Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, and other chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Friday paid a visit to Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State was among the APC leaders that visited the governor, with former Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose also present.
The APC leaders met with Wike at the private residence of the Rivers State governor in Port Harcourt.
The details of the closed-door meeting are not yet known, but it may not be unconnected with the 2023 presidential election.
Wike and his allies have been at loggerheads with the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the decision to pick Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as the running mate of the party¡¯s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
Following that decision, Wike and his loyalists, which include Governor Samuel Ortom, Governor Seyi Makinde, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Senator Jonah Jang, and others, have called for the resignation of the PDP national chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu.
Chief Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, the Executive Governor of Rivers State just received Gov. Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, Gov. Akeredolu of Ondo State, Gov. Fayemi of Ekiti State and other APC Chieftains for a meeting at his country home in Rumuepirikom, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. pic.twitter.com/FddKCMG4St
The Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship candidate in Lagos State, Olajide Adediran, popularly known as Jandor has debunked the report-making round that he has picked Nigerian actress, Funke Akindele as his running mate.
Jandor cleared the air on Wednesday evening following the report that he had selected the actress as his Deputy ahead of the 2023 governorship election.
The PDP governorship candidate in an interview with Vanguard on the trending report said, “I haven’t chosen nor announced Funke Akindele as my running mate.
“However, that stage will come in due course when an official public announcement will be made.”
It was earlier reported that Akindele was considered the Deputy Governorship candidate of the PDP in Lagos State.
Gbenga Ogunleye, the media aide to the governorship candidate confirmed that Akindele was nominated alongside four others whom he listed as Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, Kolawole Vaughan, Adenike Shobajo and [Rasheed] Teslim-Balogun.
He said, “she was nominated alongside four other people, whose names are Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, Kolawole Vaughan, Adenike Shobajo and [Rasheed] Teslim-Balogun. Jandor has not named anyone as his running mate yet.”
The Lagos State governorship election is scheduled for March 11, 2023, with PDP hoping to win the state.
Nollywood actress and content creator, Funke Akindele has emerged as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) deputy governorship candidate in Lagos State.
The Jenifa Diary crooner was favoured after she was listed among five names released as the potential running mates of the party¡¯s governorship candidate, Abdulaziz Olajide Adediran popularly known as Jandor.
A short video clip that emerged online captured the moment some members of PDP were jubilating and congratulating Funke.
Sources close to the party¡¯s Governorship Candidate in the state, Dr Abdul Azeez Olajide Adediran, and the leadership of the party in the state, confirmed the development.
According to Daily Trust, the running mate would be unveiled at a soon to be held event.
Recall that five names were shortlisted for the position.
They included Ms Akindele; former governorship aspirant, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour; former Senatorial candidate for Lagos East, Yeye Shobajo, another governorship aspirant, David Kolawole Vaughan known as DAKOVA and Engr. Teslim Balogun.
The latest development is coming a few days after her husband, JJC Skillz announced the crash of their seven years old marriage.
The Osun governor election slated for Saturday, July 16, may not be a walk in the park for Governor Gboyega Oyetola and the All Progressives Congress (APC). The reason is that some APC members, even leaders, have diverted their support to Akin Ogunbiyi, the candidate of the Accord Party (AP), The Nation reports.
Not less than 50 influential APC chieftains who are leaders in various capacities have thrown their weight behind Ogunbiyi ahead of the election, describing him as the one who truly possesses the qualities of a good leader and has an enviable vision for the state.
Confirming this new development, the AP gubernatorial candidate¡¯s media aide, Seun Adeoye, disclosed that the APC bigwigs in the state made their position known when they paid his principal a visit in Osogbo recently.
Reacting to the support he was assured of by the APC leaders, Ogunbiyi noted that he will not fail them. A statement released by Adeoye quoted Ogunbiyi as saying: ¡°I promise to lift this state out of the monolithic economy as a ¡®civil servant state¡¯ by making use of its abundant resources in agriculture, mineral resources, and the large human capital deposits.
¡°I will fully engage in all sectors of agriculture including crop production, livestock, forestry, and fishing, and make the state the food basket of the entire Southwest. ¡°Agriculture is a multi-billion dollar investment.
We can produce another Awolowo, somebody who has the intellect, capacity, and experience to develop something little to something bigger. I will go all out to be that person.¡±
Asari Dokubo, a former Niger Delta militant, on Tuesday said the Obidient movement of Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), is a futile one ¡°because it is going nowhere¡±.
Speaking in a Facebook Live monitored by POLITICS NIGERIA, Dokubo said Obi does not have the pedigree to match co-contenders, Atiku Abubakar and Bola Tinubu.
He tackled the former Anambra State governor on the recent release of some documents that showed he rejected plots of land offered to him by the Anambra State Housing Development Corporation (ASHDC) during his tenure as governor.
According to Dokubo, Obi is lying to the public.
¡°How would you compare Obi with Tinubu or Atiku? What is his antecedent? Lies. You are showing documents. Who showed that you rejected the lands? All these small small [sic] scams, who dem wan do naw [sic]?¡± Dokubo said.
Meanwhile, the Peter Obi Support Network has called for the immediate discontinuation of the negotiations and alliance between the LP and the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP).
The group said the NNPP’s presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwanso,¡¯s continuous association with the Obi candidacy will be a liability rather than an asset.
The decision of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to pick for Borno State Governor, Senator Kashim Shettima, has not gone down well with governors elected on the party’s platform.
Indications have emerged disclosing that APC governors want one of their colleagues to be picked as a running mate to Tinubu as compensation for their support during the party’s presidential primary, where they moved to stop the imposition of Senate President Ahmad Lawan by the National Chairman of the APC, Adamu Abdullahi.
While pushing for the running mate ticket to go to the North-East, particularly from Borno State, APC governors are against any one of Katsina getting it if it eventually goes to the North-West. This is because the state had produced late President Umaru Yar’Adua and incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.
A source told Vanguard that stakeholders want the North-East, especially Borno State, to produce the vice president in 2023.
The source said: “The APC governors are pushing that the presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, should pick his vice presidential candidate from among them because of the role they played to stop the action of the APC National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, who had already settled for the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, as the presidential candidate of the ruling party.
“There are strong feelings that though the governors want one of them, Tinubu wants Senator Kassim Shettima as his vice-presidential candidate.”
With Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna and Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano out of the race despite their support for Tinubu, governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, and his predecessor, Kashim Shettima are the individuals presently being considered.
While the governors prefer a sitting governor in the person of Babagana Zulum of Borno State, a source said Tinubu has zeroed his search on Shettima.
The source revealed that the former Lagos State Governor wants the former Borno Governor because he is a formidable force and well-accepted in the North-East.
He also wants to split the votes from the zone with the former Vice President and the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar.
It was, however, gathered that former speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, from Bauchi, North-East zone, or Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, North-Central, who are Christians, are also in the mix should a Muslim-Muslim ticket fail to materialize.
The 2023 Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar is mired in a fresh Certificate controversy following a discovery that his WAEC certificate bears a different name.
Atiku’s WAEC certificate bears the name ‘Siddiq Abubakar’.
According to documents displayed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Atiku did not provide information on his primary education. The 1965 West Africa School Certificate (WASC) result presented by him identified the student as ‘Siddiq Abubakar’.
POLITICS NIGERIA learned that Atiku holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from Anglia Ruskin University in the United Kingdom. From the documents seen, Atiku earned a Master’s degree in 2021 with GCE O’level results.
Attached to the documents was a sworn affidavit as Deputy Preventive Superintendent attached to Customs Preventive Station, Apapa Wharf, Lagos, where he declared to be addressed as Atiku Abubakar.
Reacting, a public affairs analyst said it was baffling and shocking that Atiku earned a Master’s degree in 2021 with GCE 0 level results.
“I would like to know how Atiku with zero academic or creative publications and with zero college level courses suddenly earned a Master’s degree? And the year 2021 is suspect. He quickly scammed Nigeria with a degree he obtained in 2021 because of the presidential election.
