UNGA: Buhari’s Speech Lacked Personal Commitments, Contained Lies — PDP Reps

The minority leader of the House of Representatives, Ndudi Elumelu, said the speech was a great disservice to Nigeria by failing to present the true picture of affairs in Nigeria.

The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives has flayed the speech delivered by President Muhammadu Buhari at the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, United States.

A statement signed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives, Ndudi Elumelu, said the speech was a great disservice to Nigeria by failing to present the true picture of affairs in Nigeria.

Elumelu highlighted cases of human rights abuses, undemocratic governance, injustice, insecurity among other menace ravaging the country which the President ought to have made mention of.

He took a swipe at the President for making claims of building “isolation centers and emergency hospital wards, all over the country in record time” in the fight against COVID-19 which was in fact, a lie.

The minority leader pointed out that Buhari’s speech conveyed no personal commitments that could guarantee an end to poor and undemocratic governance neither did it portray a decisive roadmap towards economic recovery.

The statement read, “The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives has extensively reviewed the address presented by President Muhammadu Buhari at the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

UNGA: Buhari’s Speech Lacked Personal Commitments, Contained Lies — PDP Reps

“The caucus is distressed over claims in President Buhari address which are in complete disagreement with the ugly reality of the failures of his administration, as well as the economic, security and social ruins that have confronted the nation under his watch.

“Our caucus holds that President Buhari’s speech is a great disservice to our nation by not presenting the true picture of affairs in our country; the human rights violations, corruption and incompetence in his administration; the excruciating hardship, escalated insecurity, national divisiveness and infrastructural decay under his watch, thereby blocking avenues for desired intervention in our various ailing sectors.

“The Minority caucus was alarmed by President Buhari’s report to UNGA that terrorists have been so weakened in Nigeria that they are now preying on soft targets, when in reality, insurgents have become so emboldened under his watch, that they are now attacking military formations, kidnapping and killing our gallant officers while overrunning communities and murdering our citizens without restrain.

“As representatives of the people, the Minority caucus is depressed that President Buhari’s speech did not reflect on the kidnapping and killing of students and school children in Nigeria.

“The speech did not reflect on the closure of schools and crippling of education in many parts of our country, where normal life has been destroyed by terrorists, neither did it show any empathy towards the victims of terrorism attacks

“Our caucus is worried that in reflecting on violent conflicts, Mr. President’s address conveyed no personal commitments that can guarantee an end to poor and undemocratic governance, human rights abuses, poverty, ignorance, injustice and inequalities, that are prevalent under his watch, even after identifying such as the causes of conflicts.

“Also, the minority caucus is shocked by the claims in Mr. President’s speech that his administration “built” isolation centres and emergency hospital wards, “all over the country” “in record time” in the fight against Covid-19; a claim that is in conflict with the infrastructural reality in the country.

“Moreover, our caucus is worried that Mr. President’s speech did not portray any decisive roadmap towards economic recovery and food security; had no personal commitment to end corruption in his administration; had no personal commitment to end borrowing or show a clear-cut plan to repay the huge debt being accumulated by his administration.

“The speech also lacked definite personal commitments towards credible electoral process especially as the nation approaches 2023 general election.

“The Minority caucus, after due consideration, urges President Buhari to always cross-check the content given to him by his handlers so as to ensure that his position, especially on the world stage, captures the reality as well as aspiration prevalent in the country.

“This is because such addresses ought to serve as unblemished working document for interventions and solutions at various levels of governance.”

National Convention: PDP Zoning Committee Meeting Deadlocked, Moved To Thursday

The meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) National Convention Committee on Zoning in Enugu on Thursday ended in a stalemate as stakeholders could not reach a definite decision on where the next national chairman of the party should emerge from, Daily Independent gathered.

Following the development, the committee adjourned till next week Thursday in order to allow it to consult with other
relevant stakeholders in the party, especially the PDP Governors’ Forum and the Board of Trustees (BoT).

Addressing newsmen after the closed-door meeting held at the Government House, Enugu, chairman of the committee and governor of Enugu State, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, said that “we had a fruitful meeting and we adjourned to conclude next week”.

There was a sharp division among members of the committee headed by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State on which zone should produce the next national chairman of the party which is currently occupied by the Southern part of the country.

