The ongoing power tussle in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is taking a new twist on a daily basis as both the Alhaji Bamangar Tukur-led old PDP and the Alhaji Kawu Baraje-led New PDP, are not resting on their oars in their struggle for the structure of the largest political party in Africa. Since the power tussle between the two camps started, the members of the nPDP seem to be at the receiving end as various measures have been taken by the presidency and the Bamangar Tukur-led PDP to weaken the nPDP. Shortly after nPDP was established by some aggrieved members of the PDP, the nPDP national secretariat in Abuja was closed down by the police and few months after the closure, the building was marked for demolition by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on the excuse that it was originally approved as a residential building. Many people see the move as an action against the nPDP. According to the Baraje-led PDP, the house, before it was acquired by the nPDP, was being used by another political party, the National Democratic Party, as its national secretariat without the FCTA complaining that it was against the Abuja Master Plan. Another major development in the course of the battle is the denying of the nPDP recognition by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and a Lagos High Court. INEC, in a letter signed by its Acting Secretary, U.F. Usman, which was a response to an earlier correspondence from the Bareje-led nPDP in which it sought recognition for Baraje as PDP national chairman, among others, rejected and refused to recognise the New PDP. Worsening the situation of the aggrieved members of the PDP, Justice Oludotun Adefope-Okojie of Ikeja High Court, while giving his ruling in a suit filed by the nPDP against Tukur and three others, struck out the suit for want of jurisdiction. Justice Adefope-Okojie held that the Lagos State High Court had no power to assume jurisdiction over a matter which originated outside its territory. Some prominent leaders of the nPDP and their loyalists have not been spared by the power brokers. They have adopted several tactics via federal might and use security agencies to weaken them. Apparently most affected among all the G-7 governors is the chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi. Harassed on many occasions by the Rivers State Police Command with impunity, witch-hunting appears to be the right word to describe his travail. In the cause of Governor Amaechi’s tussle with the presidency and PDP leadership, Rivers State private jet was grounded in Akure by the Ministry of Aviation on the account that the licence of the jet was not renewed. The tussle also led to the splitting of NGF into two factions. While one is led by Amaechi, the other is led by Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State. Governor Amaechi was later suspended from the PDP and till date his suspension has not been lifted. Also recently, the Adamawa State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja, was sealed off. The lodge was being used as temporary national secretariat of the New PDP when it was sealed off by the FCTA on the same excuse of violating Abuja Master Plan. Though, the house has been reopened, many people saw the incidents as some of the negative actions taken by the government. A-Park Gardens in Abuja, the events centre of Senator Aisha Al-Hassan, which has been in operation for several years, has also been suddenly revoked by the FCTA and slated for demolition. Also linked to the witch-hunting of the nPDP members is the withdrawal of the security details attached to Senators Bukola Saraki and Danjuma Goje who are also former Governors of Kwara and Gombe states respectively. Political observers have also linked the sack of nine ministers by President Jonathan to the measures taken by the presidency to spite nPDP leaders. Many people believe that the sack of the nine ministers was political because virtually all those affected were appointed on the recommendation by the G-7 governor and opposition party’s members states. With the way the G-7 governors and other nPDP were sidelined in the choice of replacement for the sacked ministers, it would be difficult for the presidency and the power brokers to convince people that the sack of the nine ministers was not political. The nPDP has also declared that that government is already using the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to hound many of its members. Among those who were being hunted because of their loyalty to the nPDP are Bukola Saraki, Danjuma Goje and former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva. Without any iota of doubt, many people are worried by the way the perceived opponents of the government and the ruling party are being harassed and humiliated by agencies of governing and they believe that urgent step must be taken to prevent the current trend from causing mayhem in Nigeria. The members of the nPDP, who seem to be mostly affected by the perceived government opposition and witch-hunting on Sunday stated that the federal government, through their agents, had been using “unconstitutional means” to achieve their selfish goals. The nPDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, noted that the federal government agents had, in the past few weeks, been using a well co-ordinated and systematic plot to traumatise, annihilate and cripple them economically and politically. The statement reads in part: “Contrary to the provisions of Chapter IV Sections 42, 43 and 44 of the 1999 Constitution which guarantee our rights as Nigerians to acquire and own property in any part of the country, our national secretariat and most of our state secretariats have been sealed off by the Police on the orders of those in power. This is despite the fact that we still have a court case against Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and the NWC of the PDP. “We understand that the worst is yet to come as this unserious organ masquerading as an anti-graft agency would soon be unleashed on all our key members in both the Senate and House of Representatives in an operation code-named ‘Operation Coerce Them Back to Tukur.’ “On its part, the Nigeria Police Force, which has abysmally failed to find a solution to the menace of Boko Haram, kidnapping, assassination and other criminal acts ravaging the country, has been given a fresh mandate to frame up our members and term them criminals in order to keep them at bay.” The nPDP therefore appealed to President Jonathan “to be a statesman and caution these dogs of war before they do irreversible damage to our dear country.” Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), which comprises the All Progressives Congress (APC) governors, said the resort by the federal government to the use of its security agents to harass, intimidate and oppress G-7 governors and other innocent Nigerians who have issues with the PDP, is an affront on the Nigerian constitution and a serious setback to democracy. The PGF, in a statement by its Director General, Mr. Salihu Lukman, therefore tasked Nigerians to rise up against the new wave of assault by the federal government on voices of dissent. PGF also pleaded with the National Assembly to direct the Police to stop further harassment of the nPDP and other perceived opponents of the PDP’s administration. “The Progressive Governors Forum finds it unacceptable that the Nigeria Police has been reduced to partisan agents and attack dogs that only serve a faction of a political party when the level of insecurity in the country is so high. It is reckless to take partisan contest to levels of warfare as the federal government has done because this would only weaken the capacity of security operatives in responding to real security challenges. “At a time when every security outfit and resource should be devoted to securing the lives and livelihoods of Nigerians, is when the federal government thinks it’s expedient to send the number of officers and the kind of equipment it did to harass its perceived political opponents, take governance to a new level of irresponsibility and rascality. “Clearly, President Jonathan and his advisers have acted in complete violations of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended pursuant to some self-serving political interests,” PGF stated. Commenting on the clampdown, the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), Mallam Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim, described the latest clampdown on opposition politicians and groups as, “nothing but political witch-hunting and shameless display of intolerance.” Ibrahim, in a statement signed by his media adviser, Alaba Yusuf, said: “This is tyranny of the highest order and a clear breach of citizens’ rights to freedom of association as ingrained in our country’s constitution. “The Adamawa State Governor’s Lodge, where the nPDP later moved to, also became a target and marked for bulldozing. Now, the impunity has escalated to the private and commercial interests of opposition elements. This kind of impunity must not be allowed to stand and should not continue unchallenged. “President Jonathan should spend his energy fighting the rot inside his party and government. Let him deploy his uncommon zeal in dealing with the opposition to fighting the monumental level of corruption in which his favourite ministers are involved. Let him cleanse the ministries of Petroleum, Aviation, Niger Delta and Defence of corruption and stop industrial-scale oil theft in the creeks. Then we will know he is serious about solving Nigeria’s problems. Jonathan should stop chasing shadows and overheating the polity.” Irrespective of the alleged victimisation and humiliation of the members of nPDP, the party leaders have resolved not to be distracted by the ongoing events. The Chairman, Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) and Governor of Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, said this is not the time for anybody in the struggle to pull out. Governor Aliyu, one of the arrow heads of the G-7 governors, while hosting leaders of the Nigeria Civil Service Union in his office in Minna on Tuesday, said the outcome of the discussions between the aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party governors and President Goodluck Jonathan will decide the next move of the aggrieved governors. He said: “This is not even the time for me or anybody in the struggle to pull out. We are still discussing with Mr. President and until he stops discussing with us or we cannot agree on anything, it is then we start thinking of the next line of action. Pulling out is definitely not an option.” There were also deployment of the Police to the vicinity of the Sokoto Governor’s Lodge, Abuja, with a view to scuttling the caucus meeting of nPDP on Sunday, not knowing that the Sokoto Governor’s Lodge was used as a decoy by the Baraje’s group, who later met briefly at the Kano Government Lodge in Abuja on Sunday night.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 09:24:26 +0000
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