PDP GOVERNORS' FORUM

...ESTABLISHES COMMISSION OF INQUIRY INTO EFFECTS ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION ...ARCHBISHOP ÒF YORK CANVASSES INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION Posted By Pat PA Okon The Governor òf Bayelsa State, the Honourable Henry Seriake Dickson, has again attacked the multi national oil firms for brazenly destroying the Niger Delta environment without adherence to international best practices in their activities. The Governor said that the mindless activities of the multinational oil firms in the oil rich state was responsible for the high infant mortality rate in Bayelsa and indeed the Niger Delta. The State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, quoted the Governor to have said that a UN survey revealed that crude oil spillage causes the death of over 16,000 infants within the first month of birth in the Niger Delta. Dickson noted that the Niger Delta environment was in turmoil and the livelihood of the people in peril beca...

Posted By Tony Okechukwu The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has uncovered plots by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to cause confusion in Rivers state and scuttle the scheduled collation of the remaining results of the March 9 governorship election in the state, which was won by the PDP and its candidate, Governor Nyesom Wike. The party alerts that the APC plans to orchestrate violent disagreements and crisis at the stakeholders meeting scheduled by INEC ahead of the collation billed for April 2-5, 2019, so as to scuttle the exercise and stall the announcement of Governor Wike, who is the rightful winner of the election. In order to achieve this ignoble plot, the APC has conspired with certain compromised security agents to be bandying phantom security report in Rivers state, as a decoy for the execution of their ugly plan. The PDP is not unaware of pressure being put on certain security heads particularly, the Directorate of State Services (DSS), by the Minister of Tra...

Aniekeme Finbarr Never has it been recorded in recent political history that a group of people so helplessly depended on Only God for a smooth and peaceful elections like the people of Akwa Ibom State did in the just concluded general elections. It all began when the State Governor, Udom Emmanuel declared his re-election campaign slogan to be "Only God". Political analysts said it was an empty slogan devoid of any tangible political message. Very many people dismissed it as a cheap strategy to curry political favour or an unnecessary display of religiousity, considering that 99 percent of Akwa Ibom indigenes are christians. With the defection of Senator Godswill Akpabio from the PDP to the APC, all was set for showdown, the pundits predicted a two horse race with a likelihood of a swerve in the direction of the uncommon defector. The tone was set not just for a mere election, but a bloody civil war. At a burial ceremony in Aguobu-Owa, Ezeagu Local Government area of...

...Archbishop of York, ex-Ghana President members Posted by Pat PA Okon Governor Henry Seriake Dickson, on Wednesday, inaugurated the Bayelsa State Commission of Enquiry on Environmental Degradation. The eight-member commission is chaired by the Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu. Governor Dickson said the commission, which is comprised of Nigerian and foreign scholars and experts in various fields, had a three-point terms of reference, which include to investigate the environmental, health, socio-economic, political and human damage caused by operations of multinational oil companies. L-R: The Governor of Bayelsa State, His Excellency, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson; in a handshake with the Archbishop of York (Commission Chairman), Dr. John Sentamu, during the formal inauguration of the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission, at Government House, Yenagoa. He also charged the commission to analyse the legislations governing the operations of multinational oil co...

*Urges caution on Africa free trade agreement Posted By Tony Okechukwu Bayelsa State Governor, Honourable Henry Seriake Dickson, has said his administration focused on investing in critical infrastructure that drive economic growth in order to attract investors to the state. He stated this at the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, where business and political leaders from across Africa and other parts of the world gathered for a two-day conference. Governor Dickson was quoted by his Special Adviser on Public Affairs, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, to have said his Restoration Administration had made a lot of strides in various sectors so as to open up the state and enable people come to invest and do business. His words: "We have made major strides. I keep saying that investment in education is the ultimate. We have built a lot of schools, schools and yet more schools, from primary to secondary. We have also built two universities - the University of Africa and the Bayelsa M...

