Four of the seven aggrieved Peoples
Democratic Party governors on Tuesday met with President Goodluck Jonathan, in
Abuja to protest ‘the belligerence’ of the party’s National Chairman, Dr.
Bamanga Tukur.
The three governors that met with him
earlier on Tuesday were Godswill Akpabio(Akwa Ibom), Gabriel Suswan
(Benue); and Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta).
It was also gathered that the the four ‘rebel’ governors –
Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Sule Lamido (Jigawa)
and Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto) – reiterated their demand for the recognition
of their Rivers State counterpart, Rotimi Amaechi, as the chairman
of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum.
They were also said to have asked the
President to ask Tukur to halt plans to take over the party’s structure in
their various states.
These, among other things, were parts
of demands tabled before the President at a closed-door meeting
held at the First Lady’s wing of the Presidential Villa.
It was also gathered that those at
the meeting commended elders of the party for their various efforts at
resolving the crisis that led to the factionalisation of the ruling party. They
equally commended the President for his disposition towards the various peace
moves.
Three of the aggrieved governors who
were absent from the meeting were Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Rabiu
Kwankwaso (Kano); and Abdulfatai Ahmed (Kwara).
It was gathered that Kwankwaso
and Ahmed travelled out of the country.
A-yet-to-be verified information
claimed that the governors equally asked the President to replace
Vice-President Namadi Sambo with one of them as a pre-condition for their
support should he decide to seek a second term in 2015.
A source privy to the meeting said,
“The aggrieved governors are ready for peace; that is why they
attended the meeting in the first place. However, it is doubtful if any
progress can be made if unconstitutional actions taken by the Tukur-led
National Working Committee of the party are not reversed.”
Jonathan had earlier on Tuesday met
first with Suswan, Akpabio and Uduaghan as well as Babangida and Ali over
the crisis in the party.
Suswan avoided State House
correspondents outright while Akpabio and Uduaghan who were approached declined
comments on their way out of the Villa.
Ali and Babangida, who
are among the seven PDP elders brokering peace between the Tukur-led PDP and
the Abubakar Baraje group known as the New
PDP, arrived
at the Villa around 1pm and left after about an hour.
Since the PDP split on August 31,
2013, Jonathan has met with several stakeholders in the party, including former
President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is also one of the seven elders of the
party.
He
has also met with Aliyu , Kwankwaso, Nyako and
Ahmed, who are backing the New
PDP
Tags
Politics