Tag: Mr. Ahmed Gulak

Mention Governors Supporting You, Makarfi PDP Faction Dares Gulak

PDP Caretaker Committee, Ahmed Gulak, GovernorsThe Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked a chieftain of the party, Mr Ahmed Gulak, to name the governors he said were in support of his faction.

The party, under the leadership of its factional chairman, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, noted that the camp of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff had continued to blame the PDP governors for the crisis rocking the party.

They maintained that the caretaker committee had the full support of all the PDP governors.

The PDP made the declaration on Monday in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Prince Dayo Adeyeye.

The statement read: “Our attention has been drawn to a statement credited to Ahmed Gulak, an aide of Senator Ali Modu Sherriff in which he stated that up to eight Governors of the PDP are in support of his renegade group.

“We naturally wouldn’t have dignified Gulak and his cohorts with a response but silence could be misinterpreted as admission of the lies of these pathological liars. We are amused by Gulak’s claims. Since the 21st of May 2016 National Convention which held in Port Harcourt, Ali Modu Sheriff and his renegade band have never missed any opportunity to blame the governors for the problems of the party. Only last week, their self-appointed Deputy National Chairman, Cairo was still castigating the governors for the party’s woes at a press conference. Why attack those who are supporting you?

Political Hallucination

“If Gulak wants to be taken seriously, he should name the governors who are supporting his group. Give names and say the type of support you receive from the governors.

“On the other hand, it may be a case of political hallucination, that he actually meant the APC governors who are their sponsors and not our PDP governors. The whole world knows that these are paid agents of the APC being used to destabilise our great Party”.

The party further stated that all PDP governors were fully in support of the National Caretaker Committee which they and other stakeholders created, asking Mr Gulak to wake up from his dream and come to the world of reality.

 

Makarfi’s Refusal To Step Down Is Hampering Reconciliation – Gulak

ahmed-gulakA chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says reconciliation of the factions in the party was scuttled by the chairman of the Caretaker Committee, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, whom he said had not given his consent to a reconciliation requirement.

Giving his opinion on the crisis in the party, Mr Ahmed Gulak, said that Senator Makarfi had, at a reconciliation meeting, refused to accept the condition that Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and himself should step down for a fresh start.

The PDP chieftain said that Senator Sheriff, whom he said is still the chairman of the party, had accepted to step down, but Senator Makarfi’s refusal has scuttled the whole process.

He insisted that reconciliation was the way forward.

“We must come together to be able to focus on 2019.

“All members should bury their ambitions and build the party before anybody’s ambition. When the party is strong people can declare their ambitions.

“Sheriff and Markarfi were called and sheriff agreed to step aside but Makarfi refused, saying he must consult with some governors.

“If it is the intention of these governors and Makarfi that this party should remain united, then the needful should be done,” he said.

On the leadership of the party, Mr Gulak insisted that “the authentic chairman of the party as of now is Senator Ali Modu Sheriff.

“A court of competent jurisdiction has pronounced that only Senator Sheriff can parade himself as the national chairman of the party. The same court barred Senator Makarfi Caretaker Committee from parading themselves as the caretaker committee acting for and on behalf of the party.

“The simple reason is, no gathering can pass a national convention when there is a subsisting court order barring the party from conducting a convention or electing principle officers,” he explain.

On the chances of the PDP putting a strong opposition against the ruling party in coming elections, Mr Gulak said that “in few weeks, you will see the vibrant opposition that the PDP will give the APC”.

“We are trying to pick the pieces to rebuild,” he added.

Sheriff’s Faction Presents Jimoh Ibrahim As Ondo PDP Governorship Candidate

Jimoh Ibrahim, PDP, Ondo election, Ali Modu SheriffThe Senator Ali Modu Sheriff-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has elected Mr Jimoh Ibrahim as the party’s candidate in the coming Ondo State governorship election.

The primary election which lasted over two hours was preceded by an all-night congress among over 800 delegates at the Premier Hotel, Mokola in Ibadan, the Oyo State’s capital in Nigeria’s southwest zone.

The electoral committee, headed by Mr Ahmed Gulak, hinted that the congress was moved out of Akure, the Ondo State capital for security reasons.

After three other aspirants had stepped down for Mr Ibrahim, he polled 502 votes to emerge the winner with his only co-contestant, Mr Olusola Ebiseni, scoring 41 votes while 17 votes were voided.

In his acceptance address, the factional flag bearer promised to defend the mandate by creating jobs and making Ondo State an industrial hub.

