PDP Will Die Soon – Governor Nyako. Adamawa State governor Murtala Nyako has disclosed that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is being plagued by a serious illness and that some critical stakeholders are awaiting its death to give it a befitting burial. Nyako, who stated this in an emotion-laden voice while speaking on BBC Hause Service afternoon programme (Shirin Rana) yesterday, added that some of the stakeholders only deemed it fit to remain in the party due to the political positions they are occupying and, in case the party failed to survive its self-inflicted illness, they will give it a befitting burial after its demise. He said, “People are saying that the PDP is dead or about to die but a concerned person like me will remain in the party till it dies and give it a befitting burial. If PDP will die, let it die in our hands so that we will give it a befitting burial and mourn her.” He said the party is currently going through its worst times as a result of the highhandedness and anarchy with which the leadership of the party at the National level is addressing issues. It is responsible for the internal crisis that has plagued the party for a long time, he stated. “The problem of the party lies with those stalwarts in Abuja that have succeeded in putting the party in a state of coma, and it is our fervent hope that they will be prevailed upon to do the right thing so that the party can be cured of its ailment.” The governor said his faction still remains the legitimate faction despite the grandstanding of the national chairman while Umar Kugama remains the legitimate chairman of the party in the state. Nyako said it was due to the degeneration of things in the party that some of the concerned governors started meeting with some powerful stakeholders in the party, which premised their last visit to Abeokuta to meet with former president Olusegun Obasanjo in order to proffer a way forward in the face of the lingering crisis so far bedevilling the party. “You should understand that our visit to former President Olusegun Obasanjo was not in our capacity as PDP members but out of our concern to provide panacea to the ailment currently bedevilling the party. That is why we are making moves to involve elder statesmen in our consultations.” He said the high-level meeting between the four governors who met the former president was fruitful, although he did not disclose the resolution they arrived at during the closed-door meeting with the former president. He said the governors have also organised to meet with former heads of state in their move to restore sanity to the beleaguered party. The meeting was billed for this Monday, he said, but he could not personally attend the meeting due to the fact the he was expecting Camerounian officials that would arrive in the state in connection with the Lagdo Dam issue. Four governors in closed-door meeting with IBB, Abdulsalami Meanwhile, four PDP governors in the north yesterday entered into about two hours’ closed-door meeting with two former Nigerian leaders, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and General Abdulsalami Abubakar, in Minna. However, governors Rabiu Kwankwanso of Kano, Sule Lamido of Jigawa, Aliyu Wamako of Sokoto and the host Dr Muazu Babangida Aliyu started meeting with the two leaders from 12:30pm after IBB and Abdulsalami arrived at the venue of the meeting, Presidential Lodge around 12:25pm in a green colour Mercedes Benz S500 with registration number AE323WSH. LEADERSHIP gathered that the two former leaders decided to meet the governors who had arrived earlier at the Presidential Lodge instead of their residence as was always the case with such political meetings hosted by the duo. LEADERSHIP gathered that the reason for relocating the venue was strategic: to make the governors realize the importance of the issues slated to be discussed at the meeting which was held behind closed doors. It was gathered that the meeting discussed the gradual erosion of fundamental democratic tenets in Nigeria’s polity and the various strategies being adopted to emasculate governors, especially those of the north, ahead of 2015. A source close to the meeting told LEADERSHIP that the governors specifically sought the intervention of IBB and Abdulsalami in advising President Goodluck Jonathan against the happenings in Rivers State and their new political platform aimed at national integration rather than politics of division being adopted at high places. It was gathered that the governors expressed the fear that the presidency may come after all the governors considered their adversaries if they succeeded in getting their way in River State. The source also told LEADERSHIP that the governors notified the former leaders of their intention to launch a political platform within the ruling PDP that would be based on core democratic values ahead of 2015 in order to produce a Nigerian leader that would integrate the country beyond ethnic and religious line that the present politics in the country is toeing. It was learnt that the two Nigerian leaders promised to reach out to the appropriate authority in making sure that normalcy returned to the system but were non-committal as to whether they would support the new political platform being proposed. Speaking to Journalists after the meeting the host governor, Dr Aliyu, apparently confirming the report of LEADERSHIP on Monday said “this is a platform we could use to actualise the political dreams; now we are consulting with our elders and leaders and let us look at some of the problems and solutions to the problems that some of us perceived we are facing”. Asked whether the happenings in River State was part of the agenda of the meeting, Aliyu stated: “Obviously there is no issue in Nigeria that River crisis would not come up but it is a larger issue than Governors’ Forum we are discussing how to solve”. The next step for the group of five governors, Aliyu stated, is to “continue to consult as a group to see where we are going to next”. According to him, the governors were consulting to make sure