The long dominance of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in some states is being threatened by internal discord arising from the recent round of party primaries. How patient aggrieved members can wait for President’s Jonathan’s assurance of a solution is another matter
By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor
DEspite the media frenzy that heralded the acclaimed inroads made by the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP into Ebonyi State prior to the 2007 general elections, the people of the state remained unmoved in their choice of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in the main elections.
However, confidence of a repeat rebuff by the PDP to the opposition in the days leading to the 2015 general elections are increasingly rising even among top leaders of the party in the state.
Even the governor according to one of his close aides is not sure of voting the party. Governor Martins Elechi the aide told some newsmen has already directed his supporters to move over to Labour Party where many of the governor’s associates are hoping to actualise their electoral hopes in 2015.
PDP-aspirantsSuch threats to the once impregnable fotress of the PDP in some of its strongholds are raising concern across the polity. In Akwa Ibom, Abia, Rivers, Oyo, Ogun among others, the PDP is driven in crisis that even as at yesterday a definitive mention of the party’s flag bearers in some of the states could not be made. Where the party establishment has thrown up names as in Akwa Ibom and Abia the choices thrown up are strongly being rejected by significant stakeholders that entering into the election in the present condition could imperil the party’s chances in the forthcoming election.
22 of the 23 governorship aspirants of the party in Akwa Ibom who have jointly taken a position against what they allege as the crooked procedure that led to the emergence of Mr. Udom Emmanuel as the party candidate have now threatened to defect to the All Progressives Congress, APC. A last minute meeting with Governor Godswill Akpabio last weekend did not yield fruit as the aspirants stuck to their demand for the substitution of Emmanuel, who in any case emerged from the zone as stipulated by the party.
The aspirants it was learned are now contemplating honouring a meeting with the APC presidential flag bearer with the prospect of a mass defection to the party and adoption of Buhari as the sole presidential candidate of the people of the state.
In Abia a number of the governorship aspirants and party stakeholders are still up in battle against the adoption of the erstwhile deputy general manager of the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu as the candidate. Ikpeazu is largely believed to be the choice of the outgoing governor, Chief Theodore Orji and a number of stakeholders are questioning his adoption given what they claim was his emergence from an agency that failed to clean up Aba, the commercial nerve centre of the state.
While a newspaper report that he was pelted with sachet water in Aba last weekend was disconcerting to some, a petition addressed to the national chairman of the party, Alhaji Adamu Mu‘azu has also raised as yet unsubstantiated allegations bordering on inconsistencies in tax payments.
The Abia stakeholders thus called on the party chairman to save the party the prospect of losing the election through the courts on the fear that the candidate could have challenges if presented.
The situation in Ogun State remains confusing as the national working committee of the party has taken position against the efforts of the state chapter in organising a primary that was not sanctioned by the former. In the primary organised by the state chapter, Gboyega Isiaka, a one time ally of the former governor of the state, Otunba Gbenga Daniel now allied to Kashamu Buruji has emerged. However, the immediate past speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole is also staking his claim to the ticket and is reportedly being backed by powerful figures in the national secretariat.
“We don’t know who is the candidate for the PDP in Ogun State for now and we are all waiting for December 26 to get our bearing,” a stakeholder from the state said yesterday. The scenario in the state is set to re-enact the infighting that triggered the party’s loss to the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN in 2011.
Governorship primaries
PDPchair1In Cross River State it is also being feared that the party’s identity as a one party state may for the first time since after the advent of the Fourth Republic be smeared given the rancour that characterised the governorship primaries. Jeddy Agba, a former senior official of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC was on course to claim the party’s governorship primaries after the ward congresses when a last minute intervention of the party directed fresh congresses that were won by those aligned by the outgoing governor, Senator Liyel Imoke.
For now those who lost out have not been as vehement as those in neighbouring Akwa Ibom and Abia, but the fear of a last minute resurgence of ill-feeling is not being ruled out.
In Rivers State 16 of the 17 governorship aspirants boycotted the primaries leaving immediate past minister of state for education, Nyesom Wike as the sole aspirant in the contest.
The 16 who alleged that the primary was stage managed by the party to favour Wike are threatening to vote against the party in the elections.
One of the more formidable aspirants, Tonye Princewill who has moved over to Labour Party, has predicted dire outing for the PDP in the election with Wike as candidate.
“Looking at PDP. I decided not to support Nyesom Wike simply because by my opinion he cannot win. It is just pointless to me that if Wike loses and APC wins, we are sitting there and watching it happen,” Princewill told a national newspaper in remarks published this week.
It was perhaps in response to the fissures that President Goodluck Jonathan last weekend appealed to party members not to flee the party as he assured that efforts would be made to address their complaints.
But with the deadline for submission of names to the election authorities this weekend, no one is banking on that.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/12/governorship-candidates-unending-confusion-pdp/#sthash.TbUrQ0v4.dpuf

