PDP Governors Divide Over Bode George, Agbaje

Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party are said to be sharply divided on whether to support Chief Bode George or Mr. Jimi Agbaje for the position of the national chairman of the party, investigations have revealed.

George, who is believed to be the political godfather of Agbaje, had paid the mandatory N1m and had therefore picked his Expression of Interest form at the party’s temporary headquarters in Abuja on Thursday.

Agabaje, who was the governorship candidate of the party in Lagos during the last election, has yet to pay for his nomination form.

However, a source close to him said that the pharmacist-turned politician would pick his nomination form on Tuesday (tomorrow) in Abuja.

“I can confirm and confide in you that he will pay and pick his form in Abuja on Tuesday,” the source added.

He was said to be the candidate of Bode George during the election, which the PDP lost to the incumbent Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode.

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PDP Governors Stategize Ahead Of Meeting With Buhari

Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and governors of the 36 states of the federation, governors elected under the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have met to fine tune their strategy for the meeting.

The meeting was held on Monday night in Abuja. The PDP governors during the meeting harmonized their positions over the prevailing cash crunch facing their states .

The governors also agreed to use the opportunity of the meeting with Buhari to formally complain about the relocation of some states election tribunals to Abuja instead of the states where the elections took place.

The PDP governors present at the meeting included Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Darius Isiaku (Taraba), Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo), Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Ayo Fayose (Ekiti), Idris Wada (Kogi), Nysome Wike (Rivers), Udo Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom) and Ben Ayade (Cross River).

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PDP Governors Set To Form New Party

There are strong indications that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may break- up. Governors elected under the party’s platform are planning to form a new political party away from the crisis-ridden PDP.

The governors are insisting that the National Chairman of the party, Adamu Mu’azu should step-down from office. They have resolved to form a new political platform if Mu’Azu fails to resign.

Mu’azu has, however, insisted that he would not resign until the end of his tenure in 2016.

Read MorePeoplesDaily

PDP National Chairman Jets Out Of The Country

There are reports that the National Chairman of the PDP, Adamu Muazu, who before now was addressed as “the game changer”, may have jetted out of the country to evade being forced to convene a meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party, where he may be akin to resign.

Mr Muazu has been under intense pressure to quit his position as the party Chairman following the PDP’s poor showing in the March – April 2015 general election.

The party’s leadership had blamed the state governors elected on the platform of the PDP, and some other leaders, for its electoral failure.

At the moment, it is not clear where the National Chairman has travelled to, but there are indications that he may have informed President Goodluck Jonathan before embarking on the trip.

Mu’azu Thrown Out Of PDP Governors’ Meeting, Accused Of Betrayal

The national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, yesterday, was sent out of a meeting meant for PDP state governors, the Nigerian Times was reliably told.

Mu’azu, who was  not invited to the meeting which took place at the Akwa Ibom State Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja, was shocked when some of the governors began to raise their voices at him accusing him of betraying the party at the just concluded presidential elections.

The angry governors led by a governor from the South-West and another from the South-South screamed at him saying, “what are you doing here after you have betrayed us? Leave here now!”

A surprised Mu’azu who still making efforts to calm frayed nerves was pushed out by the two governors who were too angry to pay him any attention.

Rumours of Mu’azu’s imminent removal, if he fails to resign voluntarily, have been going round media circles for a while now after he led the party to a woeful outing in the just concluded elections.

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PDP Governors Angry With Fayose

State governors under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are angry with on of their colleagues, Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State.

The PDP governors are angry with Fayose overs his comments on the health status of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari.

They are worried that Fayose, rather than sell the candidature of the party’s presidential candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan, has been dissipating his energy and resources on the personality of Buhari. Evidence of the PDP governors’ disquiet emerged on Tuesday at the end of a forum convened by them in Lagos.

Some of the governors like Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom and Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo admitted in private and publicly that Fayose’s incendiary and uncouth remarks have become total blunders.

Read More: SaharaReporters

What Obasanjo Told PDP Govs in Secret Meeting

Sad news for President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid broke out from former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Hilltop Mansion, Abeokuta, yesterday evening, indicating that the outcome of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governors who had gone there to plead for the President’s support was initially played down.

It was reported that Obasanjo flatly refused to support Jonathan although Obasanjo had publicly said that he only explained to the governors his position on national issues. But it was gathered that it was more than that as he maintained his stand against Jonathan’s style of administration which didn’t deserve his support.

