The Chairman of the Labour Party (LP) in Rivers State, Hilda Dokubo, has publicly distanced herself from the Obidient Movement Advisory Council, rejecting her nomination as a member of the group.

Dokubo, in a statement issued on Wednesday night, clarified that she was not consulted before her name was included in the list of council members.

She reaffirmed her commitment to the Labour Party’s leadership under Barrister Julius Abure, stating that her role as LP chairman in Rivers State made it inconsistent for her to take on an additional advisory position within the Obidient Movement.

She also expressed concern over ongoing divisions within the Labour Party and urged for unity and reconciliation, aligning with the stance of the LP National Chairman, Abure, who has been advocating for internal party harmony.

Dokubo formally requested to be removed from the Obidient Movement Advisory Council, stating:

“My attention has been drawn to a list making the rounds on social media, purportedly by a group, the Obidient Movement Advisory Council, wherein my name was listed as a member of the Supporting Advisory Council.”

“I need to state clearly that I was not consulted by the organisers of the group before my name was included in the said list.”

“I must also state clearly that I am the state chairman of the Labour Party in Rivers State under the leadership of Barrister Julius Abure.”

“I can therefore not take on the burden of becoming a member of the Supporting Advisory Council of the Obidient Movement Advisory Council.”

Her rejection of the role underscores growing internal tensions within the Labour Party and the broader Obidient Movement, as efforts continue to bridge divides and strengthen party unity ahead of future political engagements.

Earth shaking revelations as the Edo Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal resumed its sittings today Tuesday, 28th January 2025 in FCT Abuja with a Data Analyst and Expert Witness appearing to testify against INEC’s declaration of Governor, Monday Okpebholo as winner of the September 21st Governorship Election in Edo State.

Recall that on Friday 24th January 2025, the Edo Tribunal Secretary, Mu’azu Bagudu announced the relocation of the Election Petition Tribunal from Benin City to Federal Capital Territory, Abuja

At the continuation of hearing in Abuja, a PDP witness and Data expert relied on his forensic examination of original agent copies and CTCs of Forms EC8A, EC8B, EC8C EC8D, including IREV results, BVAS Accreditation reports and extracts to lead evidence of over voting in 75 Polling Units across 18 LGAs in Edo State.

He also stated that the 1st Respondent INEC did not record, in the prescribed forms, serial numbers and other particulars of result sheets, BVAS Machines and other sensitive electoral materials and their failure to make the prior recording in the prescribed forms renders the election in 320 polling units invalid for failure to comply with requirement of prior recording under the Electoral Act, 2022.

Answering clearly the questions referred to him under cross examination by Counsels to the first respondents, Kanu Agabi SAN, the expert witness confirmed with mathematical accuracy that after you take away the invalid votes from the valid votes, the petitioner Dr. Ighodalo clearly won the September 21st Governorship election in Edo State.

Pressed further by Counsels to 2nd respondents (Okpebholo), Onyechi Ikpeazu SAN, the expert witness affirmed that the case of non prior recording of serial numbers by INEC is exclusively based on forms EC25B and this affected 320 Polling Units which ought to be invalidated in accordance with the Electoral Act.

A mild drama occurred during his Cross examination by Counsel to APC, E.U Ukala, the Witness was quizzed on where he obtained BVAS Accreditation reports and he showed further proof that they are duly certified as data extracts from the BVAS machine obtained by INEC in January 2025. Frustrated by this response, Counsel to APC decided to let him go without using up the time allotted for his cross examination.

The expert witness was ever willing to go on but Counsels to Respondents pleaded for adjournment to January 30th 2025.

Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has expressed surprise at the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed’s verbal attacks on the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.

According to Dogara, Mohammed’s attack on Wike is surprising because Wike financed Mohammed’s campaign to become governor.

In a long statement on Tuesday, Dogara said he and others supporting Mohammed to become governor were shocked that despite being a former minister he had no money to fund his governorship bid.

Dogara said apart from Wike taking control of the PDP primary to ensure Mohammed’s emergence as the PDP flag-bearer, he went on to provide Mohammed with money and logistics, which enabled him to win the election and become a governor.

In the last couple of weeks, Wike and Mohammed have been locked in a media war, with Mohammed describing Wike as a transactional politician who is propelled by personal gains.

Mohammed, who is the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, also described Wike as a serial betrayer and a threat to the PDP, urging him to resign from the PDP and join the ruling All Progressives Congress, which appointed him the FCT minister.

However, wading in on Tuesday in his statement titled, “Let the truth be told,” Dogara said that given how Wike helped Mohammed in the past, the Bauchi governor’s attack on Wike smacked of ingratitude and betrayal.

Dogara wrote, “As someone who knows so much because I was the provocateur of the events between the two that I will speak to, I consider my silence not just cowardice but complicity. Therefore, I am not afraid to stand alone or risk conflict. I should not be misunderstood to be defending Wike but simply stating the raw truth that I know, and I don’t give a damn if the truth makes Wike look good. I have learnt to tell the truth as I enjoy my freedom from being a slave to human opinion.

“For starters, need I remind Governor Bala Mohammed that in the 2018 PDP gubernatorial primaries when we were not too sure he would win because his then major opponent, Senator Abdul Ningi, was the one who constituted the state party structure and had a bosom friend as party chairman, it was Wike we turned to for help.

“I had called Wike to plead with him to help us in Bauchi without necessarily disclosing to him that it was Bala Mohammed that we wanted to be delivered. His response to me, was that ‘Are you sure you are in control of the process 100 per cent?’ I said, I wasn’t too sure and he said to me, ‘Leave it to me, I will help you sort it out.’

