Jonathan, rebel govs agree to ‘ceasefire’ … to meet again on Oct. 7 • New PDP treasurer quits. L–R: Governors Mutala Nyako; Idris Wada; and Sule Lamido; PDP BoT Chairman, Chief Tony Anenih; President Goodluck Jonathan; Governors Liyel Imoke; Aliyu Babangida; Vice-President Namadi Sambo; Governors Chibuikie Amaechi; Rabi’u Kwakwanso; Godswill Akpabio and Abdulfatah Ahmed after a meeting with Jonathan at the Presidential Villa... on Sunday. President Goodluck Jonathan and the aggrieved governors in the New Peoples Democratic Party have agreed to sheath their swords as they commence immediate action towards the resolution of the crisis in the party. The decision was reached at a meeting they held on Sunday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Sunday night. This was disclosed in a communique issued after the meeting, which ended around 11:00 pm. A statement issued at the end of the talks was read by one of the seven aggrieved governors in theNew PDP and Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu. He was surrounded by Jonathan, Vice-President Namadi Sambo, and the Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih. Other governors in theNew PDPin attendance were Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Rabiu Kwakwanso (Kano), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Sule Lamido (Jigawa) and Abdulfattah Ahmed (Kwara). In the Bamanga Tukur-led PDP were Liyel Imoke (Cross River) Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom) and Idris Wada (Kogi). In the statement, the parties to the talks also agreed to avoid inflammatory statements on contentious issues, pending the resolution of the crisis. The statement reads in part, “With a view to resolving the recent crisis in our party and sequel to the number of meetings convened by leaders and stakeholders and the governors of Adamawa, Niger, Rivers, Kwara, Sokoto, Jigawa, Akwa Ibom, Kogi, Kano and Cross Rivers states met with the President, the Vice -President and the chairman of the BOT and extensively deliberated on various issues over a three -day period. “The meetings were cordial and deliberations fruitful with a clear commitments on all sides to resolve all issues raised at the meetings. “The meeting also called on all parties to sheath their swords and avoid further inflammatory comments on issues particularly during the course of our deliberations as we have all agreed to resolve all the differences. “In the interim, all parties have accepted to commence immediate action and agreed towards complete resolution of all matters and continue to meet until all processes toward reconciliation are concluded amicably.” The statement also disclosed that the “meetings will continue on October 7, 2013.” It added that both sides would ensure that the problems in the party were resolved. “We will make sure and ensure that there is progress in resolving the crisis,” they said in the statement. The meeting was initially scheduled to commence by 10pm, but it started at 4.35pm. Also, the venue was moved from House Seven, a guest house in the Presidential Villa where it was slated to hold to one of the meeting rooms in the First Lady’s Wing of the State House. Security officers in the Presidential Villa instructed journalists to stay away from the vicinity of the meeting. They said the parley was a private meeting and therefore not open to the media. Amaechi, who was among the first to arrive, drove himself . He was closely followed by Aliyu. The PUNCHlearnt that one of the reasons the meeting was commenced earlier than it was initially scheduled was because Jonathan was to meet with Anenih, Tukur and Baraje by 11pm also on Sunday. As of the time of filing this report, the outcome of the meeting had not been made public. A similar meeting on Tuesday between Jonathan and some of the aggrieved governors ended in a deadlock. The aggrieved governors had during the meeting tabled before Jonathan, some conditions from the New PDPwhich must be met before they would return to the mainstream PDP. The demands included the sacking of Tukur as the PDP national chairman; sticking to a one-term tenure by the President by not seeking re-election in 2015, and stopping the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission from further investigating them. Others are that the President must halt the plans to take over PDP’s structure in their various states, the resolution of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum crisis and the recall of Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi from suspension. Baraje and another chieftain of the New PDP,Senator Bukola Saraki, had said only two or three of the demands had partially been addressed. Baraje claimed that the President and the Tukur-led PDP had accepted to reverse the dissolution of the Adamawa State chapter executives and to rescind the suspension of Amaechi. To be continted........
Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 05:31:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015