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Olawepo Hashim Sparks Nationwide Revolt Against PDP Power Sharing Formula

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Gbenga Hashim

 

Support groups across the country backing the presidential ambition of Dr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim in 2027 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have intensified their agitations, declaring that resurrecting zoning in the current political context is “simply regressive.”

The groups unanimously called on PDP leaders and other critical stakeholders to jettison zoning, describing it as unpopular among members and detrimental to party unity. They maintained that the PDP can only remain strong and formidable enough to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) if it prioritises inclusivity, fairness and merit over sectional arrangements.

This comes on the heels of Dr. Olawepo-Hashim’s latest declaration rejecting PDP’s zoning policy and reaffirming his presidential ambition ahead of 2027.

“Zoning is unlawful; I’ll contest for the presidency,” he stated.

In a statement from his office, Hashim dismissed the recent decision of the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) as “illegal, unpopular and driven by selfish interests.”

“That purported NEC decision was organised by a few people for selfish reasons. It is illegal and unpopular, as you can see from the deluge of protests from party members across the country,” he said.

According to him, the Electoral Act 2022 does not empower political parties to impose conditions such as zoning on aspirants beyond what is expressly provided in the Nigerian Constitution. He noted that even the ruling APC avoided being trapped by zoning controversies, urging the PDP to correct what he described as “a grave error.”

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The PDP zoning decision has continued to attract protests and criticisms from both Northern and Southern members of the party.

In Jos on Wednesday, thousands of supporters of Dr. Hashim stormed the PDP Secretariat demanding an open contest without exclusion. The North Central Renaissance Movement, led by Professor Nghargbu K’tso, condemned the NEC decision as unjust to the North and, in particular, the North Central zone, which has never produced either a President or Vice President since Nigeria’s return to democracy.

One of the protesters argued that zoning is no longer defensible, pointing out that by 2027 the South would have produced presidents for 18 years while the North only 10.
“If before there was marginalisation of the South, no one can say so again by 2027. The South would have produced presidents for 18 years and the North for just 10. So who is marginalising who?” he asked.

In Kano, the coordinator of the Gbenga Hashim Vanguard, Hon. Aminu Bala Wudilawa, told Freedom Radio that political trends in the North favour competence and capacity over sectional arrangements. He alleged that only a few politicians eyeing the vice presidential slot were pushing for zoning to the South.

Hashim has consistently maintained that only a president chosen on the basis of competence and patriotism can fix Nigeria’s challenges. He stressed that historical precedent in the PDP supports an open presidential contest.

“Even in 1999, when there was strong sentiment for accommodating the South-West due to the annulment of June 12, candidates from the North such as Alhaji Abubakar Rimi were not barred from contesting. The same happened in 2002, when President Olusegun Obasanjo, then a sitting president, faced aspirants from the North like Chief Barnabas Gemade and Alhaji Abubakar Rimi,” he recalled.

Hashim also cited Nigeria’s voting history as evidence that zoning is unnecessary.
“On June 12, 1993, the great people of Kano set ethnicity aside and voted for Chief M.K.O. Abiola against Alhaji Bashir Tofa, their kinsman. More recently, in the 2023 elections, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu won in Northern Nigeria against Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, a Northern candidate, yet lost his home state Lagos to a candidate from another zone. This shows Nigerians are capable of making political decisions without bowing to ethnic or sectional instincts,” he said.

Similar reactions have continued to pour in from sister groups, individuals and organisations within and outside Nigeria, warning the PDP of looming consequences that, they alleged, may jeopardise its chances of reclaiming power in 2027.

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None of Nigeria’s Presidents have Brigadier Generals as ADC, as the promotion of Tinubu’s ADC was shelved.

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None of Nigeria’s Presidents have Brigadier Generals as ADC, as the promotion of Tinubu’s ADC was shelved.”

The controversial plan to decorate Nurudeen Yusuf, aide-de-camp (ADC) to President Bola Tinubu, as a one-star general on Monday evening was shelved at the last minute after an intervention by two former chiefs of army staff.

