Jonathan Has No Excuse Not To Run In 2015 – Orubebe (Interview)

orubebe_01-300x209Former minister of Niger Delta affairs and governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party in Delta State, Elder Godsday Orubebe, in this interview with Sola Adebayo, speaks on the re-election bid of President Jonathan in 2015, his governorship bid and his perception of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan.

You played a key role in the election of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011, what do you think informed his reluctance to declare his intention to seek re-election?

I played a key role in the election of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 and I am still playing that key role to sustain the tempo to make him by the grace of God, the president of Nigeria again to complete his eight years.

I do not think the president is reluctant to come out again to contest, there is always time for every activity and he is waiting for the right time to come and declare to Nigerians, that was what he did in 2011 and so at the right time, which is not too far again, Mr. President will come and declare for the presidency of this country again. The president surely will contest.

Even if he was not going to contest, we will draft him to come and complete his eight years. This is the first time somebody from the south-south has come on board to preside over the affairs of this country and I think it is only reasonable to allow him to complete his two-term of eight years.

How do you react to the speculation that the President is worried by the opposition from the North and that that has prevented him from declaring his re-election bid?

I think that so many people do not actually know the kind of president that they have. If you get close to the president the way some of us have been close to him, you will know that the president isnot jittery but he is a president that is calculating, a president who believes in the rule of law.

Do you think that Jonathan can win election if you look at the scenario in the country now?

I can tell you from where I am sitting now that Mr. President is going to win massively again and again. Let me tell you that Nigerians are becoming more aware, it is not a situation where somebody somewhere is coming to tell them story.

Nigerians are aware that our railways have started working, they are aware that our educational institutions are getting attention, Nigerians are aware that our airports are better.

Oshiomhole’s Aide, Others Defect To PDP

Governor Adams OshiomholeGov Adams Oshiomhole’s aide, Mr Agharese Idubor, on Wednesday led no fewer than 150 registered members of the APC in Benin to pitch their tents with the PDP.

Idubor is the Executive Director, Protocol Matters to the Governor.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the defecting APC members are from Ward 7 in the Egor Local Government Area of Edo South Senatorial District.

Idubor, who spoke on behalf of the defecting members, said their decision to return to the PDP was borne out of the alleged political betrayal of the leadership of APC in the state at the ward congress in the state on Tuesday.    […more]

2015: Atiku’s Posters Flood South East

Atiku Abubakar
                         Atiku Abubakar

The presidential campaign posters of former vice president, Atiku Abubakar was all over Imo State yesterday courtesy of a group known as the Turaki East Alliance(TEA).

Boldly inscribed in it is the picture of Atiku with the caption “Hero of equity, justice and fairness, detribalised Nigerian.”

All the market places, motor parks and even the Government House of Imo State were not left out of the avalanche of posters.

According to the national coordinator of TEA , Comrade Peter Akubuo who claimed responsibility for the posters they want Atiku to declare his interest for the president of the country in 2015.

Akubuo stressed that the group after their general meeting held on the 4th of April in Owerri resolved to support Atiku    for the president of the country if he declares his interest to contest.   […more]

2014: Orji Seeks Support For Fayemi, Cautions Against Violence

Orji Uzor Kalu
                             Orji Uzor Kalu

Ex-governor of Abia State, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu yesterday declared that Ekiti State governor Kayode Fayemi had delivered on his promises, and urged the people of the state to support his re-election bid.

Kalu also advised supporters of political parties to play the game with decency and honour and avoid blood shed  in the impending June 21 governorship election in the state.

Speaking after a visit to Governor Fayemi at his official residence in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday, Orji who was on tour of the country to preach national unity said all hands must be on deck for the survival of the country.   […more]

Protect Your Votes, Aregbesola Urges Osun Residents

Osun State Governor - Mr Rauf Aregbesola
Osun State Governor – Mr Rauf Aregbesola

Gov Rauf Aregbesola of Osun has called on trade unions in the state to sensitise residents on the need to protect their votes during the Aug. 9 gubernatorial election.

Aregbesola made the call on Wednesday while receiving members of the Nigerian Union of Tailors (NUT) who paid him a courtesy visit.

The union had earlier endorsed the governor for a second term.

The governor said that the endorsement was an indication that the people of the state understood the vision of his administration.

“Please don’t stop at the endorsement but continue to tell our people to jealously protect their votes and ensure that their votes count,” Aregbesola said.   […more]

As Senate decides Jonathan’s power to initiate new constitution

The Senate will this week vote on the proposed amendments in the report submitted by the Senator Ike Ekweremadu-led Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution. SUNDAY ABORISADE writes on the likely implications of this exercise.

As it is to be expected, senators expressed divergent views when the Senator Ike Ekweremadu-led Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution submitted its report in the form of a bill.

According to Ekweremadu, the bill titled, ‘An Act to further alter the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 and for other matters connected therewith, 2013’, is aimed at among other things, strengthening the legal framework for processing a new constitution.

He recalled that the Senate, at its sitting of Thursday, July 1, 2013, voted on some of his committee’s recommendations. He explained that while expecting the inauguration of a Conference Committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives to harmonise areas of differences, members of his committee received six additional requests, which could have far-reaching implications on the electoral process.   […more]

Ex-Bayelsa gov supports Amaechi

Timipre Sylva
           Timipre Sylva

Former governor of Bayelsa State and chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, has assured the Rivers State governor, Chibuike Amaechi, that the Bayelsa chapter of the APC would work with him to flush out the Peoples Democratic Party-led Federal Government in the next election.

Speaking when he led party executives and supporters of the APC in Bayelsa on a courtesy call on Governor Amaechi in the Government House, Port Harcourt at the weekend, Sylva said they came to show their solidarity with the Rivers State governor.   […more]

2015 Elections: Jonathan Restates Commitment To Conducting Credible Polls

jonathan-presido1-600x336President Goodluck Jonathan has assured Nigerians and the international community that he is more committed than ever before to making the 2015 elections more credible than the 2011 elections.

The President said this when he received the report of the National Forum on Electoral Reform, headed by former Senate President, Ken Nnamani.

The President commended the efforts and what he called painstaking commitment of the forum to come up with the report, which   […more]

Adeleke, Osun PDP Governorship Aspirant Petitions National Leadership On Conduct Of Primaries

Isiaka Adeleke
                                 Isiaka Adeleke

The first Executive Governor of Osun State and one of the aspirants of the just concluded People’s Democratic Party (PDP)  governorship primaries in the state, Senator Isiaka Adeleke, has said that in spite of the result declared, he has no intention of crossing to any other party.

Addressing his delegates gathered from across the 30 Local Government Areas of the state in Ede, Osun State, Senator Adeleke stated that he would seek redress from the national secretariat of the party, saying that the ward congress preceding last Saturday’s governorship primary of the PDP was marred with “irregularities”.   […more]

Ondo State LP Rejects INEC Declaration Of Ilaje/Ese-Odo By-Election Inconclusive

Labour Party
                       Labour Party

The Labour Party in Ondo State has expressed shock at the reluctance, refusal of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) Returning Officer to declare the winner of the By-election into Ilaje/Ese-Odo Federal Constituency.

In a statement by the Acting Chairman of the party in the state, Dele Akinyele, the party noted that the election took place and returns were made in 21 out of 22 wards that made up the Federal Constituency, and the returning officer’s duty was to collate the lawful votes from various units and wards, and declare the candidate that scored majority of lawful votes.   […more]