The Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt on Tuesday ordered the suspension of the National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which was slated for Saturday, 30th October 2021.
The convention was suspended pending the determination of a suit brought by Prince Uche Secondus, the embattled National Chairman of the Party.
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Secondus had asked the court to issue an order stopping the PDP from conducting its planned national convention on October 30 and 31.
According to Secondus, the convention should not hold until the court makes a final decision on the matter before it.
Although the National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has not declared intention to contest any office in 2023, there have been different political movements mobilising support for him to join the 2023 presidential race.
Over the past few months, the ex- Lagos Governor’s campaign posters have surfaced in parts of Nigeria, the UK and the US.
Arguably, Tinubu commands a huge support base with his cult of followers, political loyalists growing daily.
He is also believed to enjoy the support of a broad spectrum of traditional rulers across the country, some of whom conferred him with honorary chieftaincy titles in appreciation for his philanthropy.
Prominent persons, including ex-lawmakers, Ministers and other politicians are campaigning for Tinubu to become President in 2023.
The Nation’s checks show that over 120 support groups, especially on social media platforms are promoting the presidential ambition of Tinubu.
Some of them include: Southwest Agenda 2023 group; Tinubu Support Group; Disciples of Jagaban; Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu – B.A.T National Forum; Tinubu for President 2023; Tinubu 2023 Support Group; Tinubu Solidarity Group; Northern Alliance for Tinubu 2023; Bola Ahmed Tinubu Group – USA; Tinubu Transformation Agenda 2023; I Love Tinubu; Tinubu Mandate Group; Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu Northerners; Tinubu Peoples Network; Vote Tinubu 2023 and Tinubu Grassroots Movement, among several others.
Here is a list of prominent personalities, groups who’ve ‘publicly declared’ support for the Tinubu presidency in 2023:
1. Hamisu Chidari — Kano Speaker Hamisu Chidari has declared that the party in Kano would support the 2023 presidential ambition of Tinubu.
Chidari said Kano State, which has the highest number of voters and delegates in the country, would repay Tinubu’s act of helping President Buhari, to become President in 2015.
2. James Faleke — Faleke who is member of the House of Representatives, has also asked Tinubu to run for president in 2023.
Read Also: Nigerians in Diaspora back Tinubu for 2023
He said Tinubu left office in 2007 but remains popular to date because “he is focused, consistent and persistent”.
3. Senator Adesoji Akanbi — Former Oyo South Senator, Adesoji Akanbi, affirmed that Tinubu remains the ultimate pathfinder, who is proactive and a problem solver for the next political dispensation.
4. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu — Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has also expressed support for the presidential bid of Tinubu, in 2023 general polls, saying, he has the quality to lead the nation.
5. Adeseye Ogunlewe: The former Minister of works Adeseye Ogunlewe has also called on Tinubu to declare his interest in the 2023 presidential election.
6. Mudashiru Obasa – Lagos Speaker Mudashiru Obasa on behalf of the Conference of Speakers, said the speakers have pledged their support for Tinubu Presidency at a meeting held in Kano.
7. Abdulsalam Abdulkareem Zaura — An All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Kano State, Abdulsalam Abdulkareem Zaura has also thrown his weight behind Tinubu, on his ‘presidential ambition’ in the 2023 general election.
Zaura said he is prepared to “fight with all his strength and last kobo” for Tinubu to be president of Nigeria in the next election.
8. Joe Igbokwe — A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Joe Igbokwe described the former Lagos State governor as a builder who laid the foundation for the growth of the state. said things would be okay if Tinubu becomes Nigeria’s president
9. Oluwo of Iwo in Osun State, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi – The Iwo monarch described Tinubu as the most qualified to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.
10. Senator Abu Ibrahim – A former deputy Minority Chief Whip of the Senate and stalwart of the APC from Katsina State, Senator Abu Ibrahim, has also canvassed for support for Tinubu. He spoke during the inauguration of Bola Tinubu Support Organisation (BTSO) held in Abuja, saying he could vouch for him having known the former governor for two decades.
