PDP Chairman And 1100 Other PDP Members Left For APC In Bayelsa

A wave of defection has swept through the Peoples Democratic Party in Bayelsa as its current Chairman, Sam Inokoba, a former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Timi Alaibe, and over 1,100 party leaders left the party for the All Progressives Congress.

Addressing a political rally at the Samson Siasia Sports Complex, Mr. Inokoba, who listed 10 reasons for leaving the PDP, they were crossing over to the APC because the PDP government has derailed from its original objectives.

PDP In Rivers Wants Buhari to Probe Amaechi for Massive Fraud

The Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) wants former governor of Rivers state, Rotimi Amaechi to stop hiding and publically face the immense corruption allegations against him. A statement signed by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the party, Jerry Needam says that "the degree and number of fraudulent acts initiated and committed by the former Governor are shocking and no longer be glossed over."

On CNN's Amanpour Live Report it was reported that Amaechi has been stacking money in different foreign accounts. According to the statement, Amanpour’s show said "the sum of over 757 million U.S. dollars was stacked by Amaechi in a foreign U.S. Bancorp/Minnesota account."

The Integrity Group, a non-governmental organization, has sent a petition to Buhari as well as the Economic Financial Crimes Commission chairman to investigate Amaechi for the over N70 billion stolen from the Rivers State government.

This amount is separate from the N21 billion which the PDP claims Amaechi transferred from the Power Assets proceeds account of Access bank to the accounts of three private companies with a 25 Trans-Amadi Road, Port Harcourt address. Those companies are Advante Consulting and Management Company, Result Imports Experts Company, and Capital Ltd.

The PDP in Rivers State claim that there are many more instances of fraud and theft perpetrated by the former Governor, which is why they are asking President Buhari to probe Rotimi Amaechi’s past.

49 PDP Senators Declare Support For Buhari

The forty-nine ‎Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers in the senate have declared their support for President Muhammadu Buhari. Speaking at a press conference at the national assembly complex in Abuja on Thursday, Godswill Akpabio, minority whip, joined 48 of his PDP colleagues to express their determination to support the president.

 However, they lamented that PDP members were being targeted in the anti-corruption crusade of the federal government.

 “The PDP senate caucus reiterates its support to M‎r President Muhammadu Buhari and his quest to bring about a greater Nigeria,” Akpabio said.

 “The PDP senate caucus, despite its formidable strength, has resolved to offer only credible opposition that would lead to the building of a better Nigeria. 

The caucus will give him all the needed support support to ensure his success as president.” 

“But the PDP senate caucus notes the crusade against corruption undertaken by the APC-led federal government and hereby declares her support to rid Nigeria of corruption.

 The caucus is not happy with the current trend that seems to suggest that the war against corruption is selective and targeted at PDP stalwarts and states.

 “The current war lacks transparency, fairness to all and appears to be aimed at political adversaries. It is on this ground that we condemn in particular what is happening in Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Abia states where election umpires are daily arrested, their families and associates hounded, and judicial officers involved in election tribunals intimidated and questioned using trumped up petitions bordering on corruption. 

“Yet, these officials were part of the 2015 elections that produced President Buhari, an election adjudged to be generally free and fair by the international community.” 

Akpabio also alleged that the Department of State Service (DSS) was being used to wreak havoc on PDP-controlled states.

 ‎”The PDP senate caucus is worried, alarmed and shocked by the recent development in our polity where the DSS is now involved in electoral matters,” he said.

 “A situation where officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Rivers state, Akwa Ibom and Abia states (all PDP states) are daily being arrested, detained and questioned on politically motivated corruption allegations is worrisome and spells doom for our democracy unless the trend is reversed. 

“Reports reaching the caucus has it that INEC officials are being forced by the DSS to produce falsified documents to support APC candidates cases before the tribunals.

 “This is abominable and unacceptable. Mr President and all well-meaning Nigerians must intervene to preserve the independence of the tribunals and that of INEC.‎”

 While reiterating the pledge of the PDP to provide constructive opposition to the APC government, Akpabio urged the president to treat all Nigerians equally.


Thecable

PDP crisis deepens as Police block staff from entering secretariat

THE lingering crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, following a sharp disagreement between the national leadership and staff over plans to reduce the staff strength, their salaries and allowances by 50 per cent, yesterday took a new turn as men of the Nigeria Police blocked the gate of the National Secretariat.

In the early hours of yesterday, following directives from the leadership of the party, a truck load of Policemen blocked the gate and deprived the staff from entering the secretariat.