There is confusion in the Presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party over when the party will inaugurate its Presidential Campaign Committee.

The committee, which is headed by a former National Chairman of the party, Ahmadu Ali, was made known during the inauguration of the party’s National Campaign Council, headed by its National Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on December 11.

It was meant to be inaugurated the following day at Legacy Building, Maitama, Abuja.

Investigations by our correspondent showed that neither the party nor the Presidency can speak authoritatively on when the committee will be inaugurated.

Since no one knows this, it is also observed that there is no plan yet as to when the committee will release President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign itinerary.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, told our correspondent that he was not in the position to state when the President’s campaign would start, adding that a committee was being put in place for that purpose.

“I’m not in charge of that; I don’t know where and how the campaign would run,” he told our correspondent on the telephone on Tuesday.

Also, the National Secretary of the party, Prof. Wale Oladipo, when contacted, was unable to give specific date on when the committee would begin work.

Initially he said it would be inaugurated this week, but when reminded that both Thursday and Friday had been declared public holidays, he said he was not sure.

He said, “The committee will be inaugurated this week, or before it runs out. Anyway, we are working on it.”

The committee, which is being considered as being juicy, already has N21.27bn to work with.

Meanwhile, there are indications that prominent members of the party from both the North-West and North-East may have rejected the headship of the President’s campaign committee.

Their refusal to stand up for the President, it was gathered, was as a result of the general apathy to the President’s second term ambition in the area.

Ali, who is heading the committee now, is from the North-Central.

A former member of the Senate, Dr. Dalhatu Tafida, was the director general of the campaign in 2011.

He is from Kaduna State.

It was learnt that the Presidency and the national leadership of the party were still scouting for more people to fortify the campaign committee.

A presidency official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “The President wants more capable hands in the committee. He knows that this election is different from the one held in 2011.

“Besides, since the opposition, the All Progressives Congress had named its committee members, the PDP and the Presidency have to return to the drawing board.”

While the Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, is the director general of the APC’s Presidential Campaign, a former Commissioner of Information in Lagos State, Mr. Dele Alake, is its spokesperson.

It will be recalled that the President of the Senate, David Mark, had admitted that the PDP has serious opponents to contend with at all levels during the forthcoming 2015 general elections.

Source : http://www.punchng.com/news/confusion-over-jonathans-campaign-committee/

Political leaders and clerics from the South-south geo-political zone have expressed concern that President Goodluck Jonathan could suffer defeat in the 2015 presidential election due to the seemingly intractable crises that have rocked the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in the zone.

They are afraid that if the current situation does not change, the presidential election will be won by General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In their view, all is not well with the PDP as fifth columnists in the party are working for Jonathan to fail.
They fear that the fifth columnists had been at work since the Rivers State crisis that saw Governor Rotimi Amaechi decamping to the APC, the emergence of Aminu Tambuwal as Speaker House of Representatives against the choice of the party and now their fingers are everywhere in the just concluded PDP primaries that is sullied with crisis in the South-south and few other places in South-east.

They alleged that this powerful group is working in connivance with some South-south governors to perfect the plan hence the desperate effort by them to install everybody by all means thereby weeding out the president’s men systematically ahead of 2015.
Only recently, Ameachi said Jonathan will lose 2015 due to crisis in the PDP South-south states.

