A former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, has said Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State made it clear that he was not interested in becoming the vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 general election. The opposition party had been immersed in a crisis following the outcome of its presidential primary and the emergence of the Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as the running mate of its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, a development which prompted the party to begin reconciliation efforts. Some party leaders, including the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, and a former governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, had criticised the party’s handling of the primary, Wike’s treatment and the selection of the running mate of the PDP. But Lamido explained that Wike, who contested the presidential primary of the PDP, said he was not using the primary to negotiate for a VP slot. The Jigawa governor, who said he was a member of the committee that recommended three persons for presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, however, said the former vice president was not obliged to the committee’s advice. “I was on the panel. Now, the criteria the members of that committee might have used might have been confined within the walls of the PDP, but they chose somebody for Nigeria not for the PDP. “If the whole thing is going to be centered on the PDP, by the time we have an in-house thing, we may lose the election, no problem, but then, whatever we do, we are going to bring it outside and tell Nigerians that this is what we are giving them, that was what we did. “Therefore, Atiku is not obliged to pick our own recommendation. We gave him three names to choose from. In any case, (for) those who are ranting, Wike said he didn’t have the aspiration to run for vice president, and that he was running not for any negotiating purposes. He said so. “He made it very clear. He said whatever he did was purely for that purpose and will not use his aspiration to negotiate for anything,” Lamido told Saturday PUNCH. The Rivers governor had maintained silence since Atiku rejected him as his running mate, fuelling the suspicion that he might not support the former vice president in the general elections, having received the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, and that of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso. But Lamido, who dismissed the suspicion, said though Wike was unhappy about the situation, people around him were crying more than the bereaved. The former Jigawa governor said, “No, he’s angry, he’s just like a boiling pot. When the pot boils over, it will spill over and what will happen? It (the spill) will mess up the body of the pot. “Now, for those who love Wike, people like me, we should make sure we remove the log from under the pot which is the fire. When that is done, the temperature of the pot will come down first. “For people who think that they love Wike more than we do, beyond these emotional things, what can they do? I’ve been saying, can any of them, Fayose and Ortom, take him around Nigeria and support him to win the election, can they? ” ‘Lamido against Wike’ Meanwhile, a chieftain of the PDP and Chairman of Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State, Dr Samuel Nwanosike, said the former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, was one of the committee members that voted against Wike to be selected as the running mate to the party’s presidential candidate. Nwanosike, however, said the recent remarks by the Benue State Governor (Ortom) had answered the comments credited to Lamido. Nwanosike, who is a strong supporter of the Rivers State governor, stated this during a telephone chat with one of our correspondents in Port Harcourt on Thursday. He said, “The reply to Lamido is in the statement by Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State. Governor Ortom has told the world the truth and nobody has contradicted him. Lamido was one of the people that dissented in voting. Out of the 17 members in the committee, 14 voted in favour of Governor Wike, three voted against. “Lamido is one of the three that voted against and went and convinced the candidate of the party who initially was neutral and was expecting the committee to do their bid.” Nwanosike described Wike as an outstanding leader that believe that power should come to the South for equity, justice and fairness.

  Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, running mate to Peter Obi, Labour Party Presidential Candidate, has said the 2023 elections is about who is capable, not the other way round. Baba-Ahmed, who was unveiled as Obi’s running mate earlier in the day, stated this in an interview with BBC Hausa Service. Datti Baba-Ahmed warned Nigerians not to make mistake again by measuring candidates base on their religion or tribe. He said, “For more than 60 years, religion and tribalism have eaten deep into Nigerian politics and this is what present administration used to win elections. “After it won, who cried over maladministration most? Who rained curses on the administration? It is people from where the president comes. The region where he (president) comes is the most affected.” Datti Baba-Ahmed, who is also a former senator, charged Nigerians to elect leaders irrespective of differences. “God doesn’t make mistake in making us in different religions, it’s His will to see us that way. We are not contesting for leadership in any religion, we are contesting for presidency, so I see no reason for considering religion.” On why he agreed to be Obi’s running mate, he said “What Nigeria needs for now is to rescue it from total collapse, therefore, Obi gave me convincing reasons after observing his character and capacity to do the job.”