Police action, however, met a stiff resistance from the angry PDP staff.

The policemen, who were deployed at strategic ends of the PDP secretariat, refused to utter a word to the aggrieved staff that came to work as early as 7.30 am only to be shut-out.

It will be recalled that as part of moves to end the crisis, management of PDP who are the directors, deputy directors and assistant directors, had on Monday held a closed door marathon meeting with the warring staff where the National Director of Administration, Alhaji Gurama Bawa, presided.

At the meeting, Bawa was said to have pleaded with the aggrieved staff to have a temporary ceasefire against the backdrop that the management would then hold a meeting with members of the NWC on how to arrive at a possible compromise to avoid heating the polity which at the moment was not the best for a party that last a Presidential election.

With the agreement to a ceasefire, the staff came to work, but they were stopped, just as Vanguard gathered that it took the intervention of PDP Acting Chairman, Board of Trustees, Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed, who made a call to the leadership of the party that the staff be allowed into the premises.

BoT chair intervenes

Vanguard gathered that following the intervention of Mohammed, a call was then made to the Police and they immediately left the gate.

It was until around 10am that the security operatives, after a purported phone call from ‘somebody’ agreed to allow them entry after screening the workers.

With this development, strong indications have emerged that there seems to be no end in sight in the crisis as both the leadership of the party and the staff have resorted to what could be described as a hide and seek game.

It was also gathered, yesterday, that the NWC, which had earlier refused to brief the staff from its Monday meeting, also shifted the venue of its yesterday meeting to an undisclosed venue and directed Police operatives to seal off the PDP secretariat from all, including its staff.

The angry PDP staff revealed that they have reached an agreement within themselves to sheathe their swords until the end of the week and if there was nothing good coming from the NWC, they should be ready for a brutal showdown.

A source told Vanguard that the problem would end as there were assurances that all their entitlements have been considered for payment, just as the source disclosed that two cheques of N5 million each meant for upsetting their allowances, including their July salary and the last Sallah bonus which have not been paid, have been raised.

Vanguard

PDP statement - Ongoing Re-Organization Of The Party

Press statement from the PDP

The attention of the NWC has been drawn to the unnecessary and unfortunate reactions of Junior, Intermediate and Supervisory members of Staff under the auspices of PDP Staff Welfare Committee in reaction to NWC directive on Re-Organization and Re-Structuring of the Party. The NWC also notes the steps by the Management Committee in the matter.


The NWC appreciates the concerns of all stakeholders of the Party and assures all members that it will not be deterred in its sworn responsibility to reposition, re-organize and re-structure the Party.

For the purpose of clarity, the process of staff re-organization is a sub-component of the reform process in the Party. Consequently, the NWC further affirms that the internal memo emanating from the Office of the National Secretary stands.

The NWC will not be deterred, blackmailed or cowed from taking objective steps necessary for sound political health, astute opposition and general re-organization of the Party.

NWC also assures all members and indeed Nigerians that finances of the Party have been handled in line with standard financial regulations governing political parties and the Constitution of the PDP.

Subsequently, as custodians of the PDP Constitution, the NWC will be guided by the provisions of the Constitution in dealing with all matters related to staff especially schedule iv (staff rules) of the 2012 Constitution as amended.

Signed:

Chief Olisa Metuh
National Publicity Secretary

PDP Slams Aregbesola Over Owed WAEC Fees

The Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has called on Governor Rauf Aregbesola to pay the money owed the West African Examination Council so that candidates who took the exams can obtain their certificates.

In a statement on Sunday, the party said although it recognised the fact that the administration of Mr. Aregbesola was indebted to many agencies and individuals, it should pay the money due to WAEC.

“The money should be paid having allowed students in the state to sit for their papers on credit with the assurance that the state government would pay up,” the PDP said in a statement signed by its Spokesperson, Diran Odeyemi, said.

“Not paying the debt owed WAEC on time, will jeopardize chances of many students that are awaiting result of getting admission to further education Universities and Polytechnics.

“For the records, we want to inform the world that before students that sat for WAEC in public schools could sit for their practicals, they had to pay for specimens because of the refusal of the examination body to send money to schools to buy them.”

The party noted that WAEC withheld the money meant to buy practical specimens because the government owed it huge sums of money.

“If Aregbesola can no longer run the free education programme he inherited from the PDP government for about eight years with almost 80 percent passing rates in external examinations, he should not shy away from declaring a state of emergency in Education in the state,” the statement read.

