2023 Election: Goodluck Jonathan describes rumours of his interest as mere speculation

Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has has laid to rest speculation that he will run again for the position during the 2023 general elections.

Jonathan spoke in Delta State when he paid a condolence visit om Governor Ifeanyi Okowa at the Government House in Asaba, over the demise of Sir Okorie Okowa.
According to him, what is left for him now is to continue to serve God, humanity, Africa to the best of his ability.

In his words, “On the rumour of my interest to contest the 2023 presidential election, it was mere speculation.

“I will continue to serve God, humanity, Africa, and the world to the best of my ability and with all sense of commitment and sincerity.”

Jonathan was Nigeria’s president from 2010 to 2015, however he lost the presidential election in 2015 to the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.

Your plot is to forcefully take over Zamfara under the guise of state of emergency, PDP to APC

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has raised alarm over what it described as a sinister plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its Federal Government to forcefully take over the governance of Zamfara state through an imposition of an orchestrated state of emergency in the state.

This was contained in a statement that was issued by the party’s National Publicity Secretary,Kola Ologbondiyan

The Statement reads in Part, “Our party rejects this attempt by power-mongers in the APC administration to undermine and subvert the democratic order in Zamfara state by creating the impression that the state government, under Governor Bello Muhammad Matawalle, is to blame for the failures of the APC-led federal government to contain insecurity in the state.
“I is instructive to recall that the plot by the APC to derail the Matawalle administration and forcefully take over the control of the state started immediately after the Supreme Court handed him victory in the Zamfara state governorship election.”
He said the plot heightened after Governor Matawalle refused the pressure to decamp to the APC.
“Nigerians can recall that our party had on December 19, 2020 issued a statement to alert of plots by the National Caretaker Committee of the APC, using an impostor, as spokesperson, to heighten insecurity in the Northwest part of our country.
“The PDP had in that statement, further alerted of conspiracies by the APC to use the said impostor to destabilize Northwest states, particularly Zamfara, by creating the space for acts of violence and blame it on Governor Matawalle.
“Our party had also expressed concerns on series of devious statements against Governor Matawalle by the APC, a party that has been exposed to be encouraging acts of terrorism, banditry and kidnapping in our country.”
Ologodiyan therefore invited Nigerians to further note how the APC has been quiet over disturbing videos, which had gone viral, showing self-confessed bandits admitting their fury of being abandoned by the APC after the party use them to muscle the 2015 and 2019 elections.
“Equally disturbing is the attempt by some APC leaders, who are masquerading under extraneous organizations, to seek political capital out of the situation in Zamfara state, which escalated due to the failures and compromises of the APC-led administration.
“We demand that the APC should leave Governor Matawalle alone and take up their responsibility of confronting bandits, terrorists, kidnappers and vandals, particularly those they brought from other countries. 
“Our party insists that the statutory onus, under our democracy, is on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Federal Government to secure life and property in all parts of Nigeria, including Zamfara state.”

It is further instructive to state that the Matawalle administration adopted an intervention approach as a distressed measure following the manifest failures of the Buhari Presidency to guarantee the security of lives and property in the state.

It is on record that Governor Matawalle is not the first Governor, particularly in the North West, to adopt such approach in the face of the huge incapacity of the Buhari administration to save lives.

More so, there is escalated banditry, terrorism, kidnapping and other forms of violent acts in APC controlled states of the North West, like Kaduna and Katsina;  in the North East of Borno and Yobe as well as the North Central states of Niger, Nasarawa, Plateau and Kogi, yet no attempt has been made by the Buhari Presidency to intimidate the governors of the various states, seek to impose a state of emergency or declare such states as “no fly zone”.

Jigawa PDP expels 2019 Guber candidate, Ringim

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Jigawa State has expelled its 2019 gubernatorial candidate, Mallam Aminu Ringim from the party over what it reffered to as antiparty activities and sabotage.
Mallam Aminu Ringim contested against the APC’s gubernatorial candidate now governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar in 2015 and 2019 but lost.
The state chairman of the party Babandi Gumel made the disclosure in a Statement on Tuesday.
He explained that the embattled gubernatorial candidate refused to make himself available before the disciplinary Committee of the party to answer allegations of antiparty and sabotage leveled against him by his ward executive of the party.

He said the State Party Executive Committee took the decision sequel to a letter it received from the Ringim Ward of the party.
“About three weeks ago we received a letter that due to antipathy activities and party sabotage being perpetrated by the former Party Governorship candidate in the 2015 and 2019 elections in the State Mallam Aminu Ibrahim Ringim was suspended for a month.
“The letter was sent to us the State executive committee of the party, we looked into the letter vis-a-vis the constitution of the party.
“The constitution provided that we set up a committee to investigate the matter which we did.”
He indicated that since there were two parties to the issue, the committee decided to invite both; that is the ward executive of the party and the person under investigation.
“After the invitation the committee under the chairmanship of Alhaji Muhammad Daguro confirmed to us that the said allegations of Antiparty and sabotage were actually perpetrated by the said person.
The chairman added that a letter of invitation to him on two consecutive ocasions were not honored as he failed to appear before the committee

The ward committee therefore advised the State executive committee to take necessary action which was to expel him from the party.
The state PDP chairman said the committee has endorsed the recommendations adding that the State executive took the decision on Tuesday after a meeting of the members.
Gumel said his committee has ratified the expulsion recommended by the ward committee of his ward.
“We wrote another letter to him to urge him to stop parading himself as a member of the PDP in Jigawa.”