PDP Shuts Door In Gov Shettima’s Face By Abuja, Chinedu AROH / September 29, 2014 / 723 Comments As Party Peaks in Borno Ahead Of Sheriff’s Reception President Goodluck Jonathan may have rejected Borno state Governor’s pleas to defect to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to secure his political future, and as one of the conditions for his pardon following his diatribes against the President, the PDP and the Armed Forces. The President was said to have told the duo of Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State and former FCT Minister Ibrahim Bunu who had gone to plead with him on behalf of the embattled governor that, the doors of the PDP remains open to every genuine entrant, but that Shettima’s coming has to wait until his mentor, Ali Sheriff concludes his own processes of defection. The president who had prior information on the several meetings Shettima had with his opponents and the game plan to ditch him during the Presidential elections for an APC candidate told Shettima’s emissaries that he was not averse to the governor’s defection to the PDP, but he has to first purge himself of certain tendencies, one of which allegedly is his penchant for deceit. The President was also said to have expressed disappointment with the failure of the Borno Governor to execute a project worth N3 billion across the state even after collecting over N500 Billion in three years. Sources close to the President told nationalTRAIL that the President has never been comfortable with Governor Shettima because of the later’s penchant for insulting his office, the PDP and especially the Armed Forces in the fight against Boko Haram. According to the source, Jonathan asked Yuguda to revert to Shettima and ask him what good he sees around a party he described as a nest of killers or a President he described as worst than the slave trade era in Nigeria’s history. Meanwhile the leadership and major stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Borno State rose from a meeting last weekend with a unanimous endorsement of former Borno State Governor, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff into their fold. Our correspondent reports that the meeting which was presided over by former minister of Defence, Dr Shettima Mustapha and which was attended by all the major stakeholders except former minister of the FCT, Architect Ibrahim Bunu described Sheriff’s defection into the party as a welcome development. The meeting which directed the Chairman of the PDP in Borno state, Alhaji Baba Basharu to write and formally acknowledge the former governors membership of the party, ahead of his formal reception, planned for Maiduguri next month. The Chairman confirmed to nationalTRAIL that Sheriff’s coming received a resounding endorsement by the leadership and all stakeholders, and they have already communicated to him their willingness to team with him and rescue Borno from the years of plunder and misgovernance under Governor Kashim Shettima. The strongman of Borno politics told nationalTRAIL that he is pleased with the response he has been receiving from the PDP family nationwide and he will do everything possible to take Borno into mainstream politics at the next election. He dismissed as ranting of a sinking political group, allegations leveled against him by the self styled hostage negotiator, Steven Davies, stressing that the final outcome of any investigation on the matter will vindicate him, while those who truly sponsor Boko Haram or perpetrate political killings will be exposed. This is even as the PDP seems to have been suddenly galvanized with massive membership harvest ahead of Sheriff’s grand reception in Maiduguri, as people dissatisfied with governor Kashim Shettima’s politics of deceit and mudslinging in the APC have crossed over to identify with the PDP. Politicians, most of who worked to install Shettima have vowed to work against the embattled governor, who they accused of masterminding the recent media hype linking his predecessor with Boko Haram. Our correspondent, who sampled opinions, reports that Governor Shettima is fast loosing grounds politically, as he runs from pillar to pole trying to secure a soft landing by decamping to the PDP.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 21:49:22 +0000