Wike seals Atiku campaign office

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, yesterday dealt  the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate,Alhaji Atiku Abubakar,a fresh blow  in their  face off ahead of the February election.

The governor sealed off the Atiku/Okowa campaign office located in the Port Harcourt Government Reservation Area (GRA),after turning down a request by the Campaign Management Committee in the state to use the residential building  for political reason.

Atiku supporters in the state yesterday protested the government action as a violation of right of  free expression.

Human rights activist, Shehu Sani, branded the sealing of the campaign office as unfortunate and wrong.

“The report of the sealing of the Atiku Abubakar PDP Presidential campaign office in PH is unfortunate and wrong,”  he said on Twitter.

The Director General of the Atiku  Campaign Management Committee in the  state had,in a November 28,2022 letter to the Commissioner for  Physical Planning ,applied to change the use of house No.32 Onne Road,GRA Phase 11.

But in its response of December 19,2022,the ministry said the purpose for which the application was made was “contracting to the designated use.”

It said: “We write in reference to your application for Change in Use/Purpose  dated 28th November 2022 for your campaign office  at No.32 Onne Road,GRA PHASE 11,Port Harcourt.

“In your  response  to our Notice served,no Title documents was attached.Also your  contact phone number  cannot be reached.We have sent  text messages to this effect to you on the subject matter for you to furnish this office with your Title documents.

However,we are aware that the area GRA 1 & 11 is designated for residential purpose,therefore the use  of the property as a campaign office (semi-public) is contracting to the designated use.

“In the light of the above,your application for Change in Use/Purpose cannot be approved.”

The letter was signed by Stella N.Enyadike,Director,Physical Planning and Transport for the commissioner.

The property was subsequently sealed off.

The Atiku Campaign Committee did not take kindly to the action of the state government which it called a violation of free expression.

It said:”The public is hereby informed that the sealed premises had no bill board or poster, since the approval had not been given, yet it was sealed off, a sign that the delay in the approval is premeditated and computed to cause this sort of unlawfulness.

“We urge our dear leaders in the state to challenge this illegality in a court of competent jurisdiction so that friction can disappear from our political space.

“The right to campaign for preferred candidate is enshrined in the Constitution of Nigeria, which is the grand norm from which every other law derives its power.”

Wike:Some PDP leaders are deliberately provoking violence

Wike who,along with four of his fellow governors in the PDP,are opposed to Atiku as the party’s flag bearer,justified the sealing off of the property saying some PDP leaders in the state were out to instigate violence.

The governor said that Senator Lee Maeba and Dr. Abiye Sekibo were making efforts to foist violence on the state by deliberately violating a state law prohibiting the location of  political offices in residential areas of the state.

Maeba used to represent Rivers South in the Red Chamber of the National Assembly.

He recently alleged that agents of the state government invaded his Port Harcourt residence ,attacked his brother and damaged some of the cars parked on the premises.

Wike at the commissioning of the Bori-Kono road in the state yesterday  claimed that Maeba had  contributed  nothing  much to Ogoniland despite his acclaimed closeness to the PDP presidential candidate.

Said the governor:”You (Maeba) were made a senator. Mention one project you brought to the people of Ogoniland as a distinguished senator.

“When you were the senator, the presidential candidate of PDP was the Vice President and you said you are close to him. What project did you bring to Ogoniland?

“No, Ogoni, you people are here. Senator Lee Maeba claimed that he was one of the few senators that were close to the Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who is now the  presidential candidate of the PDP.

“Senator Ledogo Maeba, with your closeness then, with your opportunity and privileges, what did you bring to the people of Ogoniland? Mention one project. I went to your community the other day. I saw the school you attended. I cried. How could a senator have attended this kind of school and yet, look at the shape that school is in? Go and see what that school looks like.

