By Omeiza Ajayi, ABUJA

Federal Capital Territory FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, has said he has no regret over stopping Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, former Deputy National Chairman, Chief Bode George, from becoming the party’s National Chairman, describing him as a failed politician who has not won any election for the PDP in Lagos State since 1999.

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In a statement on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, the minister said Chief George’s political frustration has further been compounded by the emergence of Deji Doherty, a personality he does not want to see in charge of the party in Lagos State.

“His anger is because we didn’t allow him to be PDP National Chairman and no regret doing so,” Wike said.

He added that George “wanted to be PDP National Chairman, and was carrying on like the position was his birthright. We stopped him because it was the turn of the South-South. Since then, he has not stopped being angry.”

The minister recounted an incident in which he visited George’s residence in Maitama, Abuja, as a sitting governor, to appease him after the national convention. But was nearly turned away by George’s wife until former Ondo State governor, Olusegun Mimiko, intervened.

Wike described George as a politician who, despite all the privileges and power at his disposal, has failed to deliver electoral victories for the PDP in Lagos State.

“We have managed him even though we know that he has no value. But as it is, since he wants to keep dancing naked in the market place of politics, we can’t but allow him,” he said.

The minister argued that leadership of a political party is not determined by name, title or status as a founding father, but by the ability to win elections. He said on that score, Bode George is “a complete disaster.”

Citing specific electoral figures, Wike said George has never won even his own polling unit, Unit 001 in Ward E2, Evans Street, Lagos Island, for the PDP.

He noted that in the 2019 presidential election, the All Progressives Congress, APC, polled 84 votes at the unit against the PDP’s 40, while in 2023, after George transferred his voter’s card to Eti-Osa, the PDP recorded only four votes at his former polling unit.

Wike said that since Bode George appeared not to be busy, he would continue to make his associates busy by giving them reason to move from one television station to another.

Vanguard News

Dr Daniel Kim has been named as the running mate to the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau State, Chief Kefas Ropshik Kefiano, for the 2027 governorship election.

The State Executive Committee (SEC) of the party in Plateau State unveiled the running mate following the party’s nomination of Chief John Arkson as Chairman of the party’s Elders Council. Chris Hassan is the Director-General of the party’s Campaign Organisation.

Chief Kefiano explained that despite the litigations the party had faced in recent times, the PDP remained a force to be reckoned with in Plateau State politics and Nigeria as a whole.

To ensure that the state’s zoning arrangement was preserved, Chief Kefiano explained that he was running for the governorship with the intention of serving for one term, stressing that the zoning of the governorship among the state’s three senatorial districts was sacrosanct and would be strictly adhered to.

He noted, “Previous attempts to sidestep the arrangement had been rejected by the people of the state, resulting in the loss of the governorship by the party in power.”

He stated that Plateau people are some of the most conscientious people in the country and that they always adhere to zoning regulations, assuring that he would serve for four years in one term to complete the two terms of his senatorial district.

He said that their campaign would be issue-based, lamenting that the government in the state had failed the people.

A member of the PDP Board of Trustees, Hon. Johnbull Shekarau, praised the patience and resilience members of the party had displayed in the course of the struggle for recognition, saying that these had helped the party get to where it is at the moment.

The State Chairman of the party, Hon. Peter Tongshien, explained that the names of all the party’s candidates had been submitted to the National Secretariat of the party and successfully uploaded to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) portal, assuring that the PDP was fully ready in the state to commence its campaign in line with INEC guidelines.

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has accused the administration of President Bola Tinubu of turning Nigeria into a “full authoritarian state,” citing alleged erosion of democratic institutions, suppression of dissent and weakening of checks and balances.

The PDP made the allegation in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Interim National Working Committee, Ini Ememobong, on Saturday.

The statement reads in full, “The report by the Human Rights Foundation, in its latest global assessment, classifying Nigeria as a fully authoritarian regime is a mere global confirmation of the local reality that Nigerians have been facing under the APC-led Federal Government. The report confirms the faulty electoral process, absence of protection for dissent, erosion of democratic safeguards and the obvious collapse of checks and balances on the executive by critical national institutions.

“The report published on the foundation’s Tyranny Tracker platform, tyrannytracker.org, shows that the country performed abysmally low on all the critical pillars of its assessment, indicating a full descent into authoritarianism, which is incompatible with democratic tenets.

“It is worthy of note that the assessment parameters of the foundation align with the theoretical frameworks that have identified, analysed and condemned authoritarian regimes-being the rule by a dictator and a small group, or a single party; the absence of institutional checks and balances; loss or apprehension of freedom of speech; opposition targeting; and weak and fake elections. 

“It does not take any high degree of intelligence for anybody to agree with the report, because all the indicators of authoritarianism are present in Nigeria, under this Tinubu regime.

“A few examples from the numerous anomalies experienced by Nigerians will suffice here-the recent deployment of uncivilised and uncouth media attacks by officials of the administration to attack Cardinal Onaiyekan, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, the Catholic Church and Christianity generally.

“This incident is one of many which eloquently attest to the absence of freedom of speech under this administration. What did the cleric say that is not the lived experience of Nigerians, except, of course, the few who are isolated from reality and their paid human megaphones? 

“The complete failure of the National Assembly to offer any form of meaningful checks to the executive is not a secret-else how could an administration fail to execute the Appropriation Act for three years, and yet that administration gets commendation, instead of condemnation, from the legislature? A parliament that ignores or blatantly disrespects the country’s constitution and its own standing rules during critical legislative activities cannot offer credible oversight of the executive. 

“What is left, which the administration has doubled down on, is the fact that the 2027 elections are designed as a mere formality, far from reflecting the people’s wishes through the ballot.

“We call on the Tinubu APC administration to immediately take critical steps to de-escalate the political tensions emanating from actions traceable to their officials and their proxies, in the interest of the survival of democracy. 

“The continuous asphyxiation of the opposition, clear weaponisation of security agencies against real and perceived opponents, increasing signs of partisanship by the electoral umpire, and reckless deployment of combustible political rhetoric by the President and his handlers should cease. 

“The President must realise that there are two contests embedded in the 2027 Presidential elections-the presidency and the country. An attempt to focus on winning the former at all costs may result in the loss of the latter; and only a free, fair, credible and peaceful contest can guarantee a win for both coveted prizes.

“We urge Nigerians to continue to demand accountability from their leaders at all levels, as this is the irreducible minimum that democracy provides.”