Ahead of his expected declaration for
the 2015 presidential race, supporters of President Goodluck Jonathan appear to
have been pitted against one another.
The development has threatened the
cohesion of the president’s camp as preparations for the general elections
gather momentum.
Although signs of suppressed rumbles
have been noticeable in the president’s political family since late last year,
the real threat became glaring recently as pseudo-mobilisation bodies
heightened their struggle for space in the expected campaign structure that may
emerge in a few months.
The latest sign of cold war materialised
in Akwa Ibom State one week after a similar case in the president’s home state,
Bayelsa, in the form of a supremacy battle.
Already, Governor Godswill Akpabio is
said to have complained to Jonathan about the activities of the presidential
adviser on political matters, Ahmed Ali Gulak.
Akpabio, who is also the chairman of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum has reportedly asked Jonathan
to call Gulak to order by asking the presidential aide to steer clear of his
state as the 2015 election approaches.
The governor is said to be unhappy over
the ‘back-door’ approach the presidential aide is alleged to be adopting to
make incursions into Akwa Ibom on the pretence of garnering support for
Jonathan’s re-election in 2015.
He specifically accused Gulak of
fraternising and associating with his political enemies in the state.
Findings showed that Akpabio was not comfortable
that Gulak was giving tacit encouragement to some of his estranged political
associates who are pursuing agenda different from his own in the countdown
towards 2015.
The governor was particularly angered by
Gulak’s well-publicised political fraternity with his (Akpabio’s) former
deputy, Obong Nsima Ekere, and ex-secretary to the state government (SSG),
Umana Okon Umana, under the guise of membership of Goodluck Suppport Group
(GSG), one of the numerous groups rooting for the re-election of Jonathan
in 2015.
Incidentally, the GSG is headed by the
presidential adviser.
Investigation revealed that Gulak
incurred the wrath of the governor when he stormed Uyo, the Akwa-Ibom State
capital, on Tuesday, April 14, and inaugurated the South-South zonal office of
the GSG.
Besides that, Gulak did not intimate the
government about the visit and his activities in the state. The ceremony was
attended by Umana, Ekere and other notable political opponents of the governor.
The governor was said to have considered
Gulag’s action as “disrespectful and an affront” to his exalted office.
Akpabio, it was learnt, was infuriated
that Gulak created the impression that he acted on behalf of the Presidency.
The governor’s position may have
influenced the last meeting of the Akwa Ibom chapter of the PDP, which
lampooned the presidential aide over his recent political foray into the state.
In the communique signed by the Akwa
Ibom State PDP chairman, Mr Paul Ekpo, the party accused Gulak of breaching
existing and relevant protocols during his visit to the state.
“Gulak came to Akwa Ibom State and
inaugurated a sectional and an unknown support group in favour of President
Goodluck Jonathan without calling on the state’s party leadership.
“Let Gulak sort out PDP problems in
Adamawa State, deliver Adamawa State to the president before rushing to safe
territories like South-South Nigeria where Jonathan requires no campaign,” the
statement said in part.
Also, one of our sources said: “The Akwa
Ibom State governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, is very unhappy with the Gulak
because of his recent visit to his state. You know the governor is a known ally
of Mr President and he has reported the presidential aide to his boss for
appropriate action.
“How can Gulak come to the state and
gather some dissidents and well known political enemies of the governor for a
nocturnal meeting under the guise of inaugurating an office of a support group
for the president? He did not even bother to inform and relate with the
government and the party in the state during the visit.
“The governor considers his action as
disrespectful and an affront and he has asked Mr President to call Gulak to
order and prevail on him to stop further interference in the political affairs
of the state.”
It will be recalled that a similar
incident happened in Bayelsa State last week as the police, allegedly acting on
instructions from the state governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson, forcefully stopped
a pro-Jonathan rally bankrolled by another presidential aide, Waripamowei
Dudafa, who is eyeing the governorship of the state in 2016.
The group, New Dawn Initiative for
Development, led by its national chairman Olalekan Bello and national secretary
Michael Agbo Baro, had in the announcement and invitation letters circulated to
political leaders in the state, including the state governor, Hon. Dickson,
stated that the rally would kick-start series of programmes and activities
targeted at the grassroots so that the message will gain traction well before
the 2015 election.
In the letter of invitation dated March
28, 2014, and sent to the governor requesting him to attend as special guest at
the rally, the group noted that “the rally will provide a message loud enough
to reverberate in Aso Villa to the hearing of the president that his people
earnestly yearn for him to continue the good work he has started through
vehicle of his transformation agenda.”
It was gathered that the New Dawn was,
however, suspected by loyalists of the state government to be a new political
machinery set up and bankrolled by Dudafa.
While many members of the New Dawn
claimed the pro-Jonathan rally was aborted by the police under instructions
from the state governor due to the rumour that it was to be used as a platform
to endorse the candidature of Dudafa as Bayelsa governor in 2016, close aides
of the governor dismissed the claim.
It was gathered that the leadership of
the group had secured the permission of the state police commissioner Hillary
Okpara to hold the rally at the Opolo Primary and Secondary School, in Opolo
area of the state capital, before the sudden action of the police.
The presidential aide, Dudafa, is touted
to be eyeing the governorship ticket of the ruling PDP, with reports linking
his ambition to the desire of the president’s wife Dame Patience Jonathan to
stop Governor Dickson from seeking a second term in office, a claim she denies.
However, she is said
to be backing Dudafa as the next governor of Bayesla State