“East-West Road, I gave it to you, Lee Maeba, to do. The only thing you got in the Senate was an oil block, which you sold at $15 million. Who has a calculator there? Convert it; it comes down to 700. Seven hundred (times) 10 is 7 billion, is it not? Seven hundred (times) five will be how many? 3.5! That is, 13.5 billion (naira) was what you got (and) was paid to you.

“As a minister, my community never had a school. I brought a school to my community. As a chief of staff, I brought roads to my community. You were doing constituency projects. Where is your own in Ogoniland? Stop using Ogoni people. Stop telling lies.

“No amount of lies you concoct can change the minds of the people because they know all you are doing is for your selfish interests. You said I promised you governor. I never (did). You said they were calling you here to the throne. Which throne? I don’t have a throne to give anybody. You are telling people all kinds of lies. We are not people of violence.”

Further splits in states

Apart from the latest onslaught from Wike, further assault on Atiku’s  presidential aspiration seems to be increasing especially from PDP chapters in Katsina, Gombe, Oyo, Delta and Ebonyi States among others.

In Delta State, a faction loyal to former Governor James Ibori is at war with Governor Ifeanyi Okowa over the outcome of the PDP primary elections held last May across the state. Sources within the party told our correspondent that all efforts by party leaders and stakeholders so far  to reconcile the two factions have failed.

One of the sources said:”As things stand, it is uncertain that the Ibori group will work with Okowa, who incidentally is the Vice Presidential candidate of the party in the 2023 elections. “The PDP in Delta state, for the first time since 1999, is going into a general election divided and weakened. Ibori is the heart of the PDP in Delta State and that is a well-known fact.

“His group is not moving yet and the leaders of the party within and outside Delta know what that means. With the failure of all reconciliation efforts, I wonder what will become of PDP in the state next year. Don’t also forget that Omo-Agege, the APC candidate for governorship, was a member of the Ibori camp before he dumped PDP.”

Ibori and Okowa fell out over who should be the governorship candidate of the PDP in the state. While the governor supported current House of Assembly Speaker, Sheriff Oborevwori for the ticket, Ibori backed David Edevbie. Oborevwori eventually won the primary election leading to a series of litigations. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has  recognised the Speaker, citing court orders as its reason.

But the Ibori camp has refused  to accept the verdict. Party sources said  the leadership of the group had severally refused entreaties from PDP leaders to work with Okowa to deliver Delta State to the party next year.

In Katsina, a long standing feud between former Governor Ibrahim Shehu Shema, and the party’s gubernatorial candidate, Senator Yakubu Lado Danmarke, is threatening the chances of the PDP in next year’s elections.

The Nation learnt that the decision of Atiku to recognize Lado as the arrow head of his campaign in the state has pitted  Shema and majority of the leaders of the party in the state against his presidential ambition. Last Tuesday, Shema, and 10 out of the 14-member working committee of the party, boycotted Atiku’s mega rally held in the state.

Similarly, 20 out of the PDP chairmen in the 34 local government chairmen of the state stayed away from the rally. They are all believed to be loyalists of Shema. There are fears that Shema and other aggrieved leaders of the PDP, including Hon. Salisu Yusuf Majigiri, a former chairman of the party, as well as Alhaji Salisu Uli, acting chairman of the party, along with their teeming supporters, may not work for the candidates of the PDP in the state during the general elections. Supporters of Shema are accusing Lado of constantly disrespecting the former governor.

Indications that the PDP in Gombe State is heading for more trouble emerged yesterday when the state chapter suspended its Publicity Secretary, Murtala Usman, for alleged anti-party activities. The PDP Secretary in the state, Alhaji Adamu Abubakar, confirmed the development in a statement in Gombe.

Only last week, the party  lost Dr. Jamil Isyaku Gwamna, a frontline gubernatorial aspirant to the All Progressives Congress (APC) with thousands of his supporters.

Announcing Usman’s suspension, Abubakar said: “As the PRO of the party who is supposed to protect the image of the party, his activities are inimical to the ideals and progress of the party. The general public is hereby informed that anybody who conducts any business with him in the name of PDP does so at his own peril.” While confirming that he received the suspension letter on Thursday, said he had planned to resign from the position before his suspension. He promised to make public his next political move in a few days.

