PDP Crisis: Pressure Mounts For Fresh Convention

As there appears to be no end  to the festering crisis in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), President Goodluck Jonathan has been put under intense pressure to order a fresh national convention of the party before December this year.

The push for a fresh convention is reportedly canvassed by the seven aggrieved governors and other stakeholders and it is among the issues that will be discussed at the re-scheduled meeting between  Jonathan and the governors as well as other leaders of the PDP tonight at the presidential villa.

Apart from the push for the fresh convention which a presidency source said one of the governors described as “unity convention”, the governors are insisting on the removal of the party’s national chairman, Bamanga Tukur.

Curiously, the Tukur-must-go crusade has been discreetly supported by a band of some pro-Jonathan governors with two from the south-south reportedly expressing frustration at the manner the former governor of the old Gongola State has been running the party since he became chairman.

But the presidency thinks otherwise, saying  Jonathan cannot order the sack of Tukur.

The presidency source confided in LEADERSHIP that the forceful push for Tukur’s removal as well as the insistence on the reversal of the just-concluded national convention of the PDP so surprised President Jonathan that he requested to have wider consultations with other founding fathers of the party. He stated: “We will get out of this no doubt, except that where there are impossible requests that tend to put the president on the edge of tight impossibilities, it becomes something else. The meeting Mr President held with the governors was very fruitful but the only aspect that has become a snag is the insistence by the governors that he should order a fresh national convention.

“No doubt there are problems but we should by now learn how to give and take; things they could not have tried under some other persons are what they are trying to force on the party. I think by tomorrow (today), the picture will be clearer for us to see after the meeting because it was pretty difficult for the issues to be addressed at once; the president had to give room for wider consultations on the demands, especially the one concerning unity convention, as one of the governors put it jokingly. ”   

The president had on Sunday held two separate meetings with former president Olusegun Obasanjo and governors of the PDP as well as the president of Benin Republic, Boni Yayi.

After the meeting with the governors and the PDP leadership which ended in the early hours of Monday, the party’s Board of Trustees chairman, Chief Tony Anenih, who was flanked by President Jonathan on the right and Rabiu Kwankwanso on the left with other governors behind them, read a communique to the press: While the meeting was a fruitful one and billed to continue today, he said, the battle for the soul of the 15-year-old party would continue.

“This evening, Mr President, the leadership of the party and the PDP governors met to discuss the incident that occurred during the PDP special convention on the 31st of August 2013, whereby some state delegations walked out of the convention ground to announce a faction of the party,” he said. “The meeting was smooth and encouraging and the discussions will continue on Tuesday with all the aggrieved governors in attendance.”

PDP NEC: New faction wants court to stop Tukur, others

But the Baraje-led faction has filed a legal action against the PDP before a Lagos High Court in Ikeja, challenging the propriety of the composition of the PDP NEC.

In the suit before Justice S. Safari, the plaintiffs - Baraje, Dr Sam Sam Jaja, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and the PDP - also named Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, Prince Uche Secondus, Mrs Kema Chikwe, Olisah Metuh and others as co-defendants to the suit.

The plaintiffs are asking the court to restrain Tukur, Secondus,  Chikwe,  Metuh and others from parading themselves as members of the PDP NEC.

The plaintiffs are also seeking a motion ex-parte asking for the leave of the court to serve the defendants outside jurisdiction: Bamanga Tukur, purported chairman; Uche Secondus, purported deputy chairman; Kema Chikwe, purported woman leader; and Olisah Metuh, purported publicity secretary.

In its ruling on the matter, the court granted the plaintiffs leave to serve the defendants in their various locations, but with regards to the matter of their illegality as members of the NEC of the party, the court further held that there is no urgency as to the fact of who should hold what office and directed that the status quo should be maintained. The development indicates that both executive committees are to remain until the court resolves the matter.

The case has been adjourned till September 9 for argument on the motion on notice.

President can’t remove Tukur – Presidency

Nonetheless, the presidency yesterday clarified that Jonathan cannot just remove Tukur, as doing so without following laid-down processes and provisions of the constitution as well as the Electoral Act would amount to acting outside the ambit of the law.

