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Steer clear of Rivers PDP structure or risk fire in your states, Wike warns governors

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FEDERAL Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike yesterday fired back at Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors for supporting their Rivers State counterpart Siminialayi Fubara in the PDP crisis in the state.

Wike told them to keep off or have their fingers burnt.

He threatened to “put fire in their states” should they persist in their plot to deny him the party’s structure in Rivers State.

Wike is currently locked in a fierce battle with Fubara for the soul of the PDP in the state which he governed between 20l5 and 2023.

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Their disagreement revolves around the control of the party’s leadership at all levels in the state.

The situation has split the party, including the legislature, into two in the state with some supporters lining up behind the governor and others siding with the minister.

The PDP Governors’ Forum had in a recent communiqué in Jalingo Taraba State restated its stand with the Governor of Rivers State and promised to “engage the NWC of our great party to revisit the congress with a view to correcting the anomaly and allowing His Excellency, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, to take his rightful leadership position of the party in the state.”

However, addressing the PDP state’s congress yesterday in Port Harcourt, Wike vowed that no one, including PDP governors, could take the party’s structure from him.

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“Let me assure all of you: not while we live, nobody will take away the structure of PDP from us,” he told his supporters amid cheers.

He added: “Let me tell people, I heard that there are some governors who said they would take away the structure and give to somebody.

“I pity those governors because I will put fire in their state. When God has given you peace, you say you don’t want peace, then whatever you see you take.

“I don’t understand. I don’t understand simply because I heard they got some money and their heads are getting big that you put hand in my own state.

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“Prepare because I have the capacity to also do the same thing in your own state. Whether you are from Bauchi, I don’t give a damn. Whichever state you come from, as far as I know that you are trying to put your hand in Rivers State, your hand will get burnt and you will never sleep in your state.

“You will never do governorship again. You will see political crisis as far as PDP is concerned. I have told them, when I start, don’t say I am the one that destroyed PDP.

“Allow Rivers State to conduct the affairs of the party.”

The FCT Minister said the party members had played their part by electing a governor and have now resolved to move forward since Fubara said they were no longer part of his plans.

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Wike asked the PDP loyalists to see what he called their rejection and maltreatment by the governor as bad business.

He thanked them for remaining in the party and taking over its affairs.

He prayed that God might help them repeat the 2023 victory in 2027.

He said: “I assure you, yes we have done our own part by electing a government in the state. If the government says it doesn’t want us, will you kill yourselves? Will you run away from the party you built?

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“We are the party members and we have taken over our party. The way we did it, how we did it in 2023, the same God will allow us, will support us and be with us in 2027. Let nobody be intimidated.

“I know how it is when you have worked hard and at the end of the day you are pushed away. I know how bad you will feel. But again, it is not every business you enter into that you gain profit, so see this one as one of those businesses that you invested and you lost.

“That will not make you not to continue to work hard, invest in the future and make your profit. So, be strong. They said that we are finished, but they are finished. Anywhere you see them say that they are finished”.

Wike alleged plan by Governor Fubara and his supporters to join the All Peoples Party (APP).

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He said they should expedite their plan and face the PDP in the next election.

The minister said if he wanted to defect to another party, it would be a tsunami, but said he would not leave the PDP for anybody.

He said: “We are aware of these unstable characters. We know that they are joining APP. Let them face us in an election.

“Don’t bother about abuses. We have thick skins and we don’t even know what abuse is. So don’t say anybody is abusing you.

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“They thought we would come to them and start begging. Are we begging? We are not begging.

“Let them go and see what is happening in Abuja. They know if we are talking about politics in Nigeria, we are more relevant than them.

“If today I say I will move to another party, it will be a tsunami. But we have said we will remain where we are.”

While he spoke, he was intermittently interrupted with applauses and solidarity chants by the crowd.

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The PDP state congress took place at the state party Secretariat on Aba Road, Port Harcourt.

Governor Fubara and his supporters were absent, although in the programme of the event Fubara was captured in items nine and 17 for arrival and delivery of a speech.

Factional Speaker of the state assembly, Martins Amaewhule, and other PDP bigwigs in the state were seen spotting delegates’ identification cards at the occasion.

Fubara’s loyalists had obtained an interim injunction from the state High Court stopping the congress while those of Wike got a similar order from a Federal High Court to proceed with it.

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Wike declared that he has no regret supporting and working for President Bola Tinubu.

His words: “We’re fully in Tinubu’s government. I have no regrets about it, and I will continue to be there. Anybody who is angry should go hug the transformer.

“I didn’t hide it in 2023 when I said PDP, I would not support you for presidential election. I did not regret it.

“When Buhari was there, you never saw me play two sides. Some of them now love the President at night but during the day, they say different things.”

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Politics

Obi Urges Nigerian Graduates to Seek Opportunities Overseas if Needed, Vows to Fix Nigeria for Their Return

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Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate in Nigeria’s 2023 election, has encouraged Nigerian students to seek better opportunities abroad if local conditions don’t meet their needs.

Obi shared this advice during his visit to Anambra State, where he made donations to Peter University in Achina/Onneh and the College of Nursing Sciences in Adazi-Nnukwu. Addressing nursing students, he reaffirmed his commitment to supporting institutions that nurture skills, professionalism, and character.

Obi advised students that, if career opportunities are limited locally, they should feel free to explore options abroad.

“If things aren’t working here, go where they will work for you,” he said, expressing optimism that, with efforts to improve the country, Nigerians working abroad would eventually return.