Speaking on the current crisis bedeviling the PDP in the South-south against the backdrop of Amaechi’s comments, one of the political leaders in Cross River State and legal practitioner, Chief Utum Eteng, said: “The presidency should be weary of the crisis in his zone whereas other zones in the country are calm and intact. The plot is to ensure he loses or votes are split significantly in his zone by the opposition party that is poised to sweep other zones. Jonathan should stamp his feet on the ground and shine his eyes on who the party finally submits to fly the party flag in the 2015 state and national assemblies and the governorship elections. The governors may disappoint him.”

Continuing, Eteng said: “The governors in the South-south are the ones who are engineering the entire crisis in the South-south. It has never been so. The crisis in PDP is unprecedented. I have said it loud and clear that from what the governors are doing it seems to me that some of them are agents APC trying to distort and disorganise the South-south so that APC can coast on some of the areas otherwise they will not be operating as if they are emperors treating PDP members with hard fist just because the party structures are in their hands.

“I want to say that it is correct that some persons are paid to destabilise the PDP in the South-south. For instance if the president had 500,000 votes in 2011, there is no magic that will bring him near that with the crisis in PDP now except he is able to call an in-house meeting of the governors and stakeholders and they speak sincerely. I believe up till now the governors of the South-south are not sincere to the president no matter how they pretend outwardly, they are not.

“Some of these governors were part of the formation of the APC and I have never pretended about that. I say it without any fear of contradiction. Under this circumstance the president should show that he is in charge. Why are the governors interested in determining everybody’s fate in the party from the state assembly to the presidency? The president has not in anywhere shown that he is in charge of anything. He has to show that those who stake their lives for him are protected. The governors are not ready to protect such persons, so how do we expect those people to stake their neck and their political ambition in protecting him?”

Eteng tasked the president “to act as the leader of the party and the Commander-in-Chief if he wants to check exodus of popular top PDP members to opposition parties. If he does not, I can still say painfully that Buhari will win him.”
Recently, an outstanding religious leader in Cross River State, Olumba Olumba Obu, warned that the PDP in the country may lose 2015 general election if it does not restrain itself from politics of imposition and arrogance.
Obu in a divine service in Calabar said: “It is possible for another party to displace the ruling party from the presidency of Nigeria if the

PDP and its governors do not also restrain themselves from wanton abuse of political processes and imposition of candidates.”
Though the religious leader who has teeming followership in Africa, America and Europe did not mention the party that will win, he said: “God hates arrogance, pride and suppression which are noticeable traits of PDP the party. It is possible for another party to clinch the presidency in Nigeria if the PDP does not stop to abuse political processes. It is not a birthright”.

Obu had warned governors and other political stakeholders to conduct themselves properly with the fear of God otherwise many of them would be disgraced if they did not restrain from their negative behaviours and conducts.
[quote][/quote]
Source: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/south-south-pdp-crisis-fear-mounts-over-jonathan-s-chances/197627/

The Vice Presidential Candidate of the APC was at The Lekki Palms on Christmas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b90fQqNou4U&feature=youtu.be


The man in the red shirt at the end
Naija people sef !

@jejet, I appreciate your replies. How about additional documents, what additional documents did you take to the interview and what additional documents were required.
Thanks.