“Taking exams on credit is another open disgrace Osun is witnessing under the watch of Mr. Aregbesola.”

The PDP said with teachers being owned salaries, resulting in the closure of schools in the past nine weeks, the party could only plead with the Governor to give education its deserved attention in the state in the interest of the future of the children.

Premiumtimes

Dickson,Alamieyeseigha Ordered Out of Jonathan's Meeting With PDP Board of Trustees

Bayelsa state governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson, and former governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha were on Sunday ordered out a meeting former President Goodluck Jonathan held with members of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) o Sunday held an emergency meeting at the country home of former President Goodluck Jonathan in Otuoke, Bayelsa State, it wades into the crisis rocking the state chapter of the party.

At the meeting, both the state governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson, and former governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, were ordered out of the venue by the party leadership.

At the meeting which looked into the recommendations of the National Peace Committee for the state, the acting Chairman of the party’s BoT, Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed, called on all feuding members and stakeholders of the party in the state to close ranks, while also upturning the decision of the state chapter of the party to expel some prominent members from the party.

President Jonathan was said to been scandalised by the action of the party at the state level, adding that the party cannot afford a major crisis less than five months to the governorship election.

At the meeting which was held at the Jonathan country home amid tight security, some uninvited prominent persons, including those who had already defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), were walked out of the venue.

Banks, PDP kick against CBN’s policy

Banks and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have kicked against the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to bar foreign currency deposits into domiciliary accounts.

The PDP described the decision as illegal, unlawful, void, archaic and communist in nature, stressing that the President should be reminded that as a country, Nigeria was in a democracy and not military administration as in 1984.

A senior bank treasurer and executive member of Financial Market Dealers Association of Nigeria, FMDA, also described the policy as a knee-jerk measure, which was not sustainable, adding that banks’ decision to stop dollar deposits into domiciliary accounts was in protest of the new policy.

In a statement signed, yesterday, by PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the party said that President Buhari’s regulations of the foreign exchange transactions in Nigeria where the administration was making it impossible for honest Nigerians to engage in free trade and regulate their personal activities as guaranteed by the constitution, was clearly an agenda to illegally impose a communist economic regime on Nigerians.

The party noted that the absence of an economic team at the moment, especially in the third month of the administration, was leading the country into economic quagmire and doldrums.

Vanguard

EFCC interrogates Enugu PDP Chairman over Divertion Of Funds Meant For Public Housing

The interrogation of former aides and associates of Sullivan Chime, former governor of Enugu State by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, continued today with the grilling of Ikeje Asogwa, former managing director, Enugu State Housing Corporation and incumbent chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Enugu State.

Asogwa arrived the headquarters of EFCC in Abuja about 10.30am on July 31. He was still being interrogated at the headquarters of the EFCC.

Sources at the anti-graft agency disclosed that Asogwa's invitation followed the discovery that he diverted Enugu state funds meant for public housing in the state.

His interrogation comes a day after Ifeoma Nwobodo, Chime's ex- Chief of Staff, was grilled for alleged money laundering and misappropriation of funds. She is still in the custody of the agency.

APC to PDP: Produce APC membership card of DG of DSS or keep quiet!

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has insisted that the DG of DSS, Mr. Lawal Daura, is not a card-carrying member of the party, saying nothing short of producing Mr. Daura’s membership card or evidence of his membership registration will convince discerning Nigerians that he is indeed a member of the APC as alleged by the PDP.

"While it amounts to rabble-rousing and crass politicking for the PDP to have wrongly accused Mr. Daura of being a member of the APC without a scintilla of credible evidence, the PDP has weakened its argument by using the pictures in which Mr. Daura appeared with the President and the fact that he served in an election committee as evidence of his membership of the APC,” the party said in a statement issued in Lagos on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

”Possession of an APC membership card by Mr. Daura or evidence of registration as a party member at his ward, local government or state will be the only conclusive evidence of his membership of the party,” it said. ”Until such an evidence is produced, we are sorry we have to tell the PDP to shut up!” APC said the PDP is jittery because it is keenly aware of the kind of impunity perpetrated under the federal government it sired from 1999 to 2015.

”PDP has forgotten the saying that he who must come to equity must come with clean hands. When Mr. Mike Okiro chaired the security committee of the PDP campaign in 2011, did that prevent him from being appointed the Chair of the Police Service Commission, which is responsible for issues concerning the welfare, promotion and discipline of all police personnel, in 2013?

