G7 Governors Confused On Whether To Leave PDP Or Not

Fresh confusion appears to have hit the camp of the aggrieved governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), under the aegis of G7, over their plan to defect to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).

A meeting of the G7 with former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abeokuta, Ogun State, last week was said to have ignited the confusion as sources confirmed that the former president flatly declared to the aggrieved governors that he was not in support of their plan to join rival APC or another party, the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM).

Obasanjo, who is seen as the godfather of most of the aggrieved governors, including Sule Lamido of Jigawa, Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto, Murtala Nyako of Adamawa, Babangida Aliyu of Niger and Rabiu Musa Kwakwaso of Kano and practically influenced their election into office, was said to have told the governors that he was not in support of their plan to join the APC.

Sources confirmed to Sunday Tribune that Obasanjo said there were persons in the APC and other opposition parties he could not work with and that he believed that the governors were better off working with President Goodluck Jonathan.

“I prefer that you seek ways out of the crisis in the PDP. It is better you work with Jonathan than to join parties that harbour people who should ordinarily be in jail as we speak,” Obasanjo was quoted as telling the aggrieved governors.

It was also confirmed that the charge from Obasanjo has immediately thrown the G7 into confusion as a number of the governors have decided to work out a peace option with Jonathan.

Last week, three of the governors floated peace moves towards seeking a way out of the crisis and resolving with President Jonathan.

Two of the governors were said to have lobbied friends of the president to open talks with them so that they can get a way out of the crisis.

It was confirmed that while one of the G7 members decided to lobby close associates of the president in Abuja, including political office holders and legislators, others resolved to lobby statesmen and top members of the cabinet to prevail on Jonathan to accede to some of their requests.

“I believe that people like you should talk to the president so that he can look into our requests. We have been talking of eight points. He can consider two of them and pave the way for us to reconcile. It is better we remain together in the PDP than go to another party to start afresh,” the G7 member pleaded with sources close to the administration.

Though it was confirmed that the governors of Adamawa, Kano and Sokoto have concluded plans to defect to the APC, the other governors are said to be taking Obasanjo’s advice seriously.

It was also confirmed that the reality in the APC setting in Kwara, Jigawa and Niger states was also a source of confusion among the G7 members. 
Sources said the entry of any of the G7 governors in each of the three states was certain to spark another round of crisis which could further deplete the camps of the governors.

It was confirmed that despite the readiness of the APC leadership to hand over the party’s structure in Rivers State to Governor Rotimi Amaechi, the governor has also been reluctant to jump camp because of the reality that doing so could further expose his political base.

Last week, it was also confirmed that one of the governors personally visited President Jonathan, while another was said to have initiated a strategy that would see the National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd), intervene on their behalf and plead with the president.

A source said that the NSA got involved in the G7 crisis earlier in the year when security reports were said to have indicted the governors who were then travelling from one part of the country to the other to rally support for their agenda.

A number of them were said to have rushed to the NSA who later led them to the president where they explained their side of the security reports.

Checks across the factions also showed that both sides had pushed the fight to the edge of precipice with both now weighing options before taking the final plunge. As much as some new PDP leaders are flirting with APC, they are said to be worried by emerging resistance from the middle and lower rank of the APC to their likelihood to join the party.

For the mainstream PDP, the adopted option of closing the door against the new PDP is said to be under challenge by other mainstream forces who dread the electoral consequences of entering the New Year and even the election year with the party in crisis.

It was gathered that while many loyalists of the president are already working on a post-G7 agenda, other groups on the fringe are pursuing other options to prevent total pullout by the Kawu Baraje-led faction.

An administration official, however, said “carrot and stick is an option we want to go back to,” adding that “if that fails, we face 2015 without them.”