“Before someone without a Bachelor degree could earn a Master’s degree, he must have distinguished himself academically or in his field of endeavours by showing publications or unique writing samples.
“For example, a playwright called Nilo Cruz (Cuban-American playwright) was accepted into Brown University MFA in playwriting program in the early 1990s without a bachelor’s degree. But he earned Associate degree from Community College and distinguished himself as a talented playwright with numerous plays.
“And he was recommended into Brown MFA In playwriting program by another scholar/ playwright who had taught Nilo Cruz before.”.
The presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar has reiterated his decision to stick with Delta state governor, Ifeanyi Okowa despite pressure to replace him.
Vanguard gathered in Abuja on Saturday that 13 governors and loyalists of the PDP are reaching out to Atiku to douse the tension.
While some are asking for Okowa to be replaced others are demanding a reconciliation which would make Atiku reach out to Rivers state governor Nyesom Wike.
However, Atiku, in a tweet on his verified Twitter handle @Atiku, on Saturday said: “Getting this country back on track will require all hands on deck.
“And I am excited to go on this journey with my vice-presidential candidate, H.E Dr Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa @AIOkowa.
“Let’s come together as ONE towards a brighter future for all and one Nigeria.”
He subsequently attached a video of Okowa addressing Nigerians.
In the video, Okowa describes himself as an incurable optimist ready to work towards the insecurity plaguing the country.
Okowa said: “For me, being on the ticket with Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, is an opportunity to play a role in resetting the trajectory of Nigeria back to the path of growth, peace and prosperity.”
The crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party appears far from over as the presidential candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar and the party’s National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu seeks to resolve the differences.
The likes of Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, and the former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose have expressed their grievances following the emergence of Ifeanyi Okowa as the party’s vice-presidential candidate.
The aggrieved members noted that Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State is the rightful person for the slot having gained the support of 14 out of 17 committee members put together to pick PDP’s vice-presidential candidate.
A source that spoke with Sun claimed that six governors elected on the platform of the party are against the presidential ambition of Atiku.
The source listed some of the governors who are unwilling to support Atiku as Nyesom Wike of Rivers State; Samuel Ortom of Benue State; Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State; Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and Ishaku Darius of Taraba and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State.
According to the source, the trouble started when Ayu failed to zone the party’s presidential ticket to the south.
The source said, “When it was obvious that Ayu wasn’t ready to listen and zone the presidential ticket to the South, governors and other leaders decided to leave the contest open. But they agreed to support a Southern aspirant, but people like Okowa, Godwin Obaseki of Edo State and other people, especially from the South-South, started working to ensure that a Northern candidate emerged.”
He added that when Governor Wike lost the presidential ticket of the party, party leaders agreed that the Rivers State Governor should be picked as the vice-presidential candidate.
The source said the six governors met with Atiku and other leaders to pick Wike as a popular choice but were ignored by Ayu and Atiku.
He noted that the six governors who were not pleased with his decision of Atiku have decided not to play an active role during his presidential campaign of Atiku.
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate in the Ekiti State election, Segun Oni has revealed why he’s yet to congratulate the winner and candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Biodun Oyebanji.
In an interview with Punch, Oni disagreed with the outcome of the election stating that investigations are ongoing to ascertain if Oyebanji won the election.
According to the SDP candidate, if the investigations show that Oyebanji won fair and square, he will not need any persuasion before he congratulates him.
He said: “If I agreed, I would have congratulated the winner. That is why I am withholding my congratulations. If investigations show that it was won fair and square, I will not need any persuasions before I will congratulate everybody that needs to be congratulated.”
Oni added that he has no regrets about contesting the election and nobody will be in his position and have any regrets because he did not do anything to diminish his integrity.
He said: “No, I did not have any regrets; rather, I was very happy. Nobody will be in my position and have any regrets. First, I have not done anything to diminish my integrity. That should make me very happy; that should make my friends and associates very happy. That should make those who believe in me very happy. I have not done anything that will tarnish my image.”
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