This was even as Jonathan and the son of the late former Head of State, Mohammed Abacha met behind closed doors at the Presidential Villa yesterday, apparently to strategize on how to secure victory for him and the party in Kano and other States..

The PDP is presenting the junior Abacha, who was freed from corruption and theft charges by the Federal Government last June, as its governorship candidate for Kano, apparently based on his assumed influence and popularity to dislodge the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate backed by out-going Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.

However, the five governors; Mallam Isa Yuguda of Bauchi, Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Liyel Imoke (Cross River) and Godswill Akpabio- (Akwa Ibom) had approached Obasanjo on behalf of Jonathan and the PDP and pleading with him to not only tone down his verbal attacks on the president and his administration but back him in the forthcoming election.

The governors, who spent at least three hours discussing with Obasanjo, however were said to have left his mansion without any strong promise from the former president, who sounded rather defiant, claiming that it was clear to all Nigerians that Nigerian under Jonathan was in a bad shape.

Obasanjo was, however, said to have given his visitors some words of consolation, saying, ‘the situation in Nigeria today is bad but is not beyond redemption’. “That means that something can still be done to change it, if there is courage and determination to do so.”

A source close to the Abeokuta meeting disclosed that Obasanjo accepted to receive the five governors because of his respect for them as individuals and politicians who rode to national limelight through his instrumentality and not because of Jonathan or PDP. The source told our correspondent on Friday that although Obasanjo was disappointed by the action of most of the governors who visited him, he did not want to vent his anger and disappointment by turning down their request to visit him.

The source, who is close to Obasanjo said: “But the truth of the matter is that ‘Baba’ did not give them any promise of word of comfort throughout their stay in Abeokuta because he is very upset with most of them, who have betrayed him in many ways since he helped them to clinch power in 2007.

“He told them the truth as it is that Jonathan’s leadership had really hurt the image of Nigeria at home and abroad and that they themselves should help him to change course so as to help Nigeria and Nigerians out the doldrums.

“Obasanjo made it clear to the visitors that he was not just speaking out for the sake of bringing Jonathan or his government down but to draw his attention to the urgent need to rise up and fight the monsters of insecurity and monumental corruption that are fast eating away the fabric of the nationhood and making Nigeria a mockery before the international community.

Asked if Obasanjo had tabled any demand as a condition for backing Jonathan in next year’s presidential poll, the source hinted that the former head of state did not give any condition and was not keen on any since he was not ready to back down on his position.

“Look, let me tell you the truth; Baba stands on his position concerning Jonathan and his administration and he is not ready to change whatever he had said or written no matter who comes to him or not.

“I can tell you that if the mission of the five governors was successful, one of them, who likes to talk at every event, would have been the first to speak. What happened was more of a mission not accomplished to say the truth,” the source said.

A source close to the Presidency said that the visit by the five governors to Obasanjo might have been sanctioned by the Villa as a means of staving off lingering criticism of President Jonathan by Obasanjo ahead of the crucial presidential poll fixed for the first quarter of next year.

Obasanjo had last month described Jonathan’s performance so far as ‘below average,’ a rating that received an instant bashing from Jonathan’s aides, who descended heavily on the former leader, calling him names.

Meanwhile, although the details of the discussions between Jonathan and Mohammed Abacha were not made public, Abacha told State House correspondents shortly after emerging from the parley with the president that he was confident the PDP would ‘recover Kano’ from the APC.

According to him, Kano was stolen from PDP and the party is on its way to recovering the stolen ticket. Abacha was also optimistic he would emerge the party’s gubernatorial flag bearer,saying, “We are hopeful; I wouldn’t want to say too much. I said it before that it was a PDP state; it was a PDP ticket. It was taken or converted or even stolen; whatever you want to call it, so be it. The chances of the PDP are still bright.’’

Speculations had been rife that the Presidency deliberately withdrew the charges bordering on the alleged stealing of N446 billion preferred against the aspirant last June in order to pave the way for him to contest the Kano governorship election.

The government through the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, had justified the nolle proseque (don’t prosecute or discontinue prosecution) entered in favour of Abacha, claiming that it was done in the overall interest of the country and not for pecuniary or political reasons.

Credit: Vanguard Nigeria