Attempts by some governors to unseat serving senators have suffered a big setback . A top source within the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) revealed that a meeting called by the party’ s National Chairman , Adamu Mu ’ azu , to resolve the crisis generated by the ambitions of the governors to unseat the senators was deadlocked. Alhaji Adamu Mu’ azu The crisis , a competent Presidential Villa source said, even resulted to a South South Governor ( name withheld ) and a serving Senator ( name withheld ) exchanging hot words last week at the presidential villa in the presence of President Goodluck Jonathan . The meeting between Mu ’azu and the governors on Wednesday night in Abuja apparently failed to reach a consensus on the vexed issues of endorsement and automatic tickets for Senate- bound governors , their preferred successors and first term governors . However, the meeting is expected to reconvene at this weekend . Though the final lap of the meeting is yet to hold, another source said “acceptable conditions ” for the out - going governors who seek the PDP ticket to go to the Senate are likely to be given to them . “ They cannot have everything they want ,” the source close to the party’ s National Working Committee ( NWC ) told Daily Independent correspondent on Thursday . He said the party was worried that even though it wished that some of its ranking Senators are returned to the Senate in 2015 , the activities of some of the governors have become impediments to the realisation of that dream. Besides confirming that there were indeed pressures from the outgoing governors on Mu ’azu and President Jonathan to issue automatic senatorial tickets for the two- term governors , the source close to the NWC disclosed that the national leadership of the party had concluded plans to meet with the governors to seek quick and acceptable conditions that would please all the parties . “ The truth is that the pressures have always been there since the issue of the President ’s endorsement was concluded at the last party’ s NEC meeting, it has taken a very dangerous dimension because our desire is to strengthen our National Assembly , especially the Senate so that the polity could benefit from their wealth of experience but the governors and their ambition to go to the Senate is becoming a big hindrance to this desire. “ While we believe that the governors are our field commanders , we cannot say in the same breath that our Senators are no more useful and should be discarded . So we have outlined some acceptable conditions that will guide both the governors and the senators, because the governors , especially , cannot have everything to themselves without consideration for others. “ We are going to tell them politely that if a governor wishes to go to the Senate, fine, but such cannot be the one to anoint a successor , and if at all , let the Senator any governor wishes to replace also take the governorship slot, ” he stated . Relating what happened between a governor and the senator representing his senatorial district , the presidential source told Daily Independent that the governor infuriated the Senator when he urged the President to “find something for the Senator ” because he ( governor ) had prepared to replace him in the Senate . “ It was very embarrassing that the senator had to pointedly tell the governor that if he wanted to go to the Senate , he ( senator ) was ready to be governor ; it took the intervention of the President to calm frayed nerves because it was becoming a heated argument between them in the presence of Mr . President ,” the source said . It was gathered that the governor did not take lightly the response of the senator because he had already endorsed someone to take over from him in 2015 . A check on the list of governors showing open interest in the Senate seats revealed that Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime is angling to replace Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu just as his Ebonyi State counterpart , Martin Elechi , is making moves to take over from Senator Chris Nwankwo . In Delta , Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan wants the seat of Senator James Manager . Governor Godswill Akpabio had expressed readiness to replace Senator Aloysius Etuk , just as Governor Gabriel Suswam is battling former national chairman of PDP , Senator Barnabas Gemade , for his seat . Also , Senator Nuhu Zagbayi ’s stay in the Senate might be brief as Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State has indicated interest to go to the Senate like his colleagues too .
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 04:52:50 +0000
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