that all the stakeholders understand the issues and find a way of carrying the people as they go along. IBB stated that it is commendable that the governors considered them and involved them in finding a solution to the problems of the country, saying that “they are really patriotic and I am very happy I told them so”. IBB stated that the step taken by the governors was the best in the circumstance they found themselves in, adding that “I was very impressed because they see the problems of this country as our own problems and they have taken the right steps to make the consultation wide and trying to find solutions to some of the problems”. Gov Dickson chairs PDP National Reconciliation Committee Meanwhile, the PDP has set up a 30-member national reconciliation committee chaired by the Bayelsa State governor, Seriake Dickson. The committee was set up to harmonize all interests and achieve genuine reconciliation across the board. A statement by the national publicity secretary of the party, Mr Tony Okeke, said “in furtherance to the efforts to ensure comprehensive reconciliation among members and interests in the party, the National Working Committee of the PDP has set up a National Reconciliation Committee to harmonize all interests and achieve genuine reconciliation across board”. The committee shall be inaugurated by the national chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, at the National Secretariat on Thursday. PDP convention: We have resolved crisis, APC in trouble - Tukur, Gana The leadership of the party yesterday said that the tussle between the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party and the convention planning committee has been resolved, declaring that the merger All Progressive Congress (APC) is in trouble ahead of the 2015 elections. This was disclosed at a meeting between the party’s NWC led by Bamanga Tukur and the special convention committee led by Prof. Jerry Gana at the party’s headquarters yesterday. The meeting was at the instance of President Jonathan, who met on Sunday with the leadership of the party over differences between the party leadership and the convention committee. The disagreement between the party and the committee had culminated in the party halting all plans by the convention committee, including the August 31 date slated for the convention and the south-west congress billed for August 24. Speaking yesterday, Tukur, who stated that they had resolved their differences, however, said a substantive date for the convention and the south-west congress would be formally unveiled at the inauguration of the committee on Wednesday. Tukur said “the PDP is working with NWC on issues affecting the conduct of the special convention. I want you to meet with the PDP family in a bid to make PDP work. The NWC met with the special convention committee to address all issues affecting the conduct of the forthcoming convention has been resolved”. Prof. Jerry Gana, who hailed the intervention of President Jonathan and the vice president, said: “I think this is a very clear indication that the PDP is moving to really organise and be consolidated to face 2015. “If anybody is thinking that PDP was in trouble, I think they must be thoroughly disappointed, because the PDP will always find solution and we are so delighted such solution is found today; so APC you are in trouble.” I don’t nurse animosity for anyone - Tukur But Tukur yesterday said he harboured no animosity against any member of the party. Tukur, through his principal secretary George Korgba, stated this while dissociating himself from comments in a daily (not LEADERSHIP) made by one of his aides. The statement categorically dissociated the national chairman from the comments and the dangerous insinuation in the publication as it did not emanate from the office of the national chairman and had no blessing or consent of the national chairman of the party. We will not go to war to seek re-election for Jonathan-- Ijaw elders Also, the umbrella body of the elders of Ijaw extraction in the South-South region, Ijaw National Congress (INC), has declared its intention not to adopt violent or abusive methods against perceived opposition against the push for the re-election of President Jonathan in 2015. According to the elders, though the use of abusive and derogatory words against President Jonathan by opposition politicians and groups is provocative, the elders of the South-South region will lead a delegation on peace and dialogue mission to the Arewa Consultative Forum, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) over the need for Goodluck Jonathan’s second term in office. The INC elders made their position known in Yenagoa on Sunday during an interactive session with the central zone convened by the state commissioner for culture and Ijaw national affairs, Dr Felix Tuodolor. Rivers Crisis: Call Wike, Obuah to order now, PDP faction urges Jonathan, Tukur The Godspower Ake-led faction of the PDP in Rivers State yesterday urged President Jonathan, PDP national chairman Tukur and chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees Chief Tony Anenih to urgently call to order the minister of state for education, Mr Ezebunwo Nyesom Wike, and factional chairman of the party in the state, Brother Felix Amaechi Obuah. In a statement made available to journalists in Port Harcourt, the Ake-led faction said the call became necessary so as to put an end to what it described as lawlessness within the PDP hierarchy in the state, which if not checked could lead to chaos in the entire state. The statement, which was signed by the factional publicity secretary of the party in the state, George Ukwuoma-Nwogba, warned against “unguarded” statements by Wike and Obuah, insisting that recent statements by the duo were construed to heat up the polity, destroy the party as well as truncate democracy in the state and must stop henceforth. LEADERSHIP ::Global Media News Alert The Pathfinder
Posted on: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 12:24:32 +0000
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