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We Won’t Sanction Wike, Makinde, Other Aggrieved Govs – PDP NEC
There are indications that the Peoples Democratic Party will not take punitive measures against five of its governors for their recent utterances against the leadership of the party.
Governors Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) and Seyi Makinde of Oyo states have been consistent in their call for the removal of the PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu. They hinged their demand on the need for an equitable distribution of the party’s elective offices in line with the PDP constitution.
The PUNCH reports that they specifically noted that since a Northerner, Atiku Abubakar, emerged as the party’s presidential candidate, Ayu (also from the North) should bow out to give room for a Southerner to replace him.
In their determination to press home their demand, the five governors resigned their membership of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council in September and have since openly championed positions considered inimical to the party’s electoral fortunes in 2023.
Meanwhile, these recent events, among others, have led to calls for the governors to be sanctioned to instil some elements of discipline among party members.
However, a former chairman of the Board of Trustees of the party, Chief Bode George, stated that caution must remain the watchword as the party intensifies moves to pacify the aggrieved governors and their allies ahead of the 2023 polls.
He told The PUNCH exclusively, “As an elder, we will continue to appeal to Ayu to put on his thinking cap. Atiku should remain a nationalist because he wants to govern Nigeria.
“Even if the party wants to do so (sanction them), the time is not now. As an elder of the party, if Atiku remains completely adamant that he will not listen and Ayu is blowing tantrums all over the place, whatever anybody wants to do, they will do it. These governors are not pawns on the chessboard, and Atiku should know this.
“Atiku can’t be talking about the constitution of the party now. Could he have emerged as a presidential candidate if we had not set aside our constitution? What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander,” he said.
The PDP elder statesman further maintained that “Even if Atiku wins today, he has already planted discord in the minds of the people. Atiku met with these governors and told them he would bring the chairmanship to the South. If he is playing games with these governors, they are also ready to play games with him. He (Atiku) is thinking that he is already in the Aso Rock Villa.
“People are lying to Atiku, telling him he would win without these governors but he doesn’t know how angry our people (South-West) are. The whole North will vote for him and let’s see how he will get 25 per cent of the South-West’s votes,” he stressed.
Also speaking, Deputy National Youth Leader of the party, Timothy Osadolor, told The PUNCH, “The party in its wisdom has decided to tolerate them. Wike is trying to damage the ticket of Atiku Abubakar so that in 2023 he will position himself for the 2027 elections. If Wike damages Atiku’s ticket, won’t he need the support of Northerners to run in 2027? Wike is putting himself on the wrong side of history and those clapping for him do not know that he is using them for his advantage.”
Also, a member of the PDP National Executive Committee and former National Secretary, Ibrahim Tsauri said Wike and his colleagues “are taking undue advantage of the powers they have,” adding however that the party must continue to explore the path of reconciliation.
According to Tsauri, “The party cannot implement any sanction now because the PDP is a truly national party that is interested in progress, not divisions.”
Taking a different position is a member of the PDP National Working Committee, NWC, who does not want his name in print, was quoted as saying, “Atiku wants Ayu to remain, so what do you want me to say? If the presidential candidate thinks he can win without the support of these governors, good luck to him. Ayu is there with his mouth running, threatening everybody. We wish them the best of luck.”
The Punch
A former President of the Senate, and chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees, Senator Adolphus Wabara, has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of pushing Nigerians into poverty.
Wabara said the economic policies of Tinubu’s administration have worsened hardship across Nigeria.
He spoke during the board’s emergency meeting in Abuja on Thursday, saying: “The skyrocketing cost of living, coupled with poorly implemented economic reforms, has pushed millions into deeper poverty.”
Wabara stressed the importance of prioritising party unity and collective progress over personal ambitions.
“We cannot afford to let personal ambitions or differences overshadow our shared vision for a better Nigeria,” he added.
The Federal Government has fired some civil servants with degrees from private tertiary institutions in Benin Republic and Togo, according to The Punch report.
The directive affected federal workers who graduated from the institutions from 2017 to date.
The Director of Information and Public Relations in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Segun Imohiosen, confirmed the development to one of our correspondents on Wednesday.
In August, the Federal Government announced that only eight universities had been accredited to award degrees to Nigerians in Togo and Benin Republic.
This followed an undercover investigation report in which a Daily Nigerian journalist acquired a degree from a university in Benin Republic in two months and used it to participate in the National Youth Service Corps scheme.
Following the report, the government banned the accreditation and evaluation of degrees from tertiary institutions in Benin Republic and Togo.
The Federal Government also set up an Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling to probe the activities of certificate racketeers.
The then Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, revealed that over 22,500 Nigerians obtained fake degree certificates from Benin Republic and Togo and such certificates would be cancelled.
Mamman explained that the revelation was part of a report submitted to the Federal Executive Council by the investigative committee instituted to probe degree certificate racketeering by foreign and local universities in Nigeria.
He insisted there was no going back on the Federal Government’s decision to cancel the about 22,500 certificates awarded to Nigerians by some “fake” universities in the two francophone countries.
Mamman maintained that the decision to invalidate the certificates was not harsh as Nigerians who obtained degree certificates from such tertiary institutions dent the country’s image.
He said, “Most of those parading the fake certificates didn’t even leave the shores of Nigeria but got their certificates through racketeering in collaboration with government officials at home and abroad.
“The fake universities capitalised on the gullibility of Nigerians patronising such fake schools. The Federal Government, through the offices of the Head of Civil Service and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, would fish out those in the government’s employment with such fake certificates. I also urge the private sector to follow suit.”
Although the exact number of affected civil servants could not be ascertained, it was gathered that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (Cabinet Affairs) had issued a memo to all the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to implement the order.
A source, who pleaded anonymity because she was not authorised to speak on the matter, told The Punch that the sacking of the affected workers was based on the inter-ministerial committee’s recommendation.
The official stated, “There was a letter from the SGF cabinet affairs directing all ministries, departments and agencies of government to identify and terminate the appointments of workers employed with certificates obtained from the private universities in the Republic of Benin and Togo from 2017 to date.
“The decision is part of the recommendations of the committee set up to investigate the certificates of people who graduated from the universities.”
Our correspondent also gathered that some agencies like the National Youth Services Corps have commenced the implementation of the directive.
The NYSC Director of Information, Caroline Embu, confirmed to our correspondent that five members of staff had been sacked in line with the SGF’s directive.
She said, “Five members of staff were affected by the directive contained in the letter from the office of the SGF. No more.”
