The PDP in Adamawa has two factions.
By Iro Baba Yola
The lingering crisis rocking the ruling Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] has taken a new dimension as the factional chairman of the party in Adamawa State, Joel Madaki, has issued a 14-day ultimatum to Governor Murtala Nyako and other elected representatives of the party to re-validate their membership cards or leave the party.
Mr. Madaki, who has the backing of the national chairman of the party, Bamanga Tukur, at a press conference in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, said the recent utterances of Mr. Nyako has shown his intention to dump the PDP on whose platform he was elected. He added that the party “cannot be intimidated by action of one man.”
He said his faction of the party in the state had opened a register for the governor and other elected representatives to sign within 14 days from Wednesday.
“Nyako has turned himself to rebellion child of PDP. He mentioned that he will help to bury the PDP and equally gave his consent for local government chairmen and councilors duly elected on the platform of the PDP to defect to a rival political party using coercion and intimidation.
“As the state chairman of this party it should be clear to Nyako that PDP, is not a party he can toy with,” Mr. Madaki said.
The chairman accused the governor of plotting to destroy the ruling party saying Mr. Nyako’s exit would make the party strong and vibrant.
“It is no pretence that Governor Nyako has since instructed his loyalists to move to another party and maintaining that he is still in the PDP, to cause havoc. Democracy is about freedom to make choices.
“We wish to warn that the PDP will not tolerate any attempt to coerce and intimidate our elected local government chairmen and councillors. The basic tenet is that one cannot serve two masters,” Mr. Madaki said.
He assured all public officials elected on the party’s platform that proactive measures would be taken to protect their mandate with all the might at the party’s disposal.
“All elected representatives on the platform of the PDP, are therefore, advised to remain resolute in defending their mandate and are all urged to revalidate their membership status as
we approach the mid-term convention. While we promise to defend our elected representatives, we shall not stand in the way of anybody wishing to leave the party,” he said.
Mr. Madaki explained that registers have been opened at the ward, local government and state party offices for elected representatives to signify their resolve to remain in the PDP.
He said, ’’Councillors are to sign the register at their Ward Party offices, Council Chairmen at the Local Government Party Office. While the members of the State House of Assembly and members of the National Assembly are to sign their names at the State Party Secretariat.
“Failure on the part of the elected representatives to sign the register within 14days from the date of this announcement, may leave the party with no alternative than to declare their seats vacant,’’ he threatened.
Other faction reacts
In a swift reaction, the secretary of the PDP faction loyal to Mr. Nyako, P. P. Elisha, said he is not surprised by Mr. Madaki’s statements, describing the latter as an ‘impostor.’
He claimed that Mr. Madaki may be working on a script by Mr. Tukur, and that the faction was not recognised by the constitution.
He explained that Section 29 of the party constitution stipulates that the National Executive Council (NEC) and the National Working Committee (NWC) are the only organs vested with the responsibility of conducting a revalidation exercise in the party.
“There is nowhere in the party constitution that warrants someone to warn people and give them deadline to leave the party,” he said.
He said it was wrong for anyone to allege that Mr. Nyako and his supporters are trying to leave the party.
“The problem with them is that they cannot understand simple English; when Nyako said he is trying to save PDP from doom ahead of 2015 general election,” he said.
Mr. Elisha said what the governor meant was that he would revive the party; but if the National Secretariat insists on illegality and the party fails in 2015 polls; he would still remain in the party to mourn with other stakeholders.
He called on elected public officials on the PDP platform to shun Mr. Madaki’s directive, saying the latter only wants to be politically relevant.
Mr. Madaki is, however, not new to party membership revalidation exercise. He, as PDP state chairman in 2007, supervised a membership re-validation exercise that led to the exit of former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar; and former Adamawa governor, Boni Haruna; from the party.
Both men have since returned to the PDP with Mr. Haruna only returning a few weeks ago.
Mr. Nyako is one of the northern governors believed to be opposed to the re-election plans of President Goodluck Jonathan.
The crisis rocking the Peoples
Democratic Party Governors’ Forum may not be over soon as 11 out of the
23 governors of the party failed to attend its meeting in Abuja on
Wednesday night.
The meeting, which was initially slated
for 3pm, had to be shifted to 8pm when information got to its
organisers that majority of the governors might not attend.
At 8pm, the National Chairman of the
party, Dr. Bamanga Tukur, who was also at the Akwa Ibom State Governor’s
Lodge in Asokoro District, Abuja, had to leave due to poor attendance
by the governors.
Tukur was said to have come with the
intention of briefing the governors on the modalities he had considered
before naming members of the party’s National Reconciliation Committee.
The majority of the governors and other
stakeholders were said to have rejected the appointment of the Governor
of Bayelsa State, Mr. Seriake Dickson, as the chairman of the
committee.
Apart from coming from the same state as
President Goodluck Jonathan, Dickson is seen as part of the problems
rocking the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and the PDP. Dickson openly
supports the Governor of Plateau State, Mr. Jonah Jang, who was
defeated by Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State during the forum’s election
on May 24. Amaechi won 19 votes and Jang, 16 votes.
Shortly after the meeting ended, our
correspondent gathered from a top member of the PDP that the Bayelsa
governor had indicated his readiness to reject the appointment.
The governors that boycotted the meeting
were those of Kano, Jigawa, Adamawa, Niger, Sokoto, Taraba, Rivers,
Cross River , Ebonyi, Bauchi and Kebbi.
The meeting was however attended by
Dickson and his counterparts in Delta, Benue, Kogi, Enugu, Akwa Ibom,
Katisna and Abia states. Governors of Kaduna, Kwara, Plateau and Gombe
states sent their deputies.
Apart from the reconciliation matter,
other issues on the agenda at the meeting were the forthcoming national
convention of the party and the November 16 governorship election in
Anambra State.
At the end of the meeting, Akwa Ibom
State Governor and Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, Chief
Godswill Akpabio, said the meeting deliberated on issues like the
convention and the crisis in the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Akpabio said the governors would support Tukur by mobilising delegates for the convention.
Describing what happened in the Rivers
State House of Assembly as “unfortunate,” he appealed to “the two
warring groups to sheathe their swords and allow peace to reign.”
He said the next meeting of the PDP GF would hold in Bayelsa State.
Akpabio said that the governors decided to rotate their meetings in order to learn from themselves.
He attributed the poor attendance
recorded at the meeting to late information sent to the governors,
adding that the meeting was an emergency one.
At the end of the meeting, the governors went to the Presidential Villa to confer with President Goodluck Jonathan.
Meanwhile, a top PDP source close to
the governors’ forum, said that Dickson told his colleagues that he
was not consulted before his name was announced as the reconciliation
committee chairman.
His appointment was announced in Abuja
by the Acting National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Tony Okeke,
on behalf of the members of the National Working Committee of the
party.
Since the announcement, some of the
governors had secretly condemned it, saying that was part of the
problem confronting the party.
Besides, the critics of the appointment
also said that there was no way the governor could carry out the
assignment without being partial because of his closeness to Jonathan.
At the meeting, Dickson was said to have
been asked if he would be able to do the assignment considering the
barrage of opposition against his appointment.He was said to have told
his colleagues that he was not ready for it.
“We were surprised to hear that. He said
he was rejecting it and that was why we said we were going to the
Presidential Villa to see the President,” our source added.
The rejection, it was gathered, would be discussed with Jonathan with a view to finding someone else to replace him.
If this could be done last night, the
inauguration of the 30-member truce committee would still hold in Abuja
on Thursday(today).
“But if we are unable to do that (find a replacement), then the event would be shifted to another date”, the source added.
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