jejet: Just came across this post. Germany student visa is not complicated, just as simple as ABC as I got my study visa in June this year. So only those who have gone through the process should contribute and not complicate issue for potential applicant.
I applied to 4 universities via Uni Assist and I have so far recieved admission offer from 3 of them. Immediately I revieved the first admission letter from one of the universities I began my visa processing to save my time even though I don't intend to attend that university. I got the admission offer from the one I intend to attend yesterday though both are in the same federal state so I wont have complication with my paper works; cos the visa carries the name of the school with which I used to apply. I contacted the embassy via telephone immediately about this and the man at the visa section assured me that I wont have problem with the foreigners office in Germany.
Immediately I got the letter of offer from the university, i went to the German consulate in Lagos to open the student block account. The lady at the reception gave me the deutsche bank form and i submitted it with a photocopy of my admission letter and the biodata page of my international passport. I got my account details from the deutsche bank after 3 weeks. I transferred the required amount to the account and I got a confirmation of payment from the bank after 5 days. I sent the payment confirmation, passport biodata page, and photocopy of admission letter along with the request for appointment form to the consulate general via dhl. I got a response 3 days later for my appointment in 3 weeks.
On the appointment day, it was a lovely experience. Got to the consulate at 6:25am and those with student visa and family reunion were ushered in first. We went straight to the visa section and were called in one after the other. There are 4 rooms in the visa section and i was called to room 2 where a young Nigeria guy collected my document and entered my details to his computer and asked me to go sit down at the reception. After 25 minutes at the reception, a german guy came and invited me first to his office cause we are only 2 applying for student visa. The man ushered me to his office inside the consulate where he made me feel comfortable, he switched on his computer and the interview began. He read every question from the computer and he entered all my answers into the system. After the interview he stamped a page on my passport; the stamp contained the date of appointment and the visa type. He told me my application has been forwarded to the foreigners office for approval and he usherd me back the reception and l left to my home.
22 days after the interview, I got an email from the consulate to come to the consulate with a 90 days travel insurrance. I printed the email, did travel insurrance for 23k from AIICO and went to the embassy. I submitted my passport along with the travel insurance at the visa section and the lady wrote "collection at 2pm on my slip. She gave it to me and asked me to come for collection at 2pm. About 70 of us came for the collection and we were called one after the other. I got mine and the lady said your visa is approved and you will submit your passport to the foreigners office in germany after you enroll in your university to extend your visa from 90 days to 2 years. Thats my story. i wish other applicant good luck

Thanks jejet. could you tell us what questions where asked ?

@h...
1- send an email to db.student@db.com requesting to open a blocked student account, they'll reply with the required documents and application form. Fill and take the form and documents to the German consulate in Lagos for it to be sent to the Deutsche bank in Germany.
2- The documents required usually are passport copy and admission letter.
3 and 4, I have no idea perhpas @V_official can help with those since he is on site.
All the best.

@yampion Thanks for your reply. It will come in useful for me as well as many to come. Did you get any questions about work or about your parents. how long did the interview take ?
All the best for the visa.
God bless.

@yampion and @cdspencer
Pls share your own interview experience. Any tips or do and donts ?
Thanks in advance.

@SimplyD
Thanks for your reply. By the way how long is the interview and other than the required doc. Did they ask for any additional ones ? Did you have to show some docs. to show where you work for example ?

@SimplyD
A few more questions, if you don't mind...
Have you been asked called to collect the visa yet ?
Do they ask about your ties to Nigeria (eg. Family here, work) during the interview ?

Thanks.

I ran across a little snippet that I
thought was interesting. It
seems that when you visit
Itanimulli.us (Illuminati spelled
backwards) it takes you to the
White Houses's website: WhiteHouse.gov. Also when you
visit Itanimulli.com, it takes you
to the National Security
Agency's website NSA.gov. Some people want to make a
conspiracy out of this, and want
to know why the White House
and the NSA would want an
Illuminati domain to point back
to their respective sites. This answer took me 1 minute to
solve. The answer is that it's not
their domain. I went to GoDaddy.com and did
a Who-Is search for the
domain's to find out who the
owners are. They are owned by
a two different dudes. I
normally would not post someone's name and address,
but in this case it is public
information and is directly
relevant. This is all public
information that is easily
accessible to anyone wanting to know. Itanimulli.us is owned by:
Scott Lamb
25 Venita Drive
Athens, Georgia 30606
United States
GoDaddy search results: Link Itanimulli.com is owned by:
John Fenley
1985N 360E
Provo, Utah 84604-1803
United States
GoDaddy search results: Link All that is going on here is this:
These two guys bought the
addresses, and then did a
redirect for each domain. They
simply made Itanimulli.us
forward visitors to WhiteHouse.gov, and
Itanimulli.com forward visitors
to NSA.gov. Mystery solved. Nothing
nefarious here. Just practical
jokers creating an internet
myth. Source(s): http://www.projectmaji.com/
forum/index.php?/topic/3117-
itanimullius-and-itanimullicom-
mystery-solved/

@cdspencer
How did you interview go mate ?

