POLITICS
C’River PDP Crisis: Chairman Faults Alledged Removal, Mull Court Action

Mr Venatius Ikem has described his alledged removal as the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Cross River by the State Working Committee (SWC) as faulty and against the party’s constitution.
While noting his purported removal to be political, Ikem said he might consider legal action against the act. He made his position known while fielding questions from newsmen in Calabar on Saturday. Ikem described the allegations against him put forward by the State Working Committee (SWC) as not only baseless, but an attempt made to portray him as misfit for the office he had held for over four years. It will be recalled that the state’s SWC had on Friday removed Ikem from office as the chairman of the party in the state on allegations of financial misappropriation, high-handiness and ineptitude.Immediately, the SWC announced Mr Austin Edibe who was the party’s Vice Chairman in the Northern senatorial district of the party in the state as his replacement.However, Ikem said, “Like they always say, you give a dog a bad name when you want to hang it.The truth is that to the best of my knowledge, I run one of the most efficient EXCOS of our party.“We meet regularly and I think in the last quarter or so we have had two stakeholders meetings we have our regular State Committee meetings and the stakeholders meetings.“Secondly, I think there must be issues to discuss, whenever there are issues and programme I am always there, we just had a party revalidation exercise this year, we had the party congresses this year we performed well.“The last local government elections, we stood up very strong and I am very proud of our outing despite the outcome given the circumstances“To me, I know and everybody knows that I am doing my best to run the party within the context we find ourselves. so talking about not holding meetings or ineptitude leadership is completely out of the question.“One of the problems I see in PDP is the hangover of being in government, we have been in government for so long that many people have never experienced being out of government.“They believe that things should be the way it used to be when we held sway in government house.“The drastic change to being an opposition party is not being properly absorbed by our members so their expectations are usually not what is possible in terms of availability of welfare, availability of funds for this and that, but even given that we have done very well.“The national assembly members have been very supportive, they have programmes and even with some stipends to support us monthly.”On the allegation of misappropriation of fund, Ikem who said he ran a cashless policy, said that the books were there for everyone to see.Ikem alleged that insecurity of a sitting senator was behind his alledged removal.According to him, my crime is that I am supporting Hon. Peter Akpanke against him (Senator). I don’t know whether anybody is contesting against him in 2027.“He used to say Peter wanted to contest against him, but Peter has said he is not contesting against him so I’m supporting Peter against him. Those are the underlying political issues.“These ones are just cover ups to say they have a valid reason. The real reason is political that I should not be supporting Peter.“For me, the same support I give to him is the same support all my elected officials are entitled to. it does not matter the positions they hold, so I cannot support him as a senator more than I am supporting other members,” he said.(NAN)POLITICS
Obaseki Slams Gov Okpebholo Over Alleged N96bn LG Fraud

By Mike Odiakose, Abuja
Former Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki has slammed his Successor, Monday Okpebholo over allegation that Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members benefited from alleged N96 billion local government fraud during his administration.
Reacting to the report of a probe panel set up by Governor Okpebholo, Media Adviser to former Governor Godwin Obaseki, Crusoe Osagie, described the fraud allegation as “another desperate effort to justify Okpebholo’s unconstitutional onslaught on duly elected council excos.
”Part of the statement reads: “We have read with disdain a statement by Monday Okpebholo alleging that the elected 18 local government chairmen in Edo State mismanaged N96 billion, in another of Okpebholo’s frantic efforts to justify his unconstitutional onslaught on the elected leadership of the third tier of government.
“What is most shocking about the statement is that Okpebholo appears to be completely oblivious of the fact that he does not have supervisory responsibility over the local governments and can therefore not set up any investigation of government officials that are elected into office just like him.
“As a matter of fact, these local government chairmen have a better claim to their democratic office than he, whose election stands on a knife edge, with the election petition tribunal preparing to deliver justice in the September 21, 2024 election, widely believed to have been rigged.
“Also advertising Okpebholo’s ignorance is his attempt, as usual, to drag His Excellency, Mr. Godwin Obaseki into his propaganda.
“Okpebholo should kindly note that Obaseki was never obsessed with control of local government funds during his tenure, as Okpebholo has shown himself to be in the last three months.
“We are forced to, by this statement, inform Okpebholo that there are limits to his powers as governor, and if he believes there are financial infractions in a separate tier of government from his own, he should simply inform the relevant agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to carry out their constitutional responsibilities.
“Okpebholo needs to be reminded that he is neither the Inspector General of Police nor the Chairman of the EFCC.
“We urge all Edo people and Nigerians to ignore the lies and falsehood propagated by Okpebholo in his statement and to rest assured that His Excellency Godwin Obaseki, who is clearly the target of Okpebholo’s witch hunt ran the most transparent government in the history of Edo State and had no authority over local government funds at any time during his eight years in office.
POLITICS
We Never Zoned 2027 Presidential Ticket to S/East – Labour Party

