Powerful Politician Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison| PDP Must Talk To Peter Obi To Defeat APC In 2027 – Party Chieftain

Former New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez was sentenced Wednesday to 11 years in prison following his conviction on bribery and corruption charges after taking cash, a Mercedes Benz and gold bars as bribes in exchange for helping three businessmen and the Egyptian government.

The sentencing marks a dramatic fall for the lawmaker born to Cuban emigres who got his start in politics in Union City, New Jersey, and became one of the most powerful senators as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Menendez was convicted last year of 16 felony counts for the long-running corruption scheme, making him the first US senator charged and convicted of acting as an agent of a foreign government.

“The public cannot be led to the belief that you can get away with bribery, fraud and betrayal,” said District Judge Sidney Stein.

“I don’t know what led you to this – greed was certainly part of it,” Stein added. “But that can’t be it, I don’t think that explains everything. Hubris was part of it, I don’t know. You’ll have to try to figure that out yourself over time.”

Menendez teared up as he spoke in court. “You have before you a chastened man,” he told the judge.

“Other than family, I have lost everything I ever cared about,” he added. “For someone who spent his entire life in public service, every day I’m awake is a punishment.”

But outside the court, Menendez railed against the prosecutors who brought the case and, while he didn’t publicly ask President Donald Trump for a pardon, appealed to the White House.

“Only in the Southern District of New York would prosecutors allow a witness to walk away from over 10 criminal charges, including defrauding the United States government so that they can get him to lie on the stand. Welcome to the Southern District of New York, the wild west of political prosecutions,” Menendez said.

“This process is political and it’s corrupted to the core,” he added. “I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system.”

Adam Fee, Menendez’s attorney, argued in court that the former senator deserved credit for his decades in public service.

“For nearly 50 years he’s been tireless servant of his community, his state and his country,” Fee said. “Despite his decades of service he is known more widely as ‘Gold Bar Bob.’”

SOURCE: CNN

2027: PDP must talk to Peter Obi – Party chieftain, Olafeso

A member of the Peoples Democratic Party’s reconciliation committee, Eddy Olafeso, has told the party to speak with Labour Party Presidential candidate in 2023, Peter Obi and other opposition political party leaders for an alliance ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He believes that it is the only guarantee to defeat the All Progressives Congress, APC, in 2027.

Obi, who was contesting the 2023 presidential election under the PDP, dumped the party and joined the Labour Party.

Under the Labour Party, the former Anambra State Governor contested and garnered a total of 6,101,533 votes, according to the Independent National Electoral, INEC, to come third.

Many of his supporters still harbour the belief that he actually won the election but was rigged out, however, that remains unconfirmed.

Olafeso was on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, where he was asked if the crisis-hit main opposition party need to court Obi to have a chance against the APC in 2027.

According to him, “Not only Peter Obi, every person that is somebody in this country that can actually garner one or two votes must be spoken with.”

The PDP chieftain said it would be difficult for any single political party to defeat the APC without a strong alliance.

“It is not only here that you have alliances; you have people working together to be able to win an election.

“It happened in Ghana not quite a long time ago and that is exactly what we all should do at this moment, no single party can defeat the APC alone, don’t let us delude ourselves. We must all come together to fight,” Olafeso added.

He blamed PDP leadership for the balkanisation of the party ahead of the 2023 election which contributed to its loss at the polls.

Olafeso noted that the combination of Atiku and Obi’s votes would have sent Tinubu to a distant second, regretting the inability of the PDP leadership to keep its house together ahead of the 2023 election.

SOURCE: Dailypost

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