@Suxes2005 and @SimplyD
Thanks for all your advice, I have a few questions tho'
Q- Have you guys had trouble opening the bank account with the Deutsch bank, something about the embassy not stamping the documents ?
Q- how long does it take to get the German student visa from after the interview ?
Q- How long should the validity on your passport be to apply for the visa?

Thanks.
God bless.

Goodluck for Governor, Badluck for bayelsa
Goodluck for President, Badluck for Nigeria
Goodluck for African Union Presido, badluck for Africa.
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, spreading the nasty luck around. since the 2000's !

Pretty safe. I had the same concerns as you, here since oct. for NYSC after growing up abroad. Details depend on your area of residence but Abuja is pretty safe compared to other places in Nigeria. The closer you are to the Central Area or The three arms zone the safer. No worries, trust in God. keep the usual precautions and keep details of your trip to trusted individuals. You'll be fine in God's Grace.

MUMU ! if he wanted a protest why didn't he organise one and rally chritisians across all denominations and all across the nation. Muslims would have faced the pressure and joined, he could have used the influence of CAN. instead of running around like a fool. He went to Aso rock, instead of calling for mass action against boko haram, mumu says christians will defend themselves next to the C-in-C. Failure to strategise ! This guy motula pass !

OP, wetin be your sauce na ?

NIGERIANS, THE TIME HAS COME.
THE DOG CALLED JONATHAN MUST GO!!!
LET US RETURN HIM TO HIS WHITE MASSAs (IMF,World Bank, US state dept).

e go beta ! ;d

Reuters, the well respected international news agency just came out with a report on IMF that shows that the recent removal of fuel subsidies in Africa is due to pressure on those countries from IMF to follow the policy. Ghana yesterday removed thier own. Other African countries like our own are also in line.
Agent Ngozi Iweala is just completing her mission impossible here in Nigeria.

af.reuters.com/article/nigeriaNews/idAFL6E7NT2F020111229]af.reuters.com/article/nigeriaNews/idAFL6E7NT2F020111229]af.reuters.com/article/nigeriaNews/idAFL6E7NT2F020111229

[url]allafrica.com/stories/201112300791.html[url/]

[url]vanguardngr.com/2011/12/fuel-subsidy-removal-how-okonjo-iweala-convinced-jonathansambo-ministers/[url/]

[url]vanguardngr.com/2011/12/actual-cost-of-petrol-is-n39-50-per-litre-coalition/[url/]

Otondo copa, how is your moral ? Are you good to go ? Are you motivated ? If you are reading this and not replyin YOU ARE WRONG !
Double up ! Pre shun ! Stand at ez ! Na you go tire, Lazy Copa !

Oh, found out there is one, naijaleaks.org.

With the recent passing of the Freedom of Information act coupled with 4000+ cables dealing with Nigeria from wikileaks. Doesn't Nigeria deserve a site dedicated to whistleblowing the huge amounts of corruption happening in all levels of our government ?

Contacted NYSC, HQ. I was just told that it's alright. As long as we change it, while filling up the forms during registration at the orientation camp on the 15th. Btw, where are deployed to ?

Hey NL,  I just collected my NYSC  call up letter as a foriegn graduate at Kubwa camp, FCT today. As usual in the nigerian way of things, they misspelled it, instead of a L they used a H, I didn't notice at first due to the background anti-counterfiet designs. But after closer inspection back home reliased it. Anyone have experience or know what the process is for correction of name on the NYSC Call up letter ?
Thanks in Advance.

Hi, Senior nairalanders,
I'm a Nigerian who grew up outside the country and has decided to come back for the NYSC, I'd like to know what the state of the country is now and what I should prepare for. With the recent news of Boko Haram and bombings  , I just want to have the right expectations so as not to be disappointed.
I'd really appreciate it if you could drop some advice in this thread regarding the situation in the country in general, Abuja and Lagos specifically and the NYSC program. All views are welcome and appreciated.