Posted By Tony Okechukwu The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says its elected senators and members of the House of Representatives are constitutionally eligible and can seek election into any presiding office of both chambers of the National Assembly The PDP notes that the position of the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives as well as the Deputy Senate President and the Deputy Speaker are not the exclusive preserves of any political party, but a constitutional right of every elected lawmaker in both chambers. It is therefore laughable and amounts to empty grandstanding and self-delusion for President Muhammadu Buhari and the factional National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, to posture as if the presiding offices and Committee Chairmanship in the National Assembly are exclusive rights of the APC. President Buhari and Oshiomhole should wake up to the fact that the National Assembly belongs to no political part...

......inaugurates Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission Posted by Tony Okechukwu Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson disclosed on Wednesday that the Niger Delta region is recording not less than 40 million litres oil spill annually compared with 4 million litres annually being recorded in the United States. The spill, according to a survey could have killed around 16,000 infants within their first month of life. Governor Dickson who gave the statistics at the formal inauguration of Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission at the DSP Alamieyeseigha Banquet Hall, Yenagoa said the State has suffered vast environmental and human damage in spite of her contribution to the socio economic growth of the country. He added that the State accounts for forty percent of Nigeria's oil wealth, and hosts the operations of all the major multinational oil companies. According to him, oil companies operating in the state have for decades acted with impun...

Posted By Tony Okechukwu People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has expressed confidence in the judicial process in his bid to upturn the result of the election, which was in favour of President Muhammadu Buhari. The former vice president was also confident that justice would eventually be done at the court and he would reclaim his mandate. Atiku has approached the Presidential Electoral Petitions Tribunal to declare him the winner of the February 23 poll, claiming that he has evidence that his mandate was stolen. The PDP presidential candidate, who spoke in Abuja during a visit to some of the elders/leaders of the Southern and Middle Belt region, said the struggle to reclaim the mandate is achievable with their support. Atiku was optimistic that justice would be done eventually, adding that he has confidence in the country’s judicial process. He said: “As I had announced earlier, I have rejected the result of the election. As announ...

Posted By Tony Okechukwu The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has petitioned the National judicial Council over the violation of the Constitution and Electoral Act by Justice Ekwo Inyang of the Federal High Court by sitting on a matter that ought to have been handled by an election petition tribunal, as created by the provisions of our laws. The party noted that in granting an exparte order stopping the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from concluding the governorship election in Bauchi State, Justice Inyang violated Section 87(11) of the Electoral Act, which states that no court has the power or jurisdiction to stop any election pending the determination of a suit. In an affidavit sworn to by the PDP's National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, in Abuja, the party notes that issues of collation of results and declaration of winner, is a post-election event and, therefore, falls under the Electoral Act and Constitutional provisions for the election petition tri...

Posted By Tony Okechukwu Bayelsa State Government, on Wednesday, commenced a campaign tagged 'Rise for Bayelsa' to attract global attention to the ravaging effects of oil spills, pollution and environmental degradation in the state. The Rise For Bayelsa initiative, which is an international campaign supported by Governor Henry Seriake Dickson, will be launched this evening with the screening of a short documentary that showcases the devastation caused by oil companies operating in Bayelsa. Apart from speeches by government officials, environmental activists and community leaders, there will also be a performance by popular Nigerian musician, Timi Dakolo, the Bayelsa Cultural Troupe as well as guest appearance by some Nollywood artistes, who support the campaign. A member of the Media and Publicity Committee of the campaign, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, in a pre-launch press release, noted that oil spills in the western world rightly cause global outrage. But in Bayelsa, spill...

Posted By Tony Okechukwu The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) informs Nigerians that the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), led by Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has refused to obey the March 6, 2019 ruling of the Appeal Court, directing it to allow our party and the people’s candidate, Atiku Abubakar, access to inspect the documents and materials used in the rigged February 23, 2019 Presidential election. This is a deliberate and wicked ploy by INEC, acting in cahoots with the All Progressives Congress (APC), to frustrate the people-backed resolve by Atiku Abubakar and the PDP to timeously file and mention our petition at the Presidential election Tribunal, and by so doing, ambush the case.  It is imperative to inform Nigerians that upon obtaining the lawful order of the Court, directing INEC to forthwith, avail Atiku Abubakar and the PDP copies of all the documents and other materials used for the Presidential election, our legal team wrote to the I...