Gwamna had cited internal crisis, poor leadership, disregard for rule of law within the party and disunity as reasons for his decision to dump the PDP. According to him, the leadership of the PDP in the state had poorly managed affairs of the party which led to different factions within the party. He added that his political ideology was anchored on unity, inclusiveness, fairness and justice and “if those are not found in the party then there is no reason to be in that camp.”

The decision of a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to void the primary election of the PDP in Ebonyi State, just a few months before the general election, has thrown the party into confusion with many leaders and members of the party uncertain about the fate of its candidates in the February/March 2023 elections. The party,  in its first primary election conducted in May 28th and 29th 2022, elected Mr. Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii as its gubernatorial candidate.The party also held another primary election on the 4th and 5th of June 2022, which produced Obinna Ogba as its factional governorship candidate.

While INEC has named Odii as the party’s candidate based on court orders, many chieftains of the party in the state have been boycotting activities of the party in protest.

Party sources told The Nation that the development portends great dangers to the chances of Atiku in the state.

“The PDP in Ebonyi is seriously divided and many of our people are not ready to work with the people currently parading themselves as candidates and leaders of the PDP. Unless something drastic happens to return the party to the real owners, Atiku should forget about winning in Ebonyi,” a source said.

Hope rekindles for peace between G-5 govs, Atiku faction as Govs Ortom, Emmanuel meet

Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel has launched a fresh initiative to strike a peace deal between the PDP presidential candidate and his G-5 antagonists -Govs Wike (Rivers State),Seyi Makinde (Oyo);Ifeanyi Ugwuayi (Enugu);Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia); and Samuel Ortom (Benue).

Emmanuel on Thursday night  held a closed door meeting with Ortom at the Akwa Ibom State Government House, Uyo.

Interacting with journalists after the meeting, Emmanuel, who is the Chairman of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), said the leadership of the party was open to peace with the G5 governors of PDP.

He assured all party faithful that the reconciliation of some of its aggrieved governors would ensure the  party’s victory in next year’s general elections.

Describing all the PDP governors as brothers ,he  said:”We all came in as a family.Whether you like it or not these are brothers.Even in the parable of the lost sheep in the Bible only one sheep got missing and Jesus Christ left the rest and went after that one, how much more when you have brothers that are up to five.

“You turn around on a campaign platform you don’t see them suddenly you will feel you need them.These are people you started together. I think I still feel empty that we are all not together on a campaign platform but when it comes to governance we are all together and we have mutual respect for each other.

“We listen to each other and we try to look at the way forward and I want to believe it is getting to that point where sacrifices must be made so that there can be peace.

“Someone like me I am pursuing peace and I want peace to reign and once we can achieve that our party will coast into victory”, the governor assured.

“Governor Ortom made a statement and I am sure you listened to him. I agree 100% with him. We are ready to make peace and I can assure our party that these are governors who have structures, and something to show, these are governors who have capacity.

“We will do everything possible to put the house together on the 2023 campaigns, but when it comes to governance we are still as intact as ever”.

Earlier, Ortom said the G5 governors of PDP werestill with the party, but expressed their displeasure over the leadership of the party’s inability to deploy its conflict resolution mechanism to resolve its internal grievances.

Ortom pointed out that dialogue remained key towards accommodating the interest of the party stalwarts, adding that the aggrieved governors never turned their back on dialogue and reconciliation when terms are met to fit with their interest.

He said:”We were not happy with the national leadership of our party as it had not been able to deploy its conflict resolution mechanism internally to solve the problems, and the grievances that we have.

“Governor Udom is one of us, he is a governor like the rest of us and in politics, dialogue is key towards resolving conflicts and problems that may arise as a result of conventions or congresses.

“We have never said we have turned our back on dialogue and reconciliation; if the terms are met, why not, we will work if it fits in our own interest.”

(Nation)