POLITICS
Plateau Bassa/Jos North Bye-election: PDP Holds Primaries, Promises Victory
From Jude Dangwam, Jos
The Plateau state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has concluded it’s primaries for the forthcoming Jos North/Bassa Federal House of Representatives bye-election with Hon. Musa Agah emerging as the flag bearer of the party for the forthcoming 26th February, 2022 election.
Musa emerged winner at the end of the exercise with 152 votes, while Hon.
Jonathan Dabo pulled a total of 127 votes out of the total 281 votes cast by delegates.Chairman of the PDP Primaries Committee, Hon. Francis Orogu while declaring the results in Jos the Plateau State capital disclosed that the third aspirant Hon. David Racha got only one vote while one invalid vote was recorded.
He charged the aspirants and their supporters to take advantage of the crisis rocking the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) as seen in their inconclusive primary’s in the State to dislodged what he described as ‘carnivorous system of government’ in the country.
According to him, “Having seen that we have done our best and God decided what is best for the party and the State. I want to urged every member of this party to ignore any technical hitches or human error and let us dislodge this carnivorous system of government we have in place.
“If we did not unite and corporate but only look at technical issue that will suit our personal interest having gone this far, then we should know that we have ourselves to be blame,” he cautioned.
Orogu added, “Plateau State among many other states of the Federation today are facing the heat of this government, therefore as members of the Peoples Democratic Party we should be our brothers keepers.
“We are expecting more support from what we saw of APC primaries yesterday, therefore we should not make any mistake not to take advantage of what is going on, it is not our business to make case for them but as democrats you do what is good for the people.”
The Chairman said Nigeria is passing through difficult times and appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies in the country to allow citizens of the country to decide for themselves who will govern them.
“The PDP has taken a stage nationwide and we are asking as well as pleading with the security agencies and also the INEC that please in the name of God, save this country by avoiding anything that will give them nickname.
“In the next election, allow Nigerians to decide, not INEC, not Security Agencies. What we are going through is enough and do us good by allowing Nigerians to decide.”
Responding to the outcome of the election, Hon. Agah said there is no victor, no vanquished in the just concluded party exercise. “I can always describe this election as no victor no vanquish. As a matter of fact, this is an in-house fight and my conviction is that PDP will come out victorious come 26th February,2022.
“I assure you that we will team up with my fellow aspirants to work so that we will come out with a very resounding victory.”
Honourable Musa Agah is a serving Member of the Plateau State House of Assembly representing Irigwe/Rukuba State Constituency in the 9th Assembly.
The Lawmaker has made name in recent times when he made case for his constituents’ during that mass killings of Irigwe natives last year.
The Abia Chapter of the INEC Staff Welfare Association (ISWA) has warned its members to uphold the integrity of the commission and guard against the culture of manipulating election results.
The Abia Chairman of the association, Mr Collins Eze, gave the advice at the group’s general meeting and end-of-year party in Umuahia.
Speaking in an interview with newsmen on the sideline of the ceremony, Eze said that the staff members were adequately aware of their enormous responsibility and should ensure free, fair and credible elections.
He said: “We have also told our colleagues that anywhere they find themselves they should make sure that they do the needful by ensuring transparency in the conduct of elections.
“We have always told them not to allow anybody to induce them with money to manipulate election results.
“I’m happy that they have been building the capacity of our colleagues on election processes.
“So, in the coming years, we won’t have any problem in ensuring free, fair and peaceful elections.”
He said that the end-of-year party was special as it afforded them the opportunity “to wine and dine together as well as thank God for sustaining them in 2024”.
Eze said that his leadership had introduced various means of assisting members in dire financial needs by providing platforms to solicit suppory for them.
He expressed gratitude to members for their support and cooperation, describing them as the “secret behind the success of this administration”.
He said that 34 of at least 350 staff members of the commission in the state retired from service in 2024.
According to him, the development has placed a huge financial burden on the association, in terms of their welfare and entitlement as members.
