THE presidential campaign train of President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday moved to Ibadan, the political capital of the South-West Zone, where he asked the people of the zone to support his candidature and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the April polls.
President Jonathan, who was with his Deputy, Namadi Sambo, acknowledged the role of the zone in his political rise and pledged to run a transparent government if re-elected in April.
President Jonathan told the crowd at the well-attended rally at the historic Mapo Hall in the heart of the city that his government would prioritise power, employment, economy as well as transportation and infrastructure development.
At the event were former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Speaker, House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, Acting National Chairman of the PDP, Bello Mohammed, erstwhile Chairman of the party, Dr. Ahmadu Ali, PDP leaders like Chief Tony Anenih, former governors, members of the National Assembly and state party chairmen.
But Governor Gbenga Daniel’s faction within the Ogun State PDP yesterday boycotted the presidential campaign in the South-West.
Instead, the governor’s supporters gathered at his Sagamu private residence where he addressed them on the latest development in the party.
The governor was the South-West Co-ordinator of the defunct Jonathan/Sambo Campaign Organisation, which successfully secured the PDP presidential ticket for the President and his deputy, Namadi Sambo.
Meanwhile, the PDP yesterday prayed the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, to vacate an interlocutory order which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) relied on to recognise Gen. Tunji Olurin as its standardbearer for the Ogun State governorship elections scheduled for April, this year.
Counsel to PDP, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), predicated the party’s request on the contention that the plaintiffs concealed some facts from the court and misrepresented others to it in a bid to secure the said order.
But the plaintiffs did not allow Fagbemi to proceed with argument on the application on the premise that it was not ripe for hearing.
The case has been adjourned to February 15, 2011 for the parties to argue the application before the court.
Also, the same court yesterday joined Alhaji Jibrin Isah in the suit filed by Alhaji Abdulrazaq Isah Kutepa seeking to have the PDP primary election conducted the second time as earlier agreed to by the party in Kogi State.
In addition, the court had ordered PDP to come before it within 72 hours to show why it should not grant the request of the plaintiff for a fresh primary in Kogi.
The court adjourned to February 14, 2011 to hear the substantive suit.
Acknowledging the hurdles before the PDP in the zone, President Jonathan said: “The South-West zone is very important and cosmopolitan. Almost 50 per cent of the population in Lagos is not from the zone and Ogun. We have our challenges in the South-West but we are on top of the situation. We will resolve our political differences, Lagos is the commercial hub of this country and we must take it over. We must also take Ekiti and Osun states. The entire South-West must be for PDP.
The President identified electricity supply as a necessary ingredient to turn the economy around and assured that his administration would tackle the nation’s power problem aggressively.
He also pledged to tackle unemployment and insecurity, revamp the rail system and turn around the nation’s bad road network.
The President disclosed that his administration would no longer provide yearly budgetary allocation for road projects but resort to road construction on a five-year projection basis.
This initiative, he stated, would reduce cases of abandoned or uncompleted road projects in the country.
Obasanjo said he supported President Jonathan because the latter had gone through a period of tutelage.
He added: “With the political history of our country, our unity will be strengthened if a person from the minority group from South-South is elected President.”
However, he warned the PDP not to take things for granted, saying: “We do know that there are areas crying for attention-security, unemployment of youths, corruption and infrastructure. These can’t be neglected. As for me, I take solace in the fact that President Goodluck Jonathan who has gone through the period of tutelage would perform in office.”
The host Governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala, assured the President that since previous presidential candidates who visited the ancient Mapo Hall won their elections, he would not be an exception.
Towards the end of the rally, Mohammed handed the party’s flags to Alao-Akala, Adegboyega Dosunmu, Adetunji Olurin as PDP governorship standardbearers for Oyo, Lagos and Ogun states in that order.
Also, Bankole received the party’s flag on behalf of the candidates seeking for seats in the House of Representatives.
A new entrant to the PDP, Chief Harry Akande, was formally received by Alao-Akala who presented him to the party’s acting national chairman.
Also at the rally were former Osun State Governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola and the PDP governorship candidate in Ekiti State in the 2007 election, Mr. Segun Oni.
In his address, which was both in Yoruba and English, Daniel explained that he was ready to go to the rally but his supporters blocked his way and prevented him from doing so.
The governor, whose faction lost in the battle to control the party in the state, did not rule out the possibility of defecting to another party with his supporters, though he was non-committal about this possibility.
None of Daniel’s candidates who emerged through a parallel primary election were approved by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to run in April polls.
Daniel said: “If they (party leadership) allow us to stay, we will stay (in the PDP) but if they don’t…” – instead of completing the sentence, he threw his hands in the air.
Having understood what he meant, his audience responded with a loud applause.
The governor, who began his 30-minute address with the political history of the country since its independence in 1960, argued that politics of imposition was responsible for the instability in the polity.
He said: “I was about going to Ibadan and you (supporters) came and blocked me and I asked why and you told me that the people in the state are annoyed. All the people that can annoy us, may God take them away.”
His audience chorused “amen!”
According to Daniel, the people of the state had commended his administration for a job well done “but all of a sudden, some people who claim to be God came and started disorganising things. History is being repeated. They are not happy with the progress we have made.”
Daniel recalled that though the PDP did not win any state in the 1999 general elections in the South-West but that the people came out to vote massively for the party in the 2003 elections, which gave it victory in some of the states.
Wondering “the kind of luck that has befallen PDP in the South-West,” Daniel said: “The first casualty was Rasheed Ladoja (former governor of Oyo State) who was removed. Then came Ayo Fayose (former Governor of Ekiti state) who was impeached. But up till now we are yet to be told what Fayose stole.
“What did Fayose steal that other people did not steal 10 times? People who milked the nation dry are still roaming the streets.
“We lost Osun that we thought was the preferred child. And in Ogun, we have been troubled for the past five years. They took us to court and later brought the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) to hunt us but we triumphed.”
Insisting that the primary election conducted by his faction was the authentic one because it was monitored by INEC officials and security agents, the governor stated: “After about seven days, they are now removing and substituting”.
He said: “Those who did not know much about the PDP and did not participate in the primaries are now said to have won the primaries.”
The governor pledged to stay on with his supporters, saying: “By God’s grace, I will not leave you.”
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