”When the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr. Mike Omeri, was appointed into the Jonathan election committee in 2015, did he resign his appointment as head of the agency or did he automatically become a card-carrying member of the PDP?

”Did retired Col. Kayode Are not become the DG of the DSS despite being a close confidante of Gen. Obasanjo during his electioneering campaign to become President? Was this not under a PDP Federal Government? ”In any case, even in the world’s most advance democracy, United States, was a card-carrying Democrat, Mr. Leon Panetta, not named as head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) by President Barack Obama in 2009?

Here in Nigeria, the APC-led FG has not even gone that far, and the PDP is blabbing. ”It is an irony that the APC-led Federal Government, which has continued to conduct the affairs of state with a strict adherence to the law, is the one being accused by the immoral, irresponsible and grossly hypocritical PDP. A party that should cover its face in shame for wasting all of 16 years in the life of our country, a party whose members should show penance by hunkering down has continued to assault the sensibilities of a decent nation. What a shame,” APC said.

Alhaji Lai Mohammed
National Publicity Secretary

Photos: Evidence that DSS DG is an APC member - PDP Update

This is an evidence from PDP to show that the current DSS is an APC member. More photos below...

22 APC Northern senators Working Against Buhari

TWENTY-TWO Northern senators elected on the All Progressives Party (APC) platform have been identified as “teaming up with the opposition to work against President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling party”.

The senators allegedly teamed up with 46 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators in the Red Chamber to pass a confidence vote in the leadership of the Senate under Dr. Bukola Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu, a PDP senator.

Thirty-five APC senators were among the 81 who purportedly endorsed the vote of confidence in the principal officers of the Senate.

The Nation learnt yesterday that 22 of them are from the North, according to the list attached to the motion moved on the floor of the Senate by Senator Samuel Anyanwu.

The 22 senators are: Anyanwu, who promoted the Motion; Abdul A.M. Nyako;Isah Hamma Misau; Kabiru Gaya; Adamu Aliero; Abdullahi Adamu; David Umaru; Ahmed Rufa’I Sani; Tijjani Yahaya Kaura; Ahmadu Abubakar and Malam A. Wakili.

Others are: Abubakar Kyari; Sabo Mohammed; Dino Melaye; Abdulrahman Abubakar; Binta Masi Garba; Mohammed Goje; Muhammad U. Shitu; Salihu H. Egye and Aliyu S. Abdullahi.

The senators have been accused of working against the party on which platform they were got elected into the National Assembly.

The leadership of the Senate has been working against the position of the ruling party since inception.

It disregarded the APC’s advice that those who were shut out on May 29 be accommodated as principal officers for peace to reign.

As against legislative practice that only ranking members should be appointed as principal officers, two new senators – Godswill Akpabio and Abiodun Olujimi were named by Senate President as Minority Leader and Deputy Chief Whip on Tuesday.

An APC senator, Kabiru Marafa (Zamfara Central), who raised a point of order, was ruled out of order by Saraki, who said the senator was crying more than the bereaved. House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara bowed to the wish of the party by naming those recommended by the party as principal officers when the Green Chamber reconvened on Tuesday.

Thenation

DSS DG not our card-carrying member - APC

APC has denied the allegation by the PDP that the Director-General of the DSS, Mr. Lawal Daura, is a card-carrying member of the APC.

The ruling party called the accusation "absurd and frivolous", while it also challenged the PDP to publish any evidence it may have to back up the allegation.

APC issued a staement in Lagos on thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed. Read press statement from APC below: 

 "After all, it is trite that he who alleges must prove. In the absence of that, the PDP must call another press conference to publicly apologise to all Nigerians for engaging in barefaced lies.”

The party expressed shock that the PDP had "started exhibiting all the symptoms of hallucination so soon after its gravy train derailed."

According to Muhammed, "We know that the psyche of the PDP has been badly affected by its loss of power at the centre. Even the party itself has admitted that much. That situation has now been compounded by the fact that the party is broke. It is therefore not a surprise that it is no longer able to think straight. The reality of its new situation is just beginning to dawn on it.

"But we warned the PDP early on that being in opposition is not a walk in the park. We warned that while the party was used to eating its bread with butter on both sides, it will now be lucky to even have bread to it."

The party also warned the PDP to spend more time in "patching its tattered and battered umbrella than acting as a cog in the wheel of progress of the new administration."