  Vice presidential candidate of the Labour party in the 2023 elections, Datti Baba-Ahmed believes social media support will translate into actual votes in the 2023 elections. He expressed this belief while responding to questions on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday. “Go and start looking at the bookings of major European airlines into Nigeria,” Baba-Ahmed said. “Not during Christmas time. After Christmas time. Late January to third week of February. You will see that they are getting full. Unusually. I’m into the business of data and statistics. And I decided to particularly look at that. This tells you that social media is going to vote. Even if they are in Antarctica, one person is there and he mobilises 100,000 people here to go out and vote. It has succeeded. In 2023, social media is going to vote. Only one party is on green fertile land, and that is Labour party. – Senator Datti Baba-Ahmed#PoliticsToday#CTVTweets pic.twitter.com/b6LALlraYt — Channels Television (@channelstv) July 8, 2022   “We are not scared. The bank balance of any big politician is starting to be irrelevant. Those of us who sweated for the little that we have, we are spending it very wisely and carefully. Those of them who made it from government, who will just open the coffers and bring it out; they will continue to splash it and it will continue to mean less and less.” Young and bright The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, had announced Baba-Ahmed as his running mate earlier on Friday. He made the announcement at an event in Abuja, saying the decision followed a series of consultations with stakeholders. “I thank all those gathered here today,” Obi said in his address. “They will bear witness and lay claim to being present on the day when the journey to Nigeria’s rebirth began. It is my honour to inform you, my fellow Nigerians and especially the OBIdients that finally, after very long and wide consultations, we in the Labour Party have found an eminently qualified Nigerian who will be my partner as we embark on our march to a secure, united and productive Nigeria. “I have the distinct honour of presenting to you, my friend and running mate, and God willing, the next Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, who has been described as ‘one of Nigeria’s youngest and brightest personalities’ who has distinguished himself in various areas of human endeavours.” Baba-Ahmed represented Zaria in the House of Representatives from 2003 to 2007, and later Kaduna North senatorial district between 2011 and 2012. According to Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, the vice-presidential candidate brings to the mission great personal, academic and entrepreneurial strengths, as well as impeccable credentials with the added value of rich experience as an academician, businessman, public servant, economic and development expert, and politician. He described Baba-Ahmed as a recognised wealth creator and manager who fits well into the mould of a transformative and adaptive leader. “Today, I will not dwell too much on our national challenges. Yet, I will be remiss to gloss over them completely,” the presidential candidate stated. “These are extremely difficult times for our country. Nigeria straddles the lowest rungs of the global development indices. We are hugely indebted and the poverty capital of the world. Nigerians are hungry and angry and fed up with bad leadership. Times like this do not call for politics of business as usual. “As I have always said, my vision and mission is to give full expression to our democracy by moving our country from consumption to production. Now that the presidential team is complete, we will in the days ahead, unveil our governance principles, priorities, and programmes for turning Nigeria around, which shall be anchored on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).” “Securing, uniting, and making Nigeria productive require steady and trusted hands. I am confident that with Dr Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed by my side, we shall ensure that in moving Nigeria forward, no state or community will be left behind. Pursuant to its statutory responsibility to protect, our government will promote the rule of law, ensure that governance is inclusive, cost-effective, transformative, less transactional, and national investments regenerative. “Finally, with human capital development as the core premise, we will pursue proactively, well-articulated strategies and intrusive policy coordination and implementation, aimed at tackling the key challenges that are routine and of utmost concern to domestic and foreign investors.”

  The Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Sheriff Oborevwori, has gone to the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal to challenge Thursday’s judgment by a Federal High Court in Abuja nullifying his nomination as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state. Oborevwori, in a nine-ground notice of appeal, filed on Friday, wants the appellate court to set aside the judgment given by Justice Taiwo Taiwo in a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/795/2022 by David Edevbie. He has also filed a motion on notice before the Federal High Court in Abuja for a stay of execution of the judgment pending the determination of his appeal. He was appealing, among others, that Justice Taiwo misdirected himself in law when he assumed jurisdiction to entertain the claim of the plaintiff, predicated on Section 29(5) of the Electoral Act, 2022 before submission of his name (the appellant’s) to the Independent National Electoral Commission. Oborevwori faulted Justice Taiwo for allegedly ignoring the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Modibbo Vs Usman (2020) 3 NWLR (PT. 1712) 470, in which he claimed the apex court held that Section 29(5) of the Electoral Act, 2022 which was the same with Section 31(5) of the Electoral Act, 2010 had settled the law that cause of action only arose when the name of a candidate was submitted and published. He said, “The trial Judge side-tracked the decision of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal contrary to the established doctrine of stare decisis and by his decision overruling the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. “The first respondent (Edevbie) on oath admitted that the name of the appellant was yet to be submitted and the trial court held that the first respondent by law, need not wait for the publication of the name of the appellant by INEC.” Oborevwori argued that it was in the law that information about a candidate’s qualification could only be challenged after the political party sponsoring the candidate submitted the name and INEC published the name and the accompanying affidavit. He further contended that the trial judge misdirected himself in law when he agreed with Edevbie that he (appellant) failed to meet the constitutional requirement of sections 177 (a) and 182(1) J of the 1999 Constitution and that his certificates were forged. Oborevwori was of the view that the constitutional requirement of Sections 177(a)and 182(1)(J) of the 1999 constitution could only occur upon presentation of a forged certificate to INEC and no other body or person, which had not occurred in his case. He said, “The reliance on the documents of the appellant presented in the year 2018 to INEC for the election to the House of Assembly of Delta State or submission of documents to the PDP on April 30, 2022, as held by the court makes a mockery of the law as any of those acts took place way after 14 days of the filing of the suit contrary to Section 285(14) of the 1999 Constitution, and is statute-barred.” Oborevwori also faulted the trial judge for holding that he did not challenge the averment that his certificate was forged and that he was deemed to have admitted same. “The burden of proving declaratory reliefs is on the plaintiff and not on the weakness of the case of the defendant. Even where the defendant admits, the burden still lies on the plaintiff to prove same,” he said. The appellant argued that the trial judge erred in law and occasioned grave miscarriage of justice on him when he held that Edevbie had proven his case and therefore entitled to judgment. He added that Edevbie, who alleged that he made false deposition and presented forged documents in order to participate in the PDP governorship primary, ought to have been required to prove such criminal allegation beyond reasonable doubts.