11. Professor Mohammed Kuta Yahaya – A former Secretary to Niger State Government (SSG), Professor Mohammed Kuta Yahaya has also charged Nigerians to “create a Bola Ahmed Tinubu in each of the six geo-political zones.”
12. Tinubu Support Group (TSG) — The group has called on Nigerians to support the group to ensure the actualisation of a Bola Tinubu presidency in 2023 for a new and better Nigeria.
13. Nigeria Diasporans for Asiwaju Worldwide – The group has said the country stands a better chance of being transformed under a Tinubu Presidency.
14. Southwest Agenda 2023 group — The group has assured Tinubu of 12 to 13 million votes, ahead of the 2023 presidential election. It has also intensified its sensitisation, consultation and mobilisation tour in the state.
15. Disciples of Jagaban (DOJ) – The pro-Tinubu group, has said that it wants the National Leader of APC to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari as president in the 2023 general elections stating that Tinubu remains the most courageous and a staunch democrat that cannot be manipulated by Nigerian crooks.
16. The Ahmed Bola Tinubu Support Group – This is another prominent group promoting Tinubu’s presidential ambition. The group, located in Stuttgart, Germany, was created on May 29, 2020 and its Facebook profile says it has 12,000 members.
17. Northern Region Supports Tinubu 2023 for President (NRST-23) — This group, is led by its national Coordinator, Hon. Dahiru Hamma Dikko, where it has reiterated the need for all to help deepen the lifespan of Nigeria’s democracy beyond 2023 by rallying round Tinubu’s presidential aspirations.
18. Speakers of States’ Houses of Assemblies from North-west – The Speakers forum endorsed Tinubu, for president in the 2023 general election.
19. The Forum of Political Parties – The Lagos-based forum on Saturday threw its weight behind Tinubu, for the 2023 presidential race. The forum consists of political parties (registered and de-registered) in Lagos State.
Former Kwara State governor and president of the 8th Senate, Bukola Saraki, has revealed the lessons he learnt from a political movement that swept his proteges out of power and threatened his political prestige in the state.
‘Otoge’, which translates to “enough is enough”, was used by the then opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state to campaign against decades of domination of Kwara politics by Saraki’s family during the 2019 governorship election.
Prior to that election, loyalists of Saraki had won most elective offices in the state.
The former senate president appeared on Arise TV’s ‘The Morning Show’ on Tuesday, where he gave his view on why the political movement was successful and the alleged reasons why the people of Kwara fell for it.
Saraki said the Otoge movement taught him that “elections have to do sometimes with sentiments or propaganda.”
He said, “if you come to Kwara today and talk to people, you’ll find that a lot of them will tell you that ‘we were sold lies and propaganda…we have made certain mistakes in following up the issues’ and that at the end of the day, they were better of then than now.”
Saraki’s prior domination of Kwara politics could be traced to his late father, Olusola Saraki, who had transferred the baton of leadership to his son.
The younger Saraki and his siblings had at some point held different elective positions at the same time.
The ‘Otoge’ movement was seen as Kwara people’s way of protesting against the political hegemony of the Saraki family by voting massively against its loyalists during the 2019 general elections.
But Bukola Saraki argued that the Kwara APC deceived the people of the state by using propaganda to grab power.
“So, one of the things you also learn in politics is that you must also accept that sometimes the electorates will go. The electorates are always right, they will go with their emotions at times and later the electorates too can come back and say “I think we got it wrong here”.
“Because at the end of the day in Kwara, there was no substance. It was raw propaganda and that’s what they are saying.
“Since we lost the election, I immediately congratulated the other party and I told my supporters to give them support.
“Our gubernatorial candidate who wanted to (challenge the outcome), went to the elections tribunal and wanted to go the Supreme Court [but] we called him and said ‘look, let’s cooperate, don’t go beyond election tribunal” and now it is the party themselves and the people that are saying ‘we made a mistake here’. So, what is learnt from that is that the electorates sometimes, maybe after there is fatigue or a party has been in government for so long, the people will say I want to try something else. Sometimes those decisions are made on sentiments as opposed to what is actually on ground.”
