The November 11, 2023 governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Bayelsa State, Udengs Eradiri, has defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He praised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, saying it is behind all the projects in his Agudiama/Ekpetiama community in Yenagoa Local Government Area.

Eradiri, who registered for the APC at Ward 10 Constituency 2 in Yenagoa Local Government Area, said President Tinubu, through Dr. Samuel Ogbuku-led Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), gave his community potable water, shore protection, solar lights, and one kilometre road.

He said besides his community, almost all the communities in the Niger Delta region have benefitted from the light-up project and other interventionist programmes of the NDDC.

According to him, the Tinubu administration, through the NDDC, had also promised to embark on other projects, including the remodeling of a secondary school and providing quality accommodation for members of the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) in his community.

Eradiri, who was received by a crowd of residents and APC members in his ward, noted that through the Tantita Security Services Limited and the NDDC, the Niger Delta region had experienced peace and steady progress in infrastructural development.

He gave some instances, including the recent President’s assent to the Maritime University Bill into law and the Bill establishing the University of Technology and Environment in Ogoni land.

Eradiri said these would help to deepen the already existing peace in the region.

The former Bayelsa State Commissioner for Youths and later Environment stressed that President Tinubu was steadily addressing the injustices and marginalisation the region suffered over the past years.

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, on Tuesday, disclosed that the party would prefer having a consensus candidate than having an unpopular candidate for the Anambra governorship ticket ahead of the November 25 election.

Ganduje also pledged to present an award to Anambra APC if they could be united and produce a consensus candidate to avoid the stress and the financial jamboree that comes with holding the conventional primary election to elect a candidate.

The former Kano State governor disclosed this when he hosted an APC support group known as Booth 2 Booth with Bola Tinubu at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.

While assuring them that his leadership will ensure a fair and credible primary election in Anambra, Ganduje urged stakeholdersjostling for the ticket not to throw the state into chaos.

He said, “As a party, if we are to have good primary in the state, all our stakeholders are supposed to be born again. They (aspirants) are educated and rich. But we have told them that this time, it will not be business as usual. Let us support the system.

“We know they are very rich. But they should not use the money to scatter the state. They should use the money to develop the state and the APC. In fact, I would be highly interested if they could produce a candidate through consensus, and I would give them an award.

“You mention the option of direct or indirect primary. As an institution, I assure you, we will sit with the National Working Committee in conjunction with the leadership of the party in the state and agree on whichever method is best for the primary.”

Earlier, the National Coordinator of the group, Iyke Madu, told members of the National Working Committee that they are ready to work together only if the primary election winner emerges through a credible process.

He said, “We are here to make a request to see to it that a credible, free, free and transparent primary is conducted in Anambra State. This is to avoid the pitfalls of 2021, where primary election results were announced in hotel rooms, and a candidate who got 300,000 votes in the primaries could not even get up to 50,000 votes at the main contest against other parties.

“There is also the issue of insecurity in Anambra. As we speak, even the state government could not conduct their own local government elections due to insecurity. So we are here only requesting for the party to adopt an indirect primary method. Our constitution provides for that.”

By Francesca Hangeior

Senator Samuel Anyanwu has resumed office as National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He drove into the party’s National Secretariat at Wadata House through the service gate located behind the building without fanfare.

Anyanwu then exchanged pleasantries with the handful of secretariat staff available before proceeding into his office.

This is coming barely 48 hours after he petitioned security agencies to come to
his aid to stop what he described as an attempt by the party’s 12 governors to cause chaos with their decision to recognize Hon. Sunday Ude-Okoye, another claimant to the position.

The Governor Bala Mohammed-led 12-member PDP Governors Forum had in a communique issued after their monthly meeting in Asaba, the Delta State capital on Friday, recognized Ude-Okoye as National Secretary basing their decision on an Appeal Court Judgement.

However, Anyanwu who said he was in possession of a valid stay of execution order insists on remaining in office until his pending appeal at the Supreme Court is dispensed with.

Meanwhile, normal activities are going on at the Secretariat. Regular policemen and women attached to the Secretariat complex can be seen at their duty posts.