Posted By Tony Okechukwu The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) sternly cautions the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, against attempts by his commission to tamper with and further cancel already tallied and declared results in 14 more local governments in the Bauchi Governorship election. The PDP warns that with the charged atmosphere in Bauchi state and the level of awareness attained by the people of the state, any attempt by anybody to touch the already announced results will attract serious consequences to the conspirators. Our party already have full information of plots by certain known top ranking officials of INEC, who have been bribed with huge sums of money by the All Progressives Congress (APC), to widen the scope of result cancellation beyond Tafawa Balewa to 14 more Local Government Areas and hike the number of cancelled votes from 70,000 to 184, 555. To achieve this, INEC has been instructed by the APC ...

Posted By Tony Okechukwu The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State, has appealed to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai,  to investigate the role of the military in the violence that occurred in the state during the last general elections. The party alleged that some army officials directly participated in the elections and called on the military to redeem its image by probing incidents linked to them. Speaking at the party's secretariat in Yenagoa, the Chairman of PDP, Moses Cleopas, said that the activities of the army deployed in Brass, Nembe and Southern Ijaw, LGAs should be queried by the military. He wondered why the army had kept sealed lips on the killing of two PDP members in Southern Ijaw LGA without provocation by soldiers. Cleopas lamented that PDP members were prime targets during the elections, describing the situation as "totally unacceptable". He further took a swipe at the Independent National Electoral Commission (IN...

......wants international attention. The Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in February 23, Presidential election Mr. Peter Obi has expressed concern on fallouts from some states in the last Saturday's gubernatorial and state assembly elections particularly in Rivers state and wants international attention drawn to it. Mr. Obi a former Governor of Anambra state said in a statement from his media office that the militarization of election to the extent of carrying collation center to a military location and denying international observers access is clearly unacceptable and a grave breach of democratic norms. The Vice Presidential candidate said that needless involvement of the military has aggravated the situation in Rivers state and wondered why the undue interest in Rivers, very well known strong PDP state. He said that the Rivers state Governor Neysom Wike should be the last to face this type of harassment given his popularity with ...

...As Thugs Sack Nembe Bassambiri Posted by Admin The Government House Photographer, Reginald Dei, who was shot by men in Army uniform in Oweikorogha, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area òf Bayelsa State, during the last Presidential and National Assembly elections has died. A statement by the Director Corporate Communications, Governor’s Office, Chief Nathan Egba-Ologo, stated that the photographer died after battling to survive the lethal wounds from the gunshots in a Yenagoa hospital on Sunday night. Dei was shot alongside the leader of the PDP in Oweikorogha community, Mr. Seidougha Taribi, while the duo were waiting for the outcome of the election in their ward at the politician’s residence. While Dei who was initially taken for dead survived the attack until Sunday night, Taribi died on the spot. Egba-Ologo called on the relevant security agencies to investigate the activities of the various security agencies in order to bring the culprits of the dastardly act ...

…Determined to Reclaim Stolen Mandate At The Tribunal Posted By Pat PA Okon The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) describes the fabrication being peddled by the Buhari Presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) that the people’s candidate, Atiku Abubakar, is making some demands of President Muhammadu Buhari, as absolute falsehood and outright lies. The PDP states categorically, without mincing words, that Atiku Abubakar had not, and will never, make or accept any condition from President Buhari regarding the rigged February 23, 2019 Presidential election, which he (Atiku) clearly won. The Buhari Presidency and the APC know that their electoral robbery cannot stand before any noble justices and are now attempting to use all sorts of blackmail and shenanigans to derail the quest by Nigerians to reclaim the stolen mandate at the tribunal. However, let it be known to President Buhari and the APC that Atiku Abubakar and the PDP are standing shoulder to shoulder with Nigeri...