Not ready to take chances as the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) appears set to reap from the festering crisis in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), President Goodluck Jonathan has summoned the G-7 governors to a peace meeting today.
The time of the meeting scheduled for the Presidential Villa has been kept secret as this report was filed.
G-7 Govs meet at Kano Governor’s Lodge
This is even as the Kano State governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, was playing host to his colleagues and the leadership of the breakaway faction of the PDP, the new PDP, at the Kano Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro. The meeting ended at about 12.10 am.
Briefing newsmen at the end of the meeting, the Niger State Governor, Mua’Zu Babangida Aliyu said the G-7 governors and the nPDP leadership applauded the appeal court verdict which re-instated Olagunsoye Oyinlola to his former position.
“We thank God for what he has done through the court for re-instating the position of the PDP national secretary: we are very happy with what has happened and the national secretary will resume his office after all due processes have been covered.
“We take it as a vindication of what has been going on because all along, these issues were issues of due process, issues of reforms. We are happy that the court has done this for us.
“So we look forward to resolution and future resolution of matters. The judgment has to be given to the PDP secretariat, and the moment he gives, he resumes”.
On their proposed meeting with the president today, Governor Aliyu said: “The onus is on Mr. President, once he calls us, we will go and meet him”.
Prominent members of the Baraje’s group that attended the meeting include state governors: RabiuKwankwaso (Kano); BabangidaAliyu (Niger); RotimiAmaechi (Rivers); AliyuWamakko (Sokoto); MurtalaNyako (Adamawa); Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), Senator BukolaSaraki, Senator DanjumaGoje, Chief Sam Jaja, former Osun State Governor OlagunsoyeOyinlola, former Nasarawa State Governor AbdullahiAdamu, Chief Segun Oni and deputy governor of Jigawa State.
But today’s meeting between the president and the G-7governors, LEADERSHIP learnt, was convened by President Jonathan at the insistence of former president Olusegun Obasanjo in what could be regarded as a move to stop the governors from defecting to the APC.
Jonathan orders Oyinlola’s Reinstatement
As a pre-meeting truce move, President Jonathan has directed the immediate reinstatement of Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola as the national secretary of the PDP.
Oyinlola, whose reinstatement had been ordered by the Appeal Court in Abuja, had earlier been announced as the factional scribe of the new PDP following the August 31 walkout of the G-7 Governors and other leaders of the PDP from the party’s national convention.
According to a top presidency official who confirmed the meeting on condition of anonymity, the former president had contacted Jonathan on the need to quickly call a meeting in order to allay the fears of the governors who have been up in arms against him and the national chairman of the PDP, Bamanga Tukur.
He said: “Yes it is true, if you heard that he (Jonathan) would meet the governors tomorrow (today). They have to meet to iron out whatever differences once and for all, especially as the public is meant to believe that they are on their way to the APC.
“We know, for sure, that none of the governors has the real intention of going to the APC because they all know the implication of such move.
‘They know, for sure, that once they leave PDP and join the APC, they will be rendered irrelevant. You can see that in some states, there are already musings and grumblings going on, but it does not mean that, at least, a last chance would not be created for all parties to express their views on the crisis”, he said.
On the possible concessions likely to be made at today’s meeting, the source said some were likely but he was unspecific except on one.
“A few (concessions) have to be made on both sides. For a start, Mr. President, as a democrat, has already ordered the immediate reinstatement of Oyinlola following the court of appeal verdict; this could not happened previously”, he said.
On the G-7 governors’ meeting, a source confided in LEADERSHIP that the meeting was a ‘strategic session ahead of the parley with the president’.
“You should know that if the meeting with the president would hold as being widely speculated, you cannot expect the governors to just move into the Villa without any form of agenda or items for discussions with the president. We know the issues but after the last meeting, quite a lot of developments have happened, so they need to review events and have a united front to table issues,” he said.
When contacted, national publicity secretary of the new PDP, EzeChukwuemeka Eze, confirmed that the meeting of the G-7 governors became necessary in view of the need to have a common ground.
“The governors need to have a common front and present an agenda for tomorrow’s (today) meeting with the president,” Eze said.
More Govs, Others Joining Us - New PDP
The breakaway faction of the ruling PDP, otherwise known as the New PDP, has said that five state governors, National Assembly members and some former governors have since indicated interest to join its fold.
Towards this end, the splinter group said it had constituted a committee for the reception of the new entrants.
The group, in a statement made available to LEADERSHIP and signed by its national publicity secretary, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, yesterday, said theNational Working Committee (NWC) of the nPDP held its monthly meetingat the weekend in Abuja to review developments and chart the way forward for the party.
He added that the meeting, which was presidedover by the faction’s national chairman, Abubakar Kawu Baraje, also set up a six-man reception organising committee saddled with the responsibility of overseeing the reception in honour of the five more unnamed serving governors, ex-governors, “key” National Assembly members and others it described as “nationalists” of the PDP who, according to him, had decided to join the faction.
“The committee is headed by the national vice chairman of the faction, Sam Jaja, with the national organising secretary Nasir Isa Abubakar as the secretary of the committee.
Other members include the national treasurer Abubakar G. Umar, the women leader Binta Masi Garba, the youth leader Timi Frank and the national public secretary Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze.
The statement said the committee was directed to submit for immediate consideration by the G-7 Governors the venue, logistics and modalities for the reception.
Meanwhile, the nPDP said it had appointed its national organising secretary, Nasir Isa Abubakar, to replace Olagunsoye Oyinlola as its national secretary in acting capacity pending further directives from the G-7 Governors and its caucus.
“The nPDP said it welcomed the development and after considering the expert opinion of its legal adviser, Barr. Eric Opia, it decided that Oyinlola does not need any other oath of office to return to work as the party’s national secretary as he took PDP’s oath of office alongside other members of the NWC who were sworn in at the Eagle Square on March 24, 2012.
“The nPDP NWC is therefore of the view that Prince Oyinlola should resume office immediately without waiting for any directive from any quarters. Any other person who parades himself as the national secretary of PDP should be committed to prison for contempt of court,” the nPDP said.
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