PDP: Buhari embarrassed Nigeria in America

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari embarrassed Nigeria by his actions and utterances during his recent four-day state visit to the United States of America.

The spokesperson of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, who addressed a press conference in Abuja on Sunday, said Mr. Buhari’s visit has been anything but successful.

Mr. Metuh said the PDP restrained itself from embarrassing the President by not raising, while he was in the U.S., issues of “harassment of citizens, interferences in the activities of the National Assembly and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), total disregard for tenets of democracy, resort to sole administratorship as well as other violations which have become the order of the day in Nigeria since the inauguration of his administration”.

He said the PDP remained calm, while hoping and praying that the visit would afford Mr. Buhari and his party leaders reasonable “tutorials” on the respect and application of the tenets of democracy and fundamental rights of citizens under the rule of law.

Mr. Metuh said the PDP and all Nigerians looked forward to gains in terms of policies by the Federal Government aimed at stamping out corruption, ending insurgency and promoting economic growth, which formed parts of the publicised agenda for the visit.

“However, now that the visit has come and gone, our fear is that nothing whatsoever has been learnt or gained. What we continue to receive as a nation have been embarrassing disagreements, accusations and counter accusations, blames and denials on very important issues due to lack of tact and skill in the management of state matters by the APC-led administration.

“It is disheartening that rather than secure any sort of tangible gain for the fight against terrorism, which has lost steam under the APC watch, with insurgents, who were pushed to the verge of surrender by the Goodluck Jonathan administration, now surging back and spreading into the country, we get nothing but exchanges and disagreements between the Presidency and their American hosts.

” This is not only embarrassing but also worrisome indication of crass ineptitude in the handling of international affairs on the part of the present administration,” he said.

Premiumtimes

PDP Asks Kwara Chapter to Disclaim Statement on Saraki’s Wife

Following the statement by the Kwara State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that its petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) led to the invitation of wife of the Senate President, Mrs. Toyin Saraki, the national headquarters has directed the state chapter to disclaim the statement.

A highly ranked member of the party, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, revealed that the national headquarters the party called immediately the story was published by major newspapers on their websites.


In a statement early today, the party’s state publicity secretary, Rex Olawoye, was quoted as revealing how the petition the party submitted in early this year to the EFCC detailing how certain individuals in higher places during the tenure of Saraki as Kwara State governor milked the state dry was instrumental to the invitation of the former first lady of the state.


According to the petition, Mrs Saraki was fingered alongside one Mr. Ope Saraki, former special adviser to former governor Bukola Saraki on MDGs, Saraki’s personal assistant, one Mr. Abdul Adama from Kogi State and a former commissioner for information, Mr. Tunji Morounfoye, in an alleged cesspool of corruption which he described as unprecedented in the history of Kwara state or any other state.


The All Progressives Congress (APC) has been enmeshed in supremacy battle following the refusal of some of his federal lawmakers to abide by party’s directives in choosing leaders of the national assembly.


The PDP sees the crisis as a way of making an in-road in national limelight following his ouster from the federal government in the March 2015 presidential election.


Following the election of Senator Bukola Saraki, a former governor under the party, as president of the Senate through the support of the PDP senators, the party has not hidden its joy, as members of the party see that as a payback for what members of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN (now APC) did during the election of the House of Representatives election that produced Hon. Aminu Tambuwal as speaker.


The source said: “The party wants the crisis in the party to continue so that it can reclaim some of its members back into its fold. They are leaving no stone unturned in this bid and that was why the party ordered its federal lawmakers to team up with Sen Saraki and House speaker, Yakubu Dogara during the leadership election.


“Their projection is that sooner or later, Saraki and others would be forced to dump the APC or divide it and so that will give them the opportunity to redeem its structure. The party is not satisfied with the ongoing invitations of those that worked with its government. And they were shocked to see the statement by the PDP. To cut the story short, the Kwara PDP is not satisfied with the state of the nation.

Kwara State is no longer viable and they are doing everything possible to make sure that the man who underdeveloped the state is brought to book.


“Our national publicity secretary, Chief Olisah Metuh just called, expressing his displeasure over the statement. Why should he be controlling us. He ordered us to disregard the statement but we are not ready but we know they may go behind to react on our behalf and put our names to make it look like we backtracked,” the source said.

Thisday

PDP Supports Buhari's Anti-Corruption Crusade

The National Publicity Secretary of the People Democratic Party, Chief Oliseh Metuh, on Thursday, said the PDP was in support of the anti-corruption crusade by the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

He described corruption as a crime against the Nigerian people and the country’s constitution.

