PDP crisis deepens as ‘rebels’ open new chapter Our Reporter October 6, 2013 4 Comments » BY CHIDI OBINECHE As the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, prepare for the all important truce meeting on October 7, new flanks in the crisis rocking the party are opening up.It is spreading to the South-South zone, home of the president even as the new PDP is seeking posponement of the meeting. Foot soldiers of some governors in the zone would meet in a move Sunday Sun learnt may give birth to the fledgling new PDP.The meeting, which is the third in the series has been planned clandestinely, with only the trusted aides of the conveners aware of it. The first two meetings held in Ikom in Cross River State,while the one slated for Monday is to hold in the state capital Calabar,unless there is an adjustment in the planning. The new PDP, which has in its fold seven serving governors insists their mission is to chart a new course for the beleaguered ruling party. The governors include Babangida Aliyu( Niger State), Sule Lamido (Jigawa State)Murtala Nyako (Adamawa State),Chibuike Amaechi (Rivers State), Ahmed Fatai( Kwara State), Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso(Kano State), and Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto State). The meeting is designed to strenghten its tentacles in the zone as well as put in place structures.Officers that will emerge at the meeting will deceptively carry on as members of the PDP. They are also making bold moves to woo at least two governors to their side.The PDP had earlier berthed in Bayelsa, the home state of the president,and Rivers State. The arrival of the faction in the two states was met with stiff resistance from security agencies. Unlike that of these two states,the one being planned today in Cross River State is spearheaded by federal lawmakers in the House of Representatives. The resurgent group had met twice before now under the leadership of a popular committee chairman who has headed a Grade A committee for two succeeding sessions.He is ably supported by another Grade A committee chairman from the state.Sunday sun learnt that attempts had been made in the past by some pro-Jonathan governors who got wind of the initial two meetings to querry those who attended the meetings and with threats of sanctions. Those warnings have largely been ignored. The festering crisis in the PDP which was initially dismissed as a storm in a tea cup, has so far defied all solutions.Save for the Rivers State governor,Amaechi, the major proponents of the new PDP are from the North. Analysts insist that the driving force is the 2015 presidential election. Three weeks ago, a courtesy visit by the National Working Committee, NWC,of the new PDP to the House of Representatives ended in chaos. They first met with the Chairman of the National Assembly, Senate President David Mark, before crossing over to meet with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal. The group urged Mark to persuade President Jonathan not to contest the 2015 presidential election. The new PDP meeting with the senate president was a follow-up to a strategy meeting the previous night with the leadership and supporters of the new group. A possible collision was evaded with the well advised suspension of the visit of the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur to the National Assembly at the same time. The senate president, while urging the new PDP to pursue the ideals of justice and equity in the party,also admonished them to embrace peace.Further investigation by Sunday Sun indicated that the motive behind the new wave of plots and meetings is to realise a leadership change in the National Assembly, particularly in the House of Representatives. Who will blink first? The events that will follow tomorrow’s meeting, if it holds , will tell.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Oct 2013 10:42:42 +0000
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