Governors elected on the
platform of Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) have begun moves
to stop candidates, considered
loyal to President Goodluck
Jonathan, jostling for party
offices in the upcoming national
convention of the party, Daily
Sun can reveal.
The governors are reportedly
upset with the president and
members of the party’s National
Working Committee (NWC) for
denying their former colleague
and former governor of Bayelsa
State, Timipre Sylva, a PDP ticket
to seek re-election.
As a first step, the governors had
reportedly told serving members
of the party’s NWC from their
home states aspiring for offices
at the party’s national
convention, to shelve such plans.
The governors reportedly said
such party officers had no moral
basis to seek re-election having
worked against Sylva’s re-
election.
Top PDP sources said Sylva’s
disqualification had caused his
colleague-governors so much
embarrassment that they had
quietly resolved to, “at the
appropriate time, demand their
pound of flesh.” PDP’s national
convention couldn’t be better
timed, a source close to one of
the governors told Daily Sun.
Another source close to the
Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF)
told Daily Sun that the governors
were particularly miffed that
NWC members after entering into
a deal with Jonathan to
disqualify Sylva still carried on as
if they were in support of the
soon-to-be ousted governor.
“Having secured assurances
from the Villa to deliver them at
the (PDP) national convention if
they blocked Sylva, they kept
giving the poor fellow a
fraudulent impression they were
with him. At the end of the day,
these NWC members not only
disappointed Timi, but fleeced
him of large sums of money in
the name of party ticket.
“It is not only just, but
appropriate to serve them a
dose of the same medicine they
gave Sylva, the reason we are
stopping them. We hear some
say they have the president’s
support. Talk is cheap. The
convention shall tell who has the
delegates,” he added.
A source at the party national
secretariat told Daily Sun that the
threat by the governors was the
reason only five of the 13
members of NWC were
contesting at the March 24
national convention. The trioka
of acting National Chairman,
Alhaji Abubakar Baraje, Acting
National Secretary, Dr. Musa
Babayo, and National Publicity
Secretary, Prof. Rufai Alkali are
locked in the race for national
chairman; whilst the national
organizing secretary, Prince
Uche Secondus and National
Legal Adviser, Chief Wole Oke are
seeking to become deputy
national chairman and national
secretary respectively.
“All those party officers
contesting at the national
convention know they are on
their own as they have been
advised against such. I guess
they are relying on the maxim
‘no harm in trying’. They have
weighed the odds and decided
to try their luck. Who knows,
anything can happen,” offered
the source.
The governors also reportedly
felt that the current campaign to
weaken their influence on the
party by ‘opening up’
membership of its National
Executive Committee (NEC) to
members of the National
Assembly may have been
orchestrated by the Presidency
as a way to loosening the grip
the governors have on the party
machinery.
The Presidency had last year
supported the party leadership
to introduce e-registration of
members, which was swiftly
blocked by the governors, who
felt that online registration was
meant to weaken their grip on
the party.
The governors’ differences with
Jonathan, it was further
gathered, might trickle down and
jeopardize the chances of a front
runner for the party national
chairmanship, Alhaji Bamanga
Tukur.
A former governor and trustee
of the party, Tukur is believed to
enjoy the support of the
Presidency.
Sources had hinted that the
Presidency might have zeroed in
on 77-year-old Tukur, a
successful businessman and
founding member of the party.
The Presidency, it was gathered,
was interested in Tukur
becoming national chairman “as
he could be used to reach out to
the northern political elite that
felt largely estranged since
Jonathan became president.”
A source in the Presidency
explained that the recent state
burial accorded the late Biafran
leader Dim Chukwuemeka
Odumegwu-Ojukwu was used to
appease the Igbo who were not
happy with the Jonathan
Presidency. “In much the same
way, we are looking for a man
with carriage, political
experience and followership in
the North, who can help to douse
the political fire, which some of
you call Boko Haram, consuming
the North,” offered the source.
“Tukur towers above all the
people aspiring for the position
of the party national chairman.
He has been a governor, a
distinguished administrator, a
seasoned politician, a successful
businessman and a respected
politician who can easily reach
out to all the northern interest
groups giving us (Jonathan
administration) headaches,” he
added.
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