OBJ, IBB fail to end PDP crisis Written by Andrew Agbese, Abuja & Abdulkadir Badsha Mukhtar , . Bamanga group walks out of meeting . Many governors are with us - Kwankwaso A meeting called by elders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to resolve the differences between the two warring factions of the party ended without success yesterday. Those led by President Obasanjo to broker peace between the two groups include former military President Ibrahim Babangida, PDP Board of Trustee Chairman, Chief Tony Anenih, and two former PDP National Chairmen, Senator Barnabas Gemade and Ahmadu Alli. The elders met with the two warring groups separately at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja yesterday at two different locations within the hotel premises. The Bamanga Tukur-led PDP stayed in Benue Hall, the Kawu Baraje group met at the Kaduna Hall, while the Obasanjo-led elders walked from one hall to the other for the five hours the meeting lasted. On the side of Tukur were Governors Seriake-Dickson (Bayelsa), Liyel Imoke (Cross River), Idris Wada, (Kogi), Ibrahim Shema, (Kastina) and Isa Yuguda (Bauchi), among others. On Baraje’s side were Governors Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), and Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) and former governor of Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola and other elected officials of the party. Senators Olusola Saraki and Danjuma Goje were also part of the meeting. Briefing journalists at the end of the meetings, Obasanjo said the elders chose to intervene to save the party from collapsing. “I thank you for exercising patience. You have seen five of us. As select elders of the party we have taken it upon ourselves to prevent the worst from happening to our party. “Two of us: Lar and Ekwueme are abroad and could not join us, but we are carrying them along. But suffice to say that there is family dispute within the PDP which we want to stem the tide of and prevent our party from going to the brink. And I want to say that we have met with the two sides of the family. We have listened to them and of course we are going to put our heads together and go on from there,” he said. However, Weekly Trust learnt that the Tukur group walked out of the venue before the end of the meeting and did not talk to the press. When asked by the BBC Hausa service on why the group was leaving, Governor Yuguda said the right person to ask was President Obasanjo, who called the meeting, but the Baraje faction said it was ready to defend its demands. Meanwhile, Governor Kwankwaso told the BBC yesterday ahead of the party’s meeting slated for Tuesday that the seven ‘rebel’ PDP governors have no plan to leave the party. He, however, said if the party fails to resolve the crisis, they have several options, including joining the opposition All Progressive Congress (APC), or any other party. “If our leaders remain steadfast, reconciliation is possible, but if the problem persists, we have other plans; we don’t have problem joining the APC because its chieftains are ours”. He also said apart from the seven governors who have openly identified with the new PDP, several other governors are with them and supporting their position against the leadership of Bamanga Tukur.- Weekly Trust
Posted on: Sat, 07 Sep 2013 07:42:55 +0000
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