By Mike Odiakose, Abuja
The leadership of the Labour Party has denied the news making the rounds that it has zoned the 2027 presidential ticket to the South East.
In a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Obioral Ifoh, the party emphasised that it has not and will not zone any of its positions to any geographical zone or individual.
While making reference to a statement released on Sunday titled, “2027: Labour Party still available for Ndigbo to realise presidency – Abure”, Ifoh declared that the party did not at any time said it has zoned the presidency or any of its positions in the coming election.
The party was emphatic on its position that though, it made its platform available for the South East to pursue its political aspirations in the 2023 election, it will not close its doors to the zone if it chooses to work with the party in future elections.
According to Ifoh, “the National Chairman, Barrister Julius Abure on Saturday while speaking at a gathering of South East members of the party in FCT only advised that Ndigbo can still achieve the presidency if they are more united and are able to reach out to other groups, and that the Labour Party is a veritable platform for their aspiration.”
The Labour Party Spokesman stressed that the LP is a national party and has large followership across the country and therefore the issue of zoning does not arise.
“In 2023 general elections, the party won seats in the North and across the Southern states and we are working hard to surpass that achievement in future elections.
“Candidates of every position must emerge through highly competitive and democratic processes as the party constitution does not permi zoning.
“We therefore regret the misinterpretation of the party’s noble intention by a section of the media. Our party was quoted out of context.
“However, we are excited by the deluge of concerns raised by the public over the misinformation, it clearly shows the level of love and trust Nigerians have for the Labour Party and how far they are willing to support the party in the task of repositioning Nigeria and ensuring that the democracy works again in our dear country.
“We seize this opportunity to call on Nigerians to have faith in the Labour Party and to support us for the huge task ahead. We will not fail you. Together, we shall overcome.”
POLITICS
APC Condemns Alleged Attacks on its Members in Zamfara

The Zamfara chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned alleged attacks on its members by some sponsored suspected thugs.
This is contained in a statement issued in Gusau on Saturday by the State APC Publicity Secretary, Malam Yusuf Idris.“The state APC leadership described the incident as uncalled for. “This is condemnable and unacceptable, we are calling on the security agencies in the state to ensure a thorough investigation of the matter,” Idris said. He added that the APC as a peace loving party in the state would not accept any obnoxious and unwarranted acts of intimidation and harassment.“The APC will continue to maintain its position as the strongest political party in Zamfara and nobody will intimidate us.“The State APC chapter is hereby warning politicians in the state who always attack its members and properties especially when the party is organising or carrying out an activity in the state.“Our members were attacked by some suspected political thugs while moving from Gusau to Bungudu town for a function organised by a lawmaker, Abdulmalik Zubairu,” the spokesperson added.According to Idris, the members of the party were moving to attend the official inauguration of over N1billion worth of empowerment projects executed by Rep. Abdulmalik Zubairu for the benefit of his constituents and the state in general.“The political thugs openly and strategically stationed themselves along the Gusau to Bungudu Road to perpetrate the attack.“This led to the destruction of many vehicles and wounding of their occupants simply because they are APC members.“We are therefore calling on the state Police Command and other security agencies to immediately swing into action and arrest the suspected perpetrators,” Idris urged.The State APC leadership also urged its members to remain patient as the party would ensure that justice was done to all those attacked and those who sustained injuries.Idris appealed, “We are also calling on our members to remain calm and not to be discouraged by any intimidation and harassment.” (NAN