The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, who is one of the Kwara APC leaders, had few month ago said that he regrets supporting Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq as the party’s governorship candidate in the 2019 election.
“It was immediately after the governor emerged as the party’s candidate for the election that it dawned on us that we had entered one chance.
“Despite all the warnings from concerned party leaders and others who had reservations about his choice, our reaction then was that no matter what, his choice was better than where we were coming from. But we were wrong,” Mohammed had said in July.
Various reports that the presidential ‘ambition’ of the national leader of the all progressive congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is in the mud as some party leaders have rejected his candidacy over health reasons.
This is coming after thousands of the former Lagos State governor’s supporters under the auspices of Tinubu Support Group (TSG) at the weekend took turns to persuade the former governor to declare interest in the number one job.
The group’s convener, Hon. James Faleke described Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as the maker of modern Lagos, calling on him not to wait any longer in declaring his intention to become the next President.
Faleke said, “on behalf of the millions of supporters of Tinubu Support Group, we are calling on our National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to formally announce his presidential aspiration.”
He added that this is a man who left office yet remains popular till today because he is focused, consistent and persistent. He has been the central figure in Nigerian politics.
According to him, the governing party was lucky to have a person of Tinubu’s towering political status.
But some party chieftains said that the APC has better options that the former governor who recently returned from London where he underwent a knee surgery.
An APC Chieftain in Lafia, Nasarawa State, Alhaji Isah Danladi told Daily Independent that the former Lagos State governor “represents a recycling process that has left the country in ruins.”
He noted that Tinubu is “no better than Buhari. In societies with conscience, his type should be concerned with leaving a good legacy as a statesman who contributing in stabilizing our democracy.
Through wide consultations he built a strong and virile party that was able to oust a running party from power.
That should be his legacy not this infantile craze to grasp power which I think is self serving.”
On his part, outspoken APC leader and social commentator, Dr Garus Gololo said “these people are jokers. You mean to say that a group of persons will gather themselves and in clear conscience seek to encourage an obviously weak and tired fellow to run for the presidency.
Haba! Are we that unserious in this country. This is a man that just returned from the sick bed. And he is still nursing whatever ailment befell him.”
With the presidential ambition of the National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu gathering momentum by the day, a good number of people have been identifying with him in that regard. And, it should interest you to know that, there are at least, 2 Fuji music stars who have openly identified with Tinubu’s ambition so far. How? They have started singing about the need for Nigerians to give Tinubu a chance to rule Nigeria by 2023.
And, predictably, one of the 2 Fuji music stars is King Wasiu Ayinde Anifowoshe Marshal better known as K1. Anyone who has been following Tinubu’s politics since when he was the Governor of Lagos State would not be surprised that, K1 is with him on the mission to become Nigeira’s next President after Muhammadu Buhari must have left office in 2023. K1 happens to be the first musician, so to speak, who started hinting at Tinubu’s political interest in succeeding Buhari, as he has been canvassing for him with his music for a while now.
And, it would also be recalled that, K1 was even the artiste that performed at the launch of a group known as South West Agenda for Asiwaju (SWAGA) in Lagos State recently. The group is obviously designed to promote the Tinubu’s presidential ambition, and K1 has been seen to be fully involved with them. Meanwhile, the other Fuji music star who has used his music to identify openly with Tinubu’s 2023 presidential ambition is Asiwaju Abass Akande better known as Obesere.
Interestingly, as Fuji artistes, K1 and Obesere hardly agree on anything because they have a long history of rivalry between them in the industry. But, Tinubu’s presidential ambition seemed to have changed that as Obesere too has recently released a short music video with which he is canvassing for Tinubu to become Nigeria’s President in 2023. In the video titled: “Baba Ti Soro Soke, Tinubu For President In 2023”, Obesere took his time to sell the candidacy of Jagaban Borgu as Tinubu is also called, to the audience. But, whether the audience would accept the candidate he is selling or not, is a different ball game.