While some members of the committee wanted the South to retain it with the hope that doing so will pave way for the
presidential candidate of the party to come from the North, others canvassed that the North should produce the next national chairman in the spirit of the four-year rotational agreement in the party.

Daily Independent gathered that two groups emerged from within and outside the zoning committee with both disagreeing on where the next national chairman should come from.

The first group, the ‘Maintain the Status Quo Group’, wanted all the party offices retained in the geographical side
to which they presently are.

National Convention: PDP Zoning Committee Meeting Deadlocked, Moved To Thursday

However, the second group, the ‘Move Around Group’, wanted all the positions presently in the South to be transferred to the North while the ones in the North should move southward. By the calculation of the ‘Maintain the Status Quo Group’, the chairmanship of the party will be retained in the South while the national secretary will move to the North.

However, the ‘Move Around Group’ wanted the next chairman of PDP to emerge from the North while the South produces the secretary. Also while the ‘Move Around Group’ believed that zoning the chairman’s position to the North will make the presidential ticket to be automatically zoned to the South, they continued to insist that the issue at hand now is party position and when the party gets to the point where it has to nominate the presidential flagbearer, the matter will be resolved.

However, the ‘Maintain the Status Quo Group’ believed that the zoning committee should also adopt the position of the Bala Mohammed Committee which reviewed the performance of the party in the 2019 general election. It wanted the
presidential ticket of the party thrown open for aspirants from all the six zones.

Former Senate President Anyim Pius Anyim led the ‘Move Around Group’ with the support of some elements in the South-South and SouthEast zones. The ‘Maintain the Status Quo Group’ is led by Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo and has the buy-in of key leaders of the party across South-West and the three zones in the North.

Earlier in his welcome address, Gov. Ugwuanyi clarified that the committee has no mandate to zone political offices such as president or vice president. The governor explained that “our committee is strictly limited to the PDP national executive offices to be contested at the 2021 PDP National Convention scheduled for the end of October 2021”, stressing: “We have no mandate to zone political offices such as president or vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.

Gov. Ugwuanyi maintained that the PDP remains the most credible platform to deliver good and accountable governance to Nigeria, adding that the work of the committee will contribute immensely “in this deliberate search for national officers of our party that will help PDP achieve the lofty ideals and goals of our founding fathers”.

He, therefore, encouraged members of the committee to be frank, open and constructive in their proposals and
debates, and also exhibit consistency with the enormity of their mandate.

“The membership and leadership of this committee have been carefully selected as it is composed of very experienced, competent and eminent Nigerians who are desirous of repositioning the PDP to play its role not just as the main opposition political party in Nigeria but to build a party that offers alternative policy proposals and hope to Nigerians that there is still light at the end of the tunnel”, Gov. Ugwuanyi said.

Members of the committee present at the meeting included the governor of Benue State, Dr. Samuel Ortom, who is the Deputy Chairman; the Deputy Governor of Zamfara State, Barr. Mahdi Aliyu Mohammed, who serves as secretary; former Presidents of the Senate, Senators Iyorchia Ayu and Anyim Pius Anyim; and former governors of Niger, Ekiti, Sokoto, Jigawa and Adamawa states, Dr. Muazu Aliyu Babangida, Ayodele Fayose, Attahiru Bafarawa, Sule Lamido, and Boni Haruna, respectively.

They also included Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, Rt. Hon. Sunday K. E Okoye, Chief Dan Orbih, Chief (Dr.) Ali Odefa, Amb. (Mrs.) Kema Chikwe, Chief Osita Chidoka, Chidi Lloyd, Senator Bassey Ewa Henshaw, Senator Emmanuel Nwaka, Engr. Donatus Udeh, among others.

Meanwhile, ahead of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) national convention slated for October 30, 6000 delegates will converge on Abuja to elect new National Working Committee (NWC) to pilot the affairs of the party.

This is even as Governors Nyesom Wike of Rivers, Udom Emmanuel of Akwa-Ibom and Darius Ishaku of Taraba
have emerged as chairmen of sub-committees. These developments emerged on Thursday during the inauguration of the party’s 15 sub-convention committees.

Disclosing this after the inauguration, the chairman of the national convention organising committee and Adamawa
State governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, also said that the leadership tussle in the party has largely been addressed.

