that Christians drawn from Gombi, Hong, Madagali, Michika, Maiha, Mubi North and Mubi South local government areas of the state had raised the allegations last Tuesday. They had lamented the systemic discrimination against them by the federal government, particularly, the NEMA in the rehabilitation of
victims affected by the Boko Haram terrorism. According to them, all palliatives and interventions initiated by government through the Presidential Committee on North-East Initiative (PCNI), NEMA and the state government have tilted their interventions and humanitarian assistance in favour of Muslims to the outright neglect of the Christian communities in the state. Sani however assured Nigerians that the agency would continue to work towards ensuring that no one is short-changed whenever donations are made.
Wike Sacks Health Commissioner Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt
Onodjae
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has relieved the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Theophilus Odagme, of his
appointment. Briefing journalists after the state Executive Council meeting yesterday, the state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dr. Austin TamGeorge, noted that the governor
wished the former commissioner well in his future endeavour. He, however, did not give reasons for the sack. The state was awash two weeks with rumours of the dissolution of the state executive council by
the governor. Sources said the governor was not happy with the performance of most members of his cabinet whom THISDAY gathered were not keeping pace with the speed of the governor on project execution.