So, without doubt, K1 and Obesere have so far identified openly with Tinubu over his presidential ambition. And, whether some other Fuji music stars would be joining them in that regard or not, is left to be seen.
Thousands of supporters of Mr Bola Tinubu on Saturday urged the leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to grant the APC National Leader right of first refusal as a candidate of the party in 2023.
While Tinubu is yet to publicly speak about his presidential ambition, his supporters have ramped up the pressure on him to declare and have made the party’s presidential candidate Mr Tinubu’s affair and no one else.
On Saturday in Abuja at an event organized by the Tinubu Support Group TSG and tagged, ‘Unveiling of Asiwaju’s Legacies and Inauguration of States’ Steering Committees of Tinubu Support Group’, they urged Tinubu to come out and declare as he is far ahead of all those scheming to replace President Muhammadu Buhari.
The event which attracted dignitaries from all states of the federation including Sen. Adamu Mikal and six former state assembly members from Yobe state; members of the House of Representatives led by Hon. James Abiodun Faleke; Hon. Tunji Bello from Lagos State, Alhaji Sanusi Gamji from Kogi; former Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, Mr Babachir David Lawal, Senators Solomon Olamilekan, Opeyemi Bamidele, Ganiyu Solomon, Ibrahim Gobir, state assembly lawmakers from Kano and a host of others spoke of the difference Tinubu would make if he emerges Nigerian President.
Speaking at the event, Hon Faleke said; “It is not often that history nurtures a particular person to fit into the needs of a particular time. Our party is therefore lucky that it does not need to go on a wild goose chase for the man to fly our party’s flag in these challenging times; a time when the Presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria must go to the person who can continue to end banditry, to crush kidnappers and engage separatists so that our people can live in peace and prosperity.
“This is a man who will use his financial wizardry to further the gains of economic transformation.”
He explained that, “To secure the votes of the majority in 2023, we must present a candidate who knows where the shoe pinches the average Nigerian, not just because he has been there, but because, as the governor of the most difficult, most complex state in Nigeria, he put smiles on the faces of the poor by convincing the rich to join the government to chase poverty from the streets.
“That man is Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Asiwaju of Lagos, Lagos State. The Jagaban of Borgu, Niger State, The Eze-obaIu-dike ngu of Oko, Anambra State. He is already our national leader. By the practice and standards in other climes, when the issue of raising a Presidential Candidate is on the burner, such a personality should be given the right of first refusal”.
Speaking at the event, the Director General of Tinubu Support Group TSG, Arc. Umar Ibrahim Mohammed said, “In our search for credible leadership to consolidate and improve on the enormous gains of the Buhari administration in the next dispensation, we have painstakingly and consciously undertaken to observe, study and critically analyze the challenges confronting the nation as well as our immense resources, potentials and strength.
“We have also reflected deeply on the outstanding leadership qualities, personal attributes and antecedents of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a man with the attributes of hard work, extensive vision, rich experience and striking intelligence, networks of vital contacts, sense of equity, justice and fairness with high regard for the rule of law.
“We therefore call on Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to avail the nation of his enormous wealth of experience, outstanding and visionary leadership qualities, to contest the 2023 Presidential Election.
“Tinubu is a bridge builder across regional, ethnic and religious lines that is capable of uniting the Country We have identified him as an exceptional manager of resources and a seasoned administrator and we are convinced that the nation needs him in the next dispensation.
“We have no doubt that he has the capacity and the political will to institute a new concept of governance and a new agenda of sustainable development, to provide effective leadership, capable of providing solutions to the numerous challenges confronting the nation.
“We have identified Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as a patriot in words, in action, and indeed, a leading light among the people, a detribalized strategic thinker, with national outlook and balanced judgment, an exceptional manager of resources, a quintessential and visionary leader, an accomplished politician and a seasoned administrator, a statesman in Spirit and in physique, whose strides in the nation’s political landscape remain outstanding, as the man the nation needs in the next dispensation”, Mohammed added.
Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party has announced the commencement of screening of individuals interested in various offices in the 2021 National Convention of the party.