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Speaking at Peter University, Obi urged students to dedicate themselves to their studies, highlighting education as a transformative force essential for national development.

Emphasizing that investment in education is an investment in the future, he encouraged them to aim for excellence, assuring that a stronger Nigeria would await them.

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Parliamentary system better option for Nigeria -Aregbesola

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By Gloria Ikibah.
Former governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, has called  for Nigeria to dump the presidential system of government and return to the parliamentary system.
Aregbesola made this revelation at a National Dialogue on Home-Grown Parliamentary System in Abuja on Monday.
The immediate past Minister of Interior, who said he is opposed to the executive system of government currently practiced in Nigeria, insisted that the arrangement in the parliamentary system is best suited for a country like Nigeria.
“If you go on believing that an individual, no matter how beautiful, no matter how good, could have the capacity to govern 120 million people all alone without checks, we are joking. So, by that consideration alone, I am opposed to executive system of government.
“I believe the collective arrangement which the parliamentary system guarantees is best for a nation like Nigeria if indeed we are committed to advancing the interest of the large population and mass of our people,” Aregbesola said.
In February this year, a group of lawmakers in the House of Representatives brought a bill seeking amendments to the 1999 Constitution to transit from the current presidential system to the parliamentary system of government.
According to the group made up of about 60 lawmakers, the transition has become necessary to reduce the cost of government in the face of dwindling revenue.
Titled, ‘The Bills Proposing Constitutional Alterations For a Transition To Parliamentary System of Government,’ the bill was sponsored by the House Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda, and 59 others.
The bill was read on the floor of the House during plenary session in Abuja on Wednesday, February 14, 2024.
In a statement, a Spokesman for the Parliamentary Bill Sponsors, Abdussamad Dasuki said, “Today, we stand on the cusp of history, as lawmakers across party affiliations and regional backgrounds come together to present bills proposing Constitutional Alterations that seek a transition to Parliamentary System of Government.
He added that over the years, the imperfections of the Presidential System of Government have become glaring to all, despite several alterations to the constitution to address the shortcomings of a system that has denied the nation the opportunity of attaining its full potentials.
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Politics

2027: Kwankwaso’s visit to Otti sparks possible alliance

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Governor Alex Otti of Abia State at the weekend played host to the former presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso, at his Nvosi country home in Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area(LGA).

Speaker of the House of Assembly  Emmanuel Emeruwa, some aides of the governor, and members of the Kwankwasiyya Movement were  present.

Although Kwankwaso said he was in the state to condole with Otti on the passing of Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, the first governor of old Abia State, rumours of a possible political alliance between him and Otti, the only Labour Party(LP) governor in the country, spread.

Onu was buried in Uburu, his hometown in Ohaozara LGA of Ebonyi State on Friday.

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Kwankwaso’s visit coincided with a reception held by the governor for 15 Abia indigenes who recently graduated from the Nigeria Police Academy in Kano.

Shortly after he departed the state, political analysts said they were sure that the visit was partly informed by efforts of the Peter Obi-led LP faction to align with other opposition parties ahead of 2027.

‘’Don’t forget that  2027 is near. Do you think the two men would meet like they did now with talking about the next presidential election? That is impossible,’’ one of them told  The Nation.

Another said Kwankwaso and Otti were  ‘’very much aware that the only way to oust   President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progress Congress (APC)  from  the centre is   a formidable alliance.

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‘’They know that now is the best time to start talking about how to defeat those in Aso Rock. And that, I believe is the core reason for the visit.”

Last month’s  local government poll in the state produced a stunning result with candidates loyal to Otti winning  nearly  all the chairmanship positions on the platform of the Zenith Labour Party(ZLP)

The governor backed the winners because of court cases on the authentic leadership of the leadership of the LP.

One faction of the party is led by Julius Abure while the other supported by Obi and Otti is headed by  Nenadi Usman, a former Finance minister.

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Political analysts argued that if Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Obi, and Kwankwaso fail to put their political differences behind and field an acceptable presidential candidate in 2027, they might end up not making a significant impact.

Otti had while welcoming Kwankwaso recalled how he offered him a  ‘’platform in May 2022  to run ’’ as a governorship candidate.

He thanked  Kwankwaso for his guidance and patriotism.

His words: “Thank you for your guidance, for your patriotism, for everything that you have done for this country.

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“I want to thank you for encouraging me in 2022  not to lose faith,  though we were in different parties, and it appeared as if everything was going to be lost.

“That call that you made about the 20th of May 2022,  for also making your platform available for me to run if I had wanted to use the platform, the rest is now history.”

Kwankwaso, a former Kano State governor, congratulated Otti on his emergence as governor. He also    lauded his achievements in the state

“For the little time I have been here, I have had the opportunity of talking to a few people who confirmed to me that you are doing very well. We have seen your project everywhere” he said.

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The governor and his visitor urged the new Police officers to work hard,  contribute to the security of the country, and be good ambassadors of the state.

“The challenge is for you to now work very hard, knowing fully well that in this society, the son of a nobody can be the father of somebody,” said Otti.

“If people like us who grew up here without any hope at that time can be here, there is no reason why you can’t get here. But I am challenging you to be the best you can be.

“Always do things right and do the right things. You can always get to where you are headed. Cutting corners does not take you too far, “ the governor added.

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Kwankwaso charged the new police officers to be professional in the discharge of their duties.

“Let me take this opportunity, based on my experience, to advise you to first and foremost fear God.

“Two, you need to be professionals. Now you are fresh, just coming out of the prestigious institute.stay there as professionals,” he said.

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