Metuh had while addressing PDP stakeholders in Lokoja on Tuesday accused Buhari of treating PDP members, especially the officials of the past administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as criminals and prisoners of war because of the ongoing probes.



But speaking during the Kogi State congress election in Lokoja on Thursday, Metuh, who was the state congress chairman, said PDP was in support of any move that would check corruption in the country.

He added that the party was in support of Buhari’s anti-corruption stance.

He stated that as long as the hands of PDP members were clean, they had nothing to fear in the ongoing war against graft in the country.

The PDP spokesperson said the party would not protect any of its member found to have been corrupt.

According to him, it has become necessary for public officials to be held accountable for their actions.

Metuh, however, warned that there should be no witch-hunt and that due process and the rule of law must be adhered strictly in the probes.

He said, “Even if the PDP members are being probed, we support the probes because people are being held to account for their stewardships in office but we don’t want political lynching.”

punch

Goodluck Jonathan Should Apologise For Bad Governance - APC

The All Progressives Congress has called on former President Goodluck Jonathan to apologise to Nigerians for the kind of “bad governance and leadership” it administered on the country during the six years he spent in office. The party also called on the Peoples Democratic Party to eat the humble pie and apologise to the people for the way it mismanaged the country for the 16 years it ruled the country, saying their apologies would be the most honourable thing to do. A statement on Sunday by the Publicity Secretary of the APC in Ondo State, Omo’ba Adesanya, noted that instead of making excuses, the PDP should be remorseful and apologetic for plunging the country into the mess it found itself.

shafaqna

Femi Olu-Kayode Says "Nuhu Ribadu Should Be The Next PDP Chairman"

Shocking!!! PDP Chieftain’s Kidnapped Wife has been Found Dead

Felix Obuah, Peoples Democratic Party Chairman, Rivers State
Wife of a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Rivers State, southern Nigeria, Mrs. Ebire Ejor Ngowah Ejor, who was on Sunday, 5 July, 2015, kidnapped by suspected hired assassins in Port Harcourt, has been found dead.
Her body was discovered in a remote village around Eagle Island, a Port Harcourt suburb, in the early hours of Tuesday, July 7.

The Chairman of the Rivers State chapter of PDP, Bro Felix Obuah, who broke the sad news, strongly condemned the gruesome murder of Mrs. Ejor, wife of a chieftain of the party and former Executive Chairman of Eleme Local Government Council, Chief Ejor Ngowah Ejor.

The PDP Chairman described the killing as unwarranted, barbaric and shocking to the PDP family, saying the manner she was abducted, and later killed clearly exposed political undertone in the sad incident. He explained that the body of Mrs. Ejor, a devout Christian, was discovered in a remote village around Eagle Island, a Port Harcourt suburb.

Obuah bemoaned the unjustifiable taking of someone’s life, and urged the Rivers State Police Command and other relevant security agencies to beef up security in and around the state.
He demanded prompt arrest of those behind the dastardly act and other criminal activities in the state.

Police to Question Deputy Senate President Ekweremadu Over Alleged Forged Senate Rules on Monday, July 6, 2015.

The Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase,on  Sunday summoned the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, over alleged forgery of the Senate Rules on election of its principal officers, PDP, said.

This was disclosed on July 5, by the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh during a press briefing.

Metuh stated that Ekweremadu’s invitation was part of a plot to arrest and detain him by the APC-led Federal Government.

Metuh said;

“We are aware that some APC senators opposed to the emergence of Senators Bukola Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu as senate president and deputy senate president respectively met last week and concocted a petition, accusing the deputy senate president of altering the Senate Rules on the process of election of the presiding officers, upon which the police via a letter dated July 1, 2015 and signed by the Deputy Inspector General in charge of criminal investigation at the Force Headquarters has invited him to appear tomorrow (today), Monday, July 6, 2015 where he will be detained and put under pressure,” 

He also said that neither Ekweremadu nor any other Senator-elect, could have been involved in the process of producing the 2015 Standing Rules of the Senate.

“Senator Ekweremadu was not in any way involved in the process other than being nominated for the position of the deputy senate president and could not have been privy to the secret ballot procedure adopted by the National Assembly bureaucracy, which has been widely adjudged as transparent and credible,”Metuh added.

The National Publicity Secretary of the  the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said in a statement on Sunday, that it had nothing to do with the decision of the police to invite Ekweremadu.