PDP in a statement released on Tuesday night confirmed that the screening exercise will commence on Wednesday, October 20, 2021, at the Legacy House, Maitama, Abuja.
The Chairman, Screening Sub-Committee of the party, Mohammed Adoke Bello, SAN, revealed in the statement that the exercise will start with a media chat at 10 am.
The screening proper according to Bello is to commence at 12 noon and the appearance schedule will be on “first-come, first-served,” he noted.
The chairman admonished aspirants to come along with the originals of their academic credentials and other vital documents for sighting.
He noted further that aspirants, including critical stakeholders and party members, are guided by this accordingly.
Meanwhile, as the 2023 presidential election draws near indications have emerged that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, is working to prevent an internal crisis over who gets its presidential ticket.
It was gathered that the party is working on selecting a consensus arrangement to pick its candidate as stalwarts of the APC are already reaching out to members nursing ambition to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari on the need to close ranks.
Top party chieftains have told PUNCH that a crowded presidential primary may breed bad blood and threaten the chances of the party in 2023.
To this end, it was gathered that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is set to meet with the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
FORMER Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has said the Peoples Democratic Party is now prepared and ready to reclaim its mandate from the All Progrssives Congress come 2023.
Saraki said this at the Kwara State Congress of PDP held at the Atlantic Event centre, Ilorin, on Saturday. He told party members to go and prepare to win the 2023 elections.
He said, “As soon as you leave this venue work should begin. The peaceful conduct of this Congress has confirmed to me that we are indeed ready to take back power in Kwara.”
Members of the new state party executive were elected via consensus. At the end of the exercise, a former Speaker, Kwara State House of Assembly, Alhaji Babatunde Mohammed, emerged as the chairman.
In his acceptance speech, the new chairman said, “We will start work from the grassroots and work our walk our way up. We will use the next local government to tell Kwara people that we are back.”
A coalition of northern youths in Kano, has launched a campaign to galvanise support for Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, ahead of the 2023 presidential elections.
The group has unveiled a platform to mobilize 20 million youths across the 19 northern states and the Federal capital Territory (FCT), while stating that Osinbajo is the one man who can continue with President Buhari’s transformation agenda.
“We are launching the awareness campaign across the northern states to mobilize support for Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo towards making him our next president,” says National Coordinator of the group, Mubarak Haruna.
“None of us has ever met him in person but from all we know, we are convinced that the vice president is the only tested and trusted candidate that can continue the good works started by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“It is obvious that Professor Osinbajo is a visionary leader, a patriotic citizen whose loyalty to one indivisible Nigeria is never in doubt; he is a detribalised Nigerian who is widely accepted, irrespective of religion and tribe across the country. We will support him to make sure he wins,” Haruna adds.
The group also acknowledges that Osinbajo hasn’t yet expressed a desire to throw his hat in the ring ahead of the presidential contest.
Haruna however adds that it will be in the APC’s best interest to cede its presidency ticket to the southern geopolitical region, from where Osinbajo hails.
Other such groups have been vociferous in their desire for an Osinbajo presidency in recent times.
The vice president has remained coy on his political ambitions ahead of the vote, with his team repeatedly stating that he remains primarily focused on helping President Buhari deliver on his electoral promises to Nigerians.
The national leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has suspended the ongoing State Congress in Oyo State.
The order was given by the Governor of Yobe State and Chairman, Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, Mai Mala Buni.
It was gathered that the suspension was due to the forging of documents meant for the exercise and other irregularities.
This was made known in a statement signed by the party’s National Secretary, Sen John James Akpanudoedehe, on Saturday.
According to the APC leadership, the suspension became necessary to ensure credibility of the process leading to the emergence of new leaders in Oyo State.
“It has become necessary to suspend the ongoing State Congress exercise in Oyo State due to information regarding the forging of documents meant to conduct this exercise.
“The national chairman has however ordered the Oyo State Congress Committee to return to the National Secretariat for further briefing,” the statement said.
The APC leadership maintained that the ruling party will ensure a level playing ground and justice at all times.
APC is carrying out its State Congresses in 34 states across the nation, today, Saturday 16, 2021.