The National Vice Chairman and Southwest Chairman, Mr Makanjuola Ogundipe, the PDP Chairman in Ondo State, Mr Popoye Biyi and the Southwest Secretary, Mr Otemolu Adepegba, were among party dignitaries present at the primaries.

Prior to Ibrahim’s emergence, the Senator Ahmed Makarfi faction of the PDP had presented a former Attorney General of Ondo State, Mr Eyitayo Jegede, as the flag bearer in the coming governorship poll.

Counter Court Orders Emerge On PDP Leadership     

PDPThe battle for the leadership of the Nigeria’s main opposition political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) appears to have shifted to the courts, with counter orders emanating from different courts.

In one case, a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has granted an interim injunction restraining the immediate past National Chairman and National Secretary of the PDP, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and Professor Adewale Oladipo from parading themselves as national officers of the party.

The duo were among the party officers removed from office at the PDP national convention held on Saturday, May 21, in Port Harcourt.

The court says this is pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice brought before it by the PDP.

A statement personally signed by the presiding judge, Justice A. M. Liman, says INEC has been restrained by the court from according or continuing to accord any recognition to Senator Sheriff, Professor Adewale Oladipo or any or all members of the National Working Committee of the PDP removed from office at the party’s national convention in Port Harcourt, as officers or organs of the PDP.

The court went on to ask INEC to recognise the National Caretaker Committee of the party headed by Senator Ahmed Markarfi.

But in a counter ruling, a Federal High Court in Lagos has declared as invalid the caretaker committee constituted to take over the affairs of the PDP from its acting National Chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff.

Justice Ibrahim Buba directed the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, to enforce its order, barring the members of the committee, headed by former Governor of Kaduna State, Ahmed Makarfi from running the affairs of the party.

 

PDP National Convention Is Illegal, Gulak Claims

Ahmed-GulakThe former Political Adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr Ahmed Gulak, has described as illegal, the National Convention held by the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Mr Gulak made the declaration on Sunday’s Politics where he noted that Saturday’s convention was not held in line with the PDP constitution.

“First and foremost, the party cannot be run by common sense, experience or by the powers that be. The party must be run in accordance with the provision of the constitution.

“Chapter 33 of the party’s constitution only mandates the Chairman to surmount and preside over the convention while Chapter 35 gives the National Convention powers to elect the new officers under the chairmanship or presided over by the national chairman,” he stated.

Violation of Court Orders

Claiming that Senator Ali-Modu Sheriff was still the present Chairman of the party, Mr Gulak said that the former Borno State Governor was slammed with a court order by Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court in Lagos and another by Justice A.B. Mahmud of the FCT High Court, which made it illegal for such convention to hold.

“These two orders prevented the PDP and any of its officers from conducting convention to elect its first three officers that is the secretary, chairman and the auditor (and) while another order by the Abuja High Court, prevented the party from electing 18 officers including all the NWC.

“With these orders still valid and subsisting, no reasonable law abiding party officer will go ahead in violation of these court orders,” he said.

The former President’s aide explained that that was why the former PDP Chairman in the early hours of Saturday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State’s capital, convened a meeting with some of the members of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC), where they resolved that the convention was illegal.Ali-Modu-Sheriff-former-PDP-chairman

He said Senator Sheriff subsequently issued a press conference to suspend the convention until the issues of the court judgments and orders were sorted out.

Despite Senator Sheriff’s suspension of the convention, some members of the party insisted that the convention must be held as planned.

They further removed the Chairman and set up a working committee.

PDP Leadership Tussle: Nomination Delay Prompted Gulak – Jalo

PDPThe Deputy Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says that it was the delay in the nomination process of a new PDP chairman that prompted Mr Ahmed Gulak to go court.

Mr Abdulahi Jalo made the statement on Thursday while reacting to the controversy surrounding the appointment of the PDP National Chairman on Politics Today.

Mr Gulak and his supporters including Dr. Doyin Okupe, also an ex-aide to former President Jonathan stormed the National Secretariat of the party in Abuja on Wednesday where he told a news conference that he was assuming office as the National Chairman of the party.

Mr Gulak claimed that he had a court judgement in his favour.

Mr Abdulahi Jalo told Politics Today that Mr Gulak went to court with the assumption that it was as if the National Vice Chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus, wanted to perpetuate himself on the leadership position.

Jalo also spoke on whether it was right for the former Political Adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan to take the party to court, “This is somebody who felt he could go to court and he is a lawyer, you cannot deny him.

“There is an internal mechanism of the party where there is this kind of problem, you can now put your petition to the Caucus or the Board of Trustees (BoT).

“Then the National Working Committee of the party will be invited with you so that you can sit down and iron things together,” he said.

