President Goodluck Jonathan
The
gang-up by some Peoples Democratic Party governors against President
Goodluck Jonathan’s second term ambition is believed to be unsettling
the President
The reality that he might not win the PDP ticket for the 2015 poll made him to raise a team of three governors to meet with former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abuja on Thursday.
The reality that he might not win the PDP ticket for the 2015 poll made him to raise a team of three governors to meet with former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abuja on Thursday.
The governors, who met with Obasanjo,
are Governor Godwill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom Sate; Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan
(Delta State) and Liyel Imoke (Cross River State).
The meeting, which was held at the Hilton Hotel, first had the duo of Uduaghan and Imoke in attendance.
Both of them were with the former
President for about one and half hours before they left. It was after
then that Akpabio, who also chairs the PDP Governors’ Forum, came and
also had a discussion with Obasanjo.
Jonathan, it was gathered, was worried
about the openness with which the PDP governors talked about 2015 and
referred to him as unelectable.
At least, about three governors have openly declared that the President must honour his one-term agreement with them.
Apart from this, they also said that
winning the primary of the PDP would not be a guarantee that the
President would win the presidential election.
The President is also said to be
worried about the lack of cooperation among PDP governors and how the
last chairmanship election of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum had polarised
the party.
Presidential sources said on Sunday
that Jonathan was also worried about lack of communication between him
and Obasanjo, a development considered as being dangerous to his 2015
ambition.
Besides, the President is believed to
have considered as very serious, the warning by a former Head of
State, Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar ,that politicians should not allow the
crisis in Rivers State to derail democracy in the country.
One of the Presidency sources said,
“The President and his close aides felt that he needed to reach out
quickly so that things would not degenerate further among the
governors and the PDP.
“He is also worried about the security
implication of the warnings concerning the crisis in Rivers State and
wanted the former President to intervene. Apart from these, the
President wanted former President Obasanjo to also have words with some
of the governors, especially those from the North who are opposed to
his second term ambition.”
The result of the discussions the three
governors had with Obasanjo was said to have been the reason why
Jonathan visited him (Obasanjo) in Abeokuta, Ogun State on Saturday
after commiserating with his spokesperson, Dr, Rueben Abati on the
death of his mother.
Abati’s mother was buried on Friday.
It was gathered that the President would
not have visited Abeokuta at all, if the discussions the three
governors had with Obasanjo were not “friendly”.
“The President would not have visited
Abeokuta at all because coming to Abeokuta without visiting Obasanjo
could have sent a wrong signal to the people that their relationship
had broken down irretrievably,” the source added.
Special Adviser to the President on
Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak, however, said there was nothing unusual
about the meeting by the two leaders.
Gulak, in an interview with one of
our correspondents, said it was wrong for people to continue to tie
every decision of the President to elections.
He argued that it would have been disrespectful for the President to be in Abeokuta without finding time to visit Obasanjo.
Gulak said, “Courtesy demands that since
President Jonathan was in Abeokuta to commiserate with his spokesman
over the death of his mother, he should pay courtesy visit on the former
President, who resides in that same town.
“There is nothing unusual about that
visit. That is what courtesy demands. If the President did not visit the
former President, it would have also been an issue in the media that he
shunned the man.”
When reminded that the meeting held a
few minutes before the former President met with four Northern governors
and that could have been an indication that 2015 elections were
discussed, Gulak replied, “Is everything about election? “
But just shortly after Jonathan left
Abeokuta, four Peoples Democratic Party governors - Murtala Nyako
(Adamawa), Sule Lamido (Jigawa); Aliu Wamakko (Sokoto) and Rabiu
Kwankwaso (Kano) – also met behind closed-doors with Obasanjo.
When they emerged about one hour later, Nyako said they were in Abeokuta for “consultation on very important matters.”
“We have come to greet the most
accomplished Nigerian ever and would remain so for a very long time and
to consult him on very important matters,” Nyako,who is believed to have
been pencilled in as the North’s PDP Presidential choice for the
2015 poll, said.
Our correspondents gathered from a
party source close to the meeting that the consultation had to do with
2015 and the forthcoming mini- convention of the PDP.
It was gathered that the governors and
the ex-President exchanged views on how to reclaim the party
structure which, at the moment, is skewed in favour of Jonathan and
the National Chairman, Dr. Bamanga Tukur.
The governors, according to the source, are desirous of seeing the situation reversed at the mini- convention.
He said, “The governors again on
Saturday solicited Obasanjo’s support for the North in 2015. They heard
about his meeting with Governor Akpabio on Thursday.
“As it has been reported that Akpabio
was sent by the President, the northern governors want Obasanjo to be
steadfast in his support for the North in 2015.
“They are also planning to get the
control of the PDP from Jonathan and Tukur at the forthcoming
mini-convention. They want Tukur removed during the convention.”
The source however said it would be
“politically suicidal ” for any serving PDP governor to openly
declare a presidential ambition at this stage.
He said, “The best any governor can do
for now is to keep consulting because of the enormous powers of a
sitting President. Nobody in his right senses would want to risk the
‘Amaechi’ treatment two whole years before an election.
“Even if, like many believe, Governor
Lamido is interested, can he confront the President now? Look at what
mere speculations has attracted to his son, Aminu.
“Do you think the recent trial and
conviction of the boy was an accident? Many people are not comfortable
with the good things Obasanjo said about Lamido on May 29.”
When contacted, the Director of Press to
the Jigawa State Governor, Mallam Umar Kyari, said he was not in a
position to say what transpired during the Abeokuta meeting.
Kyari said, “I don’t want to be drawn
into what was discussed or not discussed behind closed doors, because I
don’t know. Our governor has not told anybody that he is interested in
running for the office of President but people keep on mentioning his
name.
“The Abeokuta meeting was held behind
closed doors, nobody can tell you what they discussed except those who
attended the meeting.”
When asked to comment on the fact that
the four governors discussed how to remove Tukur , the PDP spokesman,
Oliva Okpala, said, “There is a meeting going on right now and all
issues affecting the party are being discussed and they will be
addressed. Dialogue is ongoing and by tomorrow (Monday), the party will
issue a statement.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment