A
former Governor of Bauchi State, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, has been chosen as
the new Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party by President Goodluck Jonathan
and governors.
He will
replace the former chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, who resigned from his position
on Wednesday.
Mu’azu was
picked as a consensus candidate at a meeting between President Goodluck
Jonathan and the governors of the party at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on
Sunday night.
The meeting
ended at 1:22 am on Monday (today) morning.
Investigations
showed that the governors had rejected the choice of Mohammed Wakil by the
President and his wife, Patience.
Some reasons
were said to have been adduced for the rejection of Wakil, a former
House of Representatives Leader. The reasons included his
alleged inability to carry people along when he was a principal officer of the
House.
A
governor said after the meeting that the President was bent on
picking Wakil, who had undergone screening by the security agents for
a ministerial position.
The governor,
who asked not to be named, said the President wanted Wakil at all
costs but was vehemently opposed by the governors.
He said the
meeting lasted long because it was difficult for the President to
accept defeat.
The governor
said, “Yes, we have picked Mu’azu. He will be presented to the members of the
PDP NEC on Monday (today) for ratification.”
It was also
gathered that the Governor of Bauchi State, Malla. Isa Yuguda, later agreed
with the choice of Mu’azu, after his initial opposition.
Mu’azu was
last week sworn in as the chairman of the National Pensions
Commission by Jonathan.
Mu’azu
was born on June 11, 1955 and was governor of Bauchi State from May
29, 1999 to May 29, 2007.
Before
the Villa meeting, the North-East governors, met at the Bauchi State
Governor’s Lodge in Abuja.
The PDP
chairmanship post was zoned to the North-East.
The Chairman
of the PDP Governors’ Forum, Godswill Akpabio, and Bayelsa State Governor
Seriake Dickson were said to have attended the meeting by the North-East
governors before the one at the Villa.
Before the
two meetings, the President had a private meeting with Seriake ostensibly
over who would emerge as the new chairman of the PDP.
Before
Sunday, a former National Publicity Secretary of the party, Prof. Rufai
Alkali (Gombe State); ex- Acting National
Secretary, Dr. Musa Babayo (Bauchi); and a
former Minister of Commerce, Amb. Idris Waziri (Taraba), were
touted as some of the five top contenders for the job.
An ex-
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr. Ibrahim Bunu (Borno) and the
current Minister of Transport, Sen. Idris Umar, who is believed to
be the choice of the wife of the President Goodluck Jonathan,
Patience, were also in the race.
During the
meeting between Jonathan and the governors, journalists were asked to leave
the venue .
The governors
in attendance were Jonah Jang (Plateau), Seidu Dakingari
(Kebbi), Gabriel Suswam (Benue), Theodore Orji (Abia), Ibrahim Dankwambo
(Gombe), Martins Elechi (Ebonyi) and Sullivan Chime (Enugu).
Others were
Ibrahim Shema (Katsina), Ramalan Yero (Kaduna), Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta) Idris
Wada (Kogi), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Liyel Imoke (Cross River),
Garba Umar (Taraba), Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa) and Adamawa State Deputy
Governor, Bala Ngilari.
All the
governors from the North-East arrived the same time with Akpabio and Dickson,
thus confirming the belief that they were also at the Bauchi
Governor’s Lodge..
Vice-President
Namadi Sambo and the President of the Senate, David Mark, also attended the
meeting alongside the party’s Deputy National Chairman, Uche Secondus.