He said: “We are expecting over 6,000 delegates by our new constitution and we are fully prepared for that. We’re
expecting everybody in every ward that is a delegate to attend the convention.

“We are moving on. I am the chairman of the convention committee and you can see that we are doing our work.
Everybody is happy and participating. I don’t see any crisis in this party.”

On which provision of the party’s constitution is likely to be amended, Fintiri stressed the importance of allowing
the committee to complete its job, saying, “I don’t want to preempt anybody’s job. The work is segmented into sub-committees. The constitution committee is working, and I will wait for the report to be submitted before I make any comment on it,” he added.

Meanwhile, Governor Wike has emerged as the Chairman of Special Duties Sub-Committee; Governor Emmanuel,
Chairman of Constitutional Amendment and Governor Darius, Chairman of Contact and Mobilisation.

Other appointments as announced by Senator Duoye Diri include Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Mohammed Bello Adoke, Ifeanyi
Okowa, and Solomon Arase as chairmen of zoning, screening, screening appeal, accreditation and security committees.

Others are Ahmadu Fintiri (electoral), Godwin Obaseki (publicity), Bala Mohammed (venue), Mariya Waziri (welfare and entertainment), Ibrahim Dankwambo.

PUNCH News Headlines Trending In Politics, Today, 24th September, 2021 As Listed By Chrysora Media

Pensioners’ hardship worsens as states owe backlogs of gratuities

State governments including Kano, Benue, Osun, Delta, Ekiti, Ondo, Ogun, Rivers and Kwara are currently owing pensioners many of whom are dying without receiving their entitlements.
Labour leaders and officials of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners, who spoke to The PUNCH in separate interviews on Thursday, said besides failing to remit the contributory pensions, retirees on the defined benefit scheme were being owed.
But state officials attributed the delay in paying pensions and gratuities to the poor economy of the country and assured that the entitlements would be paid as soon as their cash flow improved.
The defined benefit scheme is the pension scheme that was in effect before the adoption and payment of pensions to new retirees under the CPS as stipulated by the Pension Reform Act…..
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Akeredolu canvasses second term for Oyetola

Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, on Thursday said by giving his Osun State counterpart, Adegboyega Oyetola, another four years in office, the state would gain more from him.
Akeredolu spoke on the sidelines of 30th anniversary of the creation of Osun, where 28 distinguished and prominent citizens of the state were honoured.
The Ondo State helmsman, who said achieving milestone of 30 year was worth celebrating, noted that “it has been a wonderful celebration having identified those who build, the founding fathers of this state and those who have contributed to the development of this state is now been given award, I think the government is doing very well…..
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Adamawa PDP councilors pass no confidence vote on LG chairman

Eight out of ten Peoples Democratic Party councilors in Demsa Local Government Council, on Thursday passed a vote of no confidence on the Chairman, Gibson Pwadadi.
The councilors accused Pwadadi of anti-party activities. They specifically accused him of divisiveness and loyalty to Senator Grace Bent, former PDP BOT member who defected to the All Progressive Congress.
Speaking on behalf of party stakeholders from the council, Samson Kumbita told reporters in Yola that the decision was sequel to a series of alleged infractions by the chairman…..
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PUNCH News Headlines Trending In Politics, Today, 24th September, 2021

2023: Jega, Utomi’s group to set conditions for APC, PDP on candidates

The emerging third force in Nigeria’s political space is set to force political parties to adopt certain criteria in selecting candidates for various public offices in the 2023 general elections.
Several prominent Nigerians, including a former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Attahiru Jega, and a political economist, Professor Pat Utomi, have teamed up to sack the ruling All Progressives Congress and the biggest opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, from the political space in the 2023 general elections.
They are to unveil a mega political movement to be known as ‘Rescue Nigeria Project’ on October 1…..
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National Assembly’s approval unnecessary for e-transmission of results – REC

THE Ogun State Residence Electoral Commissioner, Olusegun Agbaje, has said the commission does not need the backing of the National Assembly and the approval of the National Communication Commission to transmit election results electronically.
Agbaje disagreed with the National Assembly’s position that the Independent National Electoral Commission had no constitutional backing to transmit election results electronically without the approval of NCC.
Agbaje said this on Thursday while speaking at a press briefing as the new REC in the state.
The National Assembly had insisted that the commission must seek the approval of NCC before transmitting election results electronically….
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