Jalo also believes that the PDP’s new position as an opposition is one of the reasons for the crisis in the party.

He, however, stressed that the party was following the constitution and explained the process involved in appointing a new chairman.

“After the former chairman resigned (Mr Adamu Mu’azu), our constitution says that the vacancy should be filled by somebody from that zone and who is eligible.

“Honestly, the same constitution has made a provision that before then, some consultation has to be made and the governors of that zone (that is PDP governors from that area) and at the same time the stakeholders would sit down and put their minds together and nominate three people and forward it to the caucus of the party.

“Then from Caucus, it will come to the BoT and from BoT, it will come to NEC for approva.”

Jalo further provided more clarification on Gulak’s stance. “What I want the public to understand (is that) this chairmanship which Gulak is going to court on it is the remaining tenure of Adamu Mu’azu.

“This means the chairman that would be given that opportunity to serve will only serve before the convention of the party.”

He added that the party’s convention would zone offices.

PDP Governors Reject Secondus, Appoint Adewale As Chairman

pdpGovernors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have asked Chief Uche Secondus to step aside as acting National Chairman of the party.

The have also directed Professor Oladipo Adewale, who has been the party’s National Secretary to assume office as National Chairman.

Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Governor Olusegun Mimiko, said that the governors condemn the action of Mr Ahmed Gulak, for invading the party’s secretariat in Abuja.

Governor Mimiko noted that the appropriate organ of the party would soon commence the process of electing a new National Chairman from the northeast in compliance with the December court judgement.

Mr Gulak and his supporters including Dr. Doyin Okupe, stormed the National Secretariat of the party in Abuja on Wednesday where he told a news conference that he was assuming office as the National Chairman of the party.

He claimed that he had a court judgement in his favour.

PDP Is Yet To Endorse Jonathan For 2015 – Ahmed Gulak

The Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Mr. Ahmed Gulak, has stated that the recent report on the adoption of President Goodluck Jonathan as the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP’s candidate for 2015 presidential election is the opinion of some individuals and not that of the party.

Mr Gulak who was a guest on our breakfast show, Sunrise Daily also maintained that the constitution amendment on new tenure will exclude the president and governors who have had their first and second terms in office.

VIDEO: PDP Not Happy With Amaechi’s Leadership Of Governors Forum – Ahmed Gulak

The Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters has explained the displeasure of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with the leader of the National Governors Forum (NGF), the Governor of Rivers state; Mr Chibuike Amaechi.

According to the President’s aide, the Governor who is a member of the PDP is compromising the values of the party and has turned the forum into a trade union like organization by always antagonizing the party’s programme and heading to the court.

Gulak said Amaechi ran the NGF as its chairman as a trade union and without having recourse to the laid down party mechanism of resolving issues.

He explained that the governor’s forum is now led by governors from the opposition party, hence the establishment of the PDP Governors Forum, which is headed by the Governor of Akwa-Ibom State, Chief Godswill Akpabio.

The PDP decided to establish a forum for its governors since the party no longer had influence on the NGF since other parties had governor-members in it.

Mr Gulak made this known while speaking on our breakfast show; Sunrise Daily, where he also denied any signed agreement or ‘gentleman agreement’ by the President to run for just single term as recently claimed by the Governor of Niger state.

He further explained that the emergence of Chief Tony Anenih as the chairman of PDP’s BoT was to enable the septuagenarian avail the party his  political experience to help the party develop further.

PDP needs the experience of Tony Anenih – Ahmed Gulak

Amachei’s Governors Forum is now a trade union – Ahmed Gulak

Single Term: Jonathan never had any agreement with Governors – Ahmed Gulak

Jonathan Has No Business In Governors Forum – Presidential Aide

The Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak has denounced claims that President Goodluck Jonathan wants the current Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, Rotimi Amechi of Rivers State, out of that position.

Speaking on Channels Television’s breakfast programme Sunrise Daily, Mr. Gulak insisted: “It has nothing to do with Mr. President.”

He further explained that President Jonathan is only interested in matters and institutions provided for in the Constitution, pointing out that the NGF and the Peoples Democratic Party’s Governors’ Forum and all other such groups are not enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution.

Speaking on the developments in the PDP, Mr. Gulak said that the PDP, which boasts of representatives nationwide, “is the only national party in Nigeria” and as such there is bound to be challenges as a result of different political interests.

He, however, maintained that the political group has its internal mechanisms to solve any challenges.

When asked the reason behind PDP’s inability to raise a new breed of young politicians, he said that “the important thing is that the party must mature,” adding: “We still need people who will guide the younger ones in order to appreciate what party administration stands for.”