“To do it, Wike, first of all, made his bosom friend and close ally, Chief Dan Orbih, the chairman of the panel for the primaries and said I should discuss whatever I wanted with Chief Dan. We got talking, and on the eve of the primaries, Chief Dan was in Benin City, and we needed to get him to Bauchi for the assignment.

“It was Wike that I turned to again, and his response to me was, ‘My brother, I have told you not to bother about this. Tell Chief Dan to come to meet me in Port Harcourt’. I did just that, and amazingly, Wike provided the private jet that flew Chief Dan to Bauchi and out of Bauchi for the assignment. I can say without fear of any contradiction that Wike bore all expenses for the exercise. It’s, therefore, shocking that this so-called transactional character called Wike did not place any condition whatsoever for his support.”

The former Speaker said Wike did not stop there, stressing that the former Rivers State governor assisted Mohammed during the main election as the latter had no money of his own to fund his campaign.

“After the emergence of Bala Mohammed as the party flag-bearer and having promised to sponsor all the party candidates if he gets the ticket, we were rudely awoken to the reality that Bala Mohammed had no money for his campaigns, let alone for other candidates of the party.

“Initially, I thought it was some kind of a funny joke but as time went, I realised to my utter bewilderment that it was true. It turned out Bala Mohammed had lied to us about his financial capacity. So we had a meeting at my then residence at Wuse II Abuja to help raise money and we thought since Bala Mohammed was a one-time minister for nearly six years, he must have built enough goodwill we could harness if we organised a fundraiser for him.

“A committee was put in place and we spent N20m to organize the fundraiser at the then Lady Kwai Hall, Sheraton Hotels, Abuja. Before then, I had asked Bala Mohammed to give me a list of some of the people he had helped while he held sway as Minister for FCT. He obliged me with the list, and after calling just four people on the list that I know so well, what they said to me jolted me and I reserve that for some other day. But suffice to say that I knew the fundraiser would be a flop, so I was already thinking of alternatives.

“As predicted, we had the fundraiser, and to cut the long story short, all we raised from the fundraiser was a paltry N48m and If you deduct the N20m invested in organising it, that leaves you with a net of N28m. I have the records and our stakeholders are there to bear witness to this.

“When it was obvious the masquerade would soon turn to a human being, I told our then two serving senators who are alive and can testify that the only option we had was to go to a friend and brother, then Governor Wike for assistance. We got tickets and flew to Port Harcourt with Bala Mohammed without informing Wike that we were coming with him.

“On arrival, we were ushered into the Government House and asked to take our seats and wait for the governor, who was still upstairs, to join us shortly. As soon as Wike walked down the stairs to join us and saw Bala Mohammed, his visage changed and I noticed he was cold to me for the very first time. He asked us to join him at the dining room for breakfast but excused me while those on my delegation waited. What happened next was nerve-racking and humbling, I must say!

“He was like, ‘Speaker, why did you bring Bala to my house without even caring to find out what our mission was?’ I said to him, ‘I thought he was your friend since both of you served in the same cabinet under President Jonathan’. He said, ‘Let me tell you what you don’t know. When we were ministers, Bala Mohammed allocated plots of land to all ministers except me’. He also recalled how he humiliated him when he went to see him in his office as a colleague minister just to get approval to increase the number of floors on a building he had in Abuja, not to beg for the plot, which he refused to allocate to him.

“He said Bala Mohammed kept him in his waiting room for hours and later sneaked out of the office. From that day, he (Wike) made up his mind never to have anything to do with him again. He added, ‘I wish you had told me it’s Bala you were rooting for but whatever you want, I will assist you guys because I don’t say no to a brother, but I assure you, you will regret your decision if Bala Mohammed becomes governor’. The rest is history,” Dogara recalled.

The former Speaker also added that Wike confronted Bal,a who admitted to his wrongdoing and pleaded for forgiveness.

“He said to me ‘Let’s join them at the dining so that I can confront him with these issues for you to know that I am not making things up. We joined them at the dining and Wike confronted Bala with these issues in the open and in our very presence, Bala admitted and pleaded for forgiveness, assuring that he was now a changed man. The two senators with me that day can confirm this to anyone who wants to establish the veracity of these narratives.’

“We spent the night at the Government House and the next morning, Wike called and directed that his cash assistance be handed over to me to pass to Bala. I said, ‘Your Excellency, it’s better I call him so that he can collect the assistance himself lest he thinks you are still angry with him’. I sent for Bala and when he came, Wike’s aide handed over the package to him and he collected it while almost kissing the ground. Wike, therefore, gave us the lifeline we needed to kick-start Bala’s campaigns.

“If Bala has forgotten how much we left with that day, I will remind him. Wike didn’t stop there, he gave us a private jet to ferry us back to Abuja. And I must add that was not the only time Wike helped Bala with resources and logistics. What is baffling is that the so-called transactional Wike did not demand anything in return nor place any condition for all that he did.”

Concluding, Dogara stressed that “When Wike was his benefactor, he (Bala) said he knew Wike had done better than him and referred to him as ‘someone courageous, focused and determined, a person qualified and competent to help salvage Nigeria’. ”

Dogara said the Bauchi governor’s record of betrayal is common knowledge.

“Time will not permit me to list those Bala has betrayed, which includes his known godfather and our father, Baba Waziri, Alhaji Bello Kirfi, elder statesman and former Minister under President Shehu Shagari in the Second Republic.”