Special adviser to the president on political matters Ahmed Gulak, who gave the presidency’s position, also expressed surprise that former vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who is seriously indebted to the party has chosen to be among those tearing the PDP down instead of showing gratitude by protecting it.

But Atiku fired back, saying his participation at the formation of the new PDP was a debt-paying move.

 “I do not dispute the fact that he is indebted to the PDP but that the best way to continue to pay that debt is to protect PDP; that is exactly what I’m doing: protecting the PDP, “ the former vice president said.

We are still consulting, says Tukur-led PDP

But the newly sworn-in NWC of the PDP has called for caution, saying consultations were ongoing to resolve the crisis. National publicity secretary of the party Chief Oliseh Metuh stated this after the inaugural meeting of the NWC.

Responding to questions on the next line of action, Metuh said the party would explicitly state its decision on whatever they decide on Atiku and the governors after today’s (Tuesday) meeting.

He said: “Consultations are going on at the highest level of this party -- the president, national chairman of our party, chairman board of trustees, PDP governors are meeting on this and their discussions so far have been very encouraging. At the appropriate time, we will communicate to the media the decisions they arrived on. The meeting is continuing on Tuesday and once the meeting is over, whatever the outcome is, we will communicate immediately to the press and we will inform you the reasons behind the decisions,” Metuh said.

We’ll make PDP work again  – Baraje

Metuh’s optimism notwithstanding, the Alhaji Abubakar Baraje-led PDP has said it would make the party work again, adding that it owes the coming generation of Nigerians a duty of ensuring that impunity and dictatorship does not take root in the country.

The party, in a statement signed by its national secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, has also sent a condolence message to its Adamawa State chapter on the road crash that killed some delegates from that state on Saturday.

The new PDP, which said it is encouraged by the overwhelming support it has been receiving from party members across the country, said it has resolved to continue with its mission of rescuing the party.

The statement reads: “Alhaji Baraje and other leaders of the party appreciate the overwhelming outpouring of support and encouragement from genuine members and leaders of the party across the country. We assure them that we will not disappoint them in the mission to make the PDP work again in the interest of Nigeria and its people.

“ We also appreciate the efforts of leaders of the party, particularly President Goodluck Jonathan and former President Olusegun Obasanjo who, we note, have scheduled a meeting of the party elders for this week. We respect the elders and will be guided by them even as we stress that we will not abandon the ideals of justice and fairness that gave birth to the new party leadership under Alhaji Baraje.

“We equally call on all party members across the country to remain peaceful and law-abiding as the PDP rescue process is being pursued with vigour. We owe the coming generation of Nigerians a duty of ensuring that impunity and dictatorship do not take any root in our democracy and, indeed, in our nation. “

The new party also commiserated with families, associates and friends of the Adamawa State delegates who lost their lives in a road crash that occurred on Saturday after the convention.

“We pray that Almighty God will grant the soul of the departed eternal rest and will give the family the fortitude to bear the loss,” the party stated.

I belong to Baraje-led PDP  – Amaechi

Oyinlola’s statement came as Rivers State governor and chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, said that he belongs to the faction led by Baraje.

Amaechi stated this during an interview with journalists in Port Harcourt shortly after arriving from Abuja on Monday.

Answering a question on the walkout of some PDP governors and stakeholders at the recent PDP mini convention in Abuja and subsequent press briefing by the Atiku Abubakar-led PDP faction, Governor Amaechi said: “I am not the national chairman; the national chairman is Abubakar Kawu Baraje and he is the only person who is qualified to speak for now, or the publicity secretary.  All you know is that I belong to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by Abubakar Kawu Baraje and we are forging ahead because we need to make some changes.”

On PDP’s electoral fortunes in 2015, the governor said, “Well, when we get to 2015 God will determine that.  We can’t be discussing 2015 now.  We will discuss 2015 when we get to 2015.”

Asked to comment on the decision of Rivers statutory delegates to boycott Saturday’s mini PDP convention, Amaechi said: “You know, the chairman of the party and the members of the National Assembly and House of Assembly took that decision. I wasn’t around, so I wouldn’t know what to say about that but the most important thing is that we are on course.”

He also said he would not know the outcome of the meeting President Goodluck Jonathan had with some governors in Abuja since he was not at the meeting.