Report says that each member received a carton of tomato paste as Christmas gift from the association. (NAN)
A chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Osita Okechukwu, has told the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be thankful to God that its 16-year administration was not probed by the successive APC-led governments.Okechukwu stated this on Tuesday in Abuja, while reacting to a statement by PDP congratulating Ghanaians for the conduct of free, fair and transparent general elections.
Report says that PDP had, in a statement, said that the verdict of the people of Ghana in the presidential election was a signal to the APC that its days were numbered. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, had said in the statement that the power of the people in Nigeria, just like in Ghana, would ‘surely prevail and end the APC’s oppressive rule’.This, he said, would “return Nigeria to the path of good governance, security, political stability and economic prosperity on the platform of the PDP in 2027.”However, in his reactions to Ologunagba’s statement, Okechukwu said that the PDP clan should thank God that former President Muhammadu Buhari and President Bola Tinubu, out of sheer statesmanship, had refused to probe ‘the 16 locus years of PDP administrations’.Okechukwu, a former Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), described the 16 years of PDP administrations as ones full of squandering and lack of plan.He said that Nigeria had yet to recover from the humongous culture of impunity and trust deficit planted by PDP on the Nigerian soil.Okechukwu said corruption was among the culture of impunity, saying it governed the privatisation of Nigeria’s electricity value chain, a key element in the country’s industrialisation drive.“Another is the blatant rigging of the 2007 general elections which the foremost beneficiary, President Umaru Yar’Adua, out of good conscience and noble magnanimity, publicly acknowledged the malfeasance which characterised his victory,” he said.Okechukwu also mentioned what he called conscienceless sale of the legislative and ministerial quarters, the annual rentage of which, he said, was bleeding the country’s treasury.“Another one is the neglect of $23 billion Greenfield Refinery, which could have saved over $70 billion expended on importation of refined petroleum products and which simulated the economic hardship of today,” he said.On why, for nine years, the APC administration could not fix those challenges, he recalled the efforts made by the Buhari administration to reopen talks on the Greenfield Refinery which, according to him, the Chinese regrettably rebuffed.The former VON director-general said that Nigerians were not in a hurry to forget the deliberate breach of the rotational convention of president from the north to the south.He said that the country could not also forget the utter disregard for Section 7 of the PDP’s constitution which expressly mandated zoning.Okechukwu advised the PDP not to insult the sensibilities of Nigerians by assuming that citizens would easily forget how they were put in the harms way.He said that PDP should thank God that Buhari and Tinubu did not want to probe them, adding “that’s why Nigerians cannot decipher the difference between the two political parties.” (NAN)
Sen. Ned Nwoko (PDP-Delta) says that Local Government Administration is central to democracy in Nigeria as it ensures grassroots governance and service delivery at the local level.This is contained in a statement signed by Dr Michael Nwoko, the Chief of Staff to the lawmaker in Abuja on Monday.Nwoko said this on the occasion of the presentation of an award “Icon of Hope” to him by the Association of Local Government Vice Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGOVC).
He was represented by his Chief of Staff. He said that the importance of local government administration in the country could not be overemphasised, as it was the bedrock of democracy.According to him, local governments in Nigeria play key roles in the country’s democracy by promoting participatory democracy, providing services, and representing citizens.“Local Governments help determine local needs and how to meet them. They also act as a link between the centre, state, and local people.“They are created to decentralise power and bring the government closer to the people. They perform both mandatory and concurrent functions.“It is in view of this that I took it upon myself to enhance the viability of local governments through the Paris and London club loan refunds,”he said.Dr Folashade Olabanji-Oba, ALGOVC National Chairman, while presenting the award at its 7th Annual National Conference, said the award was in recognition of the lawmaker’s significant contributions to strengthening local government administration.She highlighted Nwoko’s critical role in ensuring the Paris and London Club loan refunds, a financial breakthrough she said enhanced the capacity of local governments nationwide.(NAN)
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