Police shuts ‘New PDP’ office, deploys Armoured Personnel Carrier. The crisis rocking the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) took a turn for the worse, yesterday, after the police sealed off the office of the Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje-led faction. The police put the office, situated at Plot 3206A, No 4, Oyi River Crescent, Maitama, Abuja under lock and key, just as former President Olusegun Obasanjo was fingered as the brain behind the factionalisation of the ruling party. The same Obasanjo led some elders of the PDP on a trouble shooting mission on Friday which ended in a deadlock. A top leader of the ruling party described Obasanjo’s involvement in the truce effort as pretentious. The PDP broke into two penultimate Saturday after a group of members, led by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and six governors namely, Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Adbdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), Aliyu Babangida (Niger), Aliyu Magatakadar Wammako (Sokoto), Musa Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano) and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), staged a walk out from the party’s special national convention holding at the Eagle Square and, less than one hour later, announced the emergence of their own faction of the PDP and named some members as top officials of the party. Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State has since joined the group to make the `rebel’ governors seven. The Baraje faction, aka New PDP, yesterday, described the siege by the police to its office as a flagrant violation of a court order that stopped the Alhaji Bamangar Tukur-led PDP from interfering with its affairs. The sealed nPDP office. It faulted the police action which it said was executed on the grounds of a non-existent court injunction which the Tukur-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP claimed to have obtained on Friday. But the Tukur NWC hailed the police action which, according to it, was in response to the court order which emphasised the retention of the status quo. The sealed factional PDP secretariat was said to have been inspected by Baraje and Lamido on Friday ahead of its formal commissioning anytime this week. When Sunday Vanguard visited the premises at about 3:44pm yesterday, an armoured personnel carrier APC, was positioned at the entrance of the street while armed policemen, numbering about 10, were seen around. Just as some of the policemen stayed around the APC, others were seated in a nearby restaurant. ‘We are not leaving’ Efforts to get close to the gate of the PDP factional secretariat by journalists proved futile as the policemen, who had their eyes fixed on every move, sprang to their feet, threatening to punish them. One of the policemen, who bragged, said, “We are not leaving here until we hear from the Presidency. We have taken over the place for now.” The property, as gathered, was the headquarters of the National Democratic Party, NDP, even as the gate of the building was painted in the red, white and green colours of the PDP, while the partially covered signpost on the building revealed an insignia similar to that of the PDP. Yesterday’s incident came barely twenty fours after Obasanjo led other elders of the party on the trouble shooting mission and met with the leaders of the PDP and aggrieved governors. The Baraje-led ‘New PDP’, however, wondered why Tukur, who appeared before the elders meeting of the party, on Friday, in an atmosphere geared towards peace in the PDP, could, about 12 hours later, start what it termed a round of acts of impunity. Though the Obasanjo led-meeting was deadlocked as the issues raised by the elders and the advice given did not go well with the Baraje-led faction as they stormed out, the former president said the meeting became imperative for them as elders to intervene and save the party from total collapse. The elders also met with some pro-Jonathan governors. Both meetings were inconclusive, though there were assurances from the elders that the two factions will once again come together as one indivisible party members. Obasanjo disclosed that discussions and consultations would continue. Also at the meeting were former Military President Ibrahim Babangida; Chairman, Board of Trustees of the PDP, BoT, Chief Tony Anenih; two former National Chairmen, Dr. Ahmadu Ali and Senator Barnabas Gemade; even as Obasanjo apologised on behalf of former Vice President Alex Ekwueme and Chief Solomon Lar who were not in the country, and said they were being carried along. Sunday Vanguard also gathered that after the meetings, the elders went into a closed door meeting to harmonise opinions and issues raised by the groups. The elders meetings with the groups lasted about five hours as the meetings started around 10am and ended 2.30 pm
Posted on: Sun, 08 Sep 2013 05:08:58 +0000
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