Yusuf, who was only decorated as a colonel last January, was to be promoted to the rank of brigadier-general through “special presidential promotion”.

Under normal process, an officer has to be a colonel for at least four years after which he or she will attend the National Defence College (NDC) before they are considered for promotion.

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The approval to bypass the process was conveyed in a letter from the office of the national security adviser (NSA) to the Chief of army staff.

No brigadier has ever been ADC to the president of Nigeria, leading to further disquiet within the military establishment.

Ahead of the planned decoration on Monday, the minister of defence, Chris Musa — who is a retired general — and the chief of army staff, Waidi Shaibu, a lieutenant general, had cut short their visit to Lagos state and returned to the federal capital.

However, two highly respected former army chiefs eventually succeeded in persuading Tinubu to shelve the plan because of the dangers to the military establishment, TheCable learnt.

A presidential source told that the promotion is not going to happen “anytime soon”.

 

 

The cable

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Breaking:Former Chief Justice Of Nigeria Ibrahim Tanko Is Dead

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Former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad (retd.), is dead.

A close source confirmed to SaharaReporters on Tuesday morning that the former head of Nigerian judiciary passed away at a hospital in Saudi Arabia.

“Ex-CJN Tanko Muhammad is dead. He passed away this morning at a Saudi Arabian Hospital,” the source said.

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Nigeria Tracker reports that Late President Muhammadu Buhari appointed late Justice Ibrahim Tanko into the exalted seat after the sacking of his predecessor Justice Samuel Walter Onnoghen over the issue of code of conduct in January 2019.

In Late 2022 Justice Ibrahim Tanko suddenly exited the seat due to what many said intense pressure from cabals in Late President Muhammad Buhari’s presidency and was succeeded by retired Justice olukayode .

Late Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad hails from Bauchi state .

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The Aso Rock Gossip That Made Late President Buhari Lock His Wife Out

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By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

In a new biography, former First Lady Aisha Buhari has revealed that late President Muhammadu Buhari began locking his bedroom door, preventing her from gaining access, after hearing rumors within Aso Rock that she intended to kill him.

This personal account is featured in the 600-page book, ‘From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari’, where Aisha Buhari details her experience managing her husband’s health challenges during his presidency.

She stated that the former president, trusting the gossip circulating within the presidential villa, altered some of his personal habits as a result.

The biography, which was authored by Charles Omole, director-general of the Institute for Police and Security Policy Research, was launched at the presidential villa in Abuja.

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Many high-profile persons and political chieftains, including President Bola Tinubu, attended the launch.

In the book, Aisha said Buhari’s 2017 health crisis was not a mysterious ailment or the effect of poisoning, but began after a broken feeding routine and mismanaged nutritional habits.

The former first lady said she had long managed her husband’s meals and supplements at specific hours, adding that the regimen helped Buhari to maintain stability.

“According to Aisha Buhari, her husband’s 2017 health crisis did not originate as a mysterious ailment or a covert plot. It started, she says, with the loss of a routine; ‘my nutrition,’ she describes it, a pattern of meals and supplements she had long overseen in Kaduna before they moved into Aso Villa,” the book reads.

When they moved to the villa, she said she convened a meeting with close staff including Suhayb Rafindadi, the physician; Bashir Abubakar, the chief security officer; the housekeeper, and the DSS DG to explain the plan.

After some time, the plan was discontinued.

“When the Presidency’s machinery took over our private lives, I explained the plan: daily, at specific hours, cups and bowls with tailored vitamin powders and oil, a touch of protein here, a change to cereals there. Elderly bodies require gentle, consistent support,” Aisha was quoted as saying in the book.

“Then came the gossip and the fearmongering. They said I wanted to kill him.

“My husband believed them for a week or so,” she said, adding that the president began locking his room, changed small habits, and crucially, “meals were delayed or missed; the supplements were stopped”.

“For a year, he did not have lunch. They mismanaged his meals,” she added.

Aisha denied stories of plots to poison her husband, adding that Buhari’s health began deteriorating because of “loss of a routine, ‘my nutrition,’ was the genesis of the crisis”.

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