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Tag: Jonathan

  • How far can Jonathan go?

    How far can Jonathan go?

    Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN takes a look at the chances of President Goodluck Jonathan, if he decides to seek re-nomination in 2015.

     

     

    President Goodluck Jonathan is likely to seek re-nomination in 2015. His reluctance to make any commitment on his perceived ambition at the peace meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders and the aggrieved governors points to that direction. If the peace moves fail to reconcile the two warring factions, the Abubakar Baraje group, to which the seven governors belong, may align with the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) or the All Progressive Congress (APC) to ensure electoral victory for the opposition. The President may emerge unchallenged as the standard bearer of the PDP under the leadership of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.

     

    Can Jonathan win 2015 election?

     

    Prior to the protracted crises, PDP had a broad political base, which was responsible for its winning streak since 1999, when civil rule was restored. In the 1999 elections, the party won a majority of seats in the legislature and its standard bearer, Chief Olusegun Obasano, was elected as the President. It was the same scenario in 2003. In 2007, late Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua emerged as the party’s presidential candidate. Dr. Jonathan was his running mate. In 2010, power shifted to Jonathan, who became the Acting President and later, President, following the death of President Yar’ Adua.

    When Jonathan announced in September 2010 that he would run for the Presidency, it generated controversy. The party chieftains went to the primaries with acrimony. However, his victory over his challenger, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, gave the impression that he had considerable support in many Northern states, in spite of the fact that his candidacy was a deviation from the party’s rotational policy. Jonathan was victorious in the 2011 presidential election, which the international observers said was free and fair.

    But the volcanic eruption within the PDP has now weakened the party. In the National Assembly, PDP is no more a dominant party. The party split at its recent convention in Abuja, with seven governors forming a faction headed by Alhaji Kawu Baraje.

    The arrowhead of the group is the former Vice President. Already 22 senators have pitched their tent with the Baraje faction. Prior to the escalation of the crisis, the party had 74 members in the Upper Chamber; the Tukur faction is left with 52 senators. The Presidency may lose control over the Senate, if the 22 new PDP senators decide to team up with the opposition, which has 31 senators. Therefore, the opposition may be in the majority, with 53 as against 52 for PDP. Similarly, 57 members of the House of Representatives have pulled out of the Tukur group and aligned with its rival. Given this development,President Jonathan’s faction of the PDP has lost control over the National Assembly and some states. The implication is that the President’s popularity has shrunk.

    Besides, the President, to observers, has not lived up to expectation. The transformation agenda of the administration is not producing positive results. Former Kano State Governor Ibrahim Shekarau has called on Nigerians to brace up for the challenge of unseating the President in 2015. He said Jonathan has failed woefully and does not deserve re-election.

    Shekarau, who was a member of the merger committee of the All Progressive Congress (APC), took a critical appraisal of the Jonathan. He said: “My assessment is that the government is a total failure. It is not about projects, but about the wellbeing and safety of the people.”

    Former Aviation Minster, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode said Nigeria deserves a new President, if the country must progress. He said: “We should have a new President in 2015, if we want Nigeria to do well. If we don’t have a new President by then, if we have the same President we have today and, if he doesn’t change drastically, do a new thing, build bridges, make peace with everyone and build up a serious team of competent people around him, I don’t think that he has much of a hope of winning the next election. And, if he continues like this and return in 2015, Nigeria would be finished within two years.

    “My worst fear is that, by then, the damage he would have inflicted on this nation would have been so bad that it would be irretrievable. Nigeria would eventually turn into something of Banana Republic and a failed state. That is what is likely to happen, if Jonathan comes back in 2015 and if he’s given a new mandate. This is my greatest fear for our country and that is why we must stop him.

    “Today we have more division in terms of religion, ethnicity and more mutual suspicion than at any time in our history apart from during the civil war. This is what President Jonathan and his team have done to Nigeria. Everything has been ethnicised”.

    The way forward, according to Shekarau, is to get the right people to take over. He added: “ The electorate have a very big role to play because the people must have a change. The change we are advocating in APC is not change of government but change of attitude and people must vote according to their belief and consciousness of accepting who will do the right thing”.

    A chieftain of APC in Niger State, Alhaji Yusuf Lawal, has advised President Jonathan to accept the reality that his second term ambition will hit the rock because he will not have a formidable platform to lean upon in 2015.

    According to Lawal, the PDP may not recover from its crisis adding that the split in the party has marked the downfall of the acclaimed largest party in Africa. He noted that the PDP has inflicted pains on the people in the last 14 years and added that the governments it produced had failed the nation.

    He said: “President Jonathan should forget about 2015. He should heed the advice of “The Patriots” that he should not re-contest. He should be ready to be a statesman as from 2015”.

    Can his performance save him?

    President Jonathan won the 2011 poll, not because of his popularity, but because Nigerians insisted on voting for a candidate from the minority ethnic group. In 2015, Jonathan may not have the luxury of leveraging on the same sentiments. He may not be able to whip up emotions, based on his recall of poverty-striken childhood, which made the masses to think that he would transform the country.

    A political analyst, Dr Bernard Briggs, said the President’s performance makes him vulnerable to defeat in a free and fair election. “He has not lived up to the expectations of Nigerians. The President and his party are in for a surprise in 2015, when Nigerians will witness the power of their votes. The power of incumbency will not matter in 2015 because the President is poised to lose the election”.

    Briggs added: “President Jonathan should not blame anybody for his predicament, if he loses. He is the architect of his own misfortune as a President. For the President to have squandered the enormous goodwill and support from Nigerians is evidence of opportunities gone awry. It will dawn on his praise singers from his ethnic group who have been hailing him for doing nothing.

    An applicant from Akwa Ibom, John Akpan, is opposed to second term for President Jonathan. He said that, being an indigene of Southsouth, he should support Jonathan for a second term bid. But he prefers to differ on this issue. According to him, Jonathan has not proved himself to be a man that can take Nigeria out of insecurity, poverty, deprivation, joblessness, and corruption.

    Akpan said the President that can wake up one day and increase pump price of fuel . “Jonathan has failed the Southsouth with his purposeless leadership and his inability to fight corruption. He is being swung around like “barber’s chair” by his ethnic leaders and numerous advisers making his government unpopular.

    “The unfortunate thing is that Jonathan has laid a bad precedence for the Southsouth and it will be extremely difficult for another Southsouth person to get to that position in the future. It is either the PDP dumps Jonathan and remain relevant in 2015 or retain Jonathan and go into extinction in 2015”, he added.

    Briggs said President Jonathan has a case to answer. “In 2015, Nigerians will ask Jonathan why corruption, which he promised to tackle in his inaugural speech, has become a hydra-headed monster in his administration. He will have to explain why his administration has not secured convictions, in spite of massive corruption in the land. Nigerians will in 2015, ask the President why cases of corruption involving his aides have been swept under the carpet. The impunity that has become a norm in this country today is because the President has not been decisive in the fight against corruption.

    “The President will also explain why millions of Nigerian youths cannot find jobs, despite the concocted story of the economy growing at an unbelievable rate being dished out by government officials. The 2015 election should be about performance and the President has a lot of questions to answer about his stewardship. Unless something drastic happens between now and the election date, President Jonathan will be heading back to his hometown in Otuoke on May 29, 2015,” he said..

     

  • Jonathan, Obasanjo: Torn apart by 2015 calculations

    Jonathan, Obasanjo: Torn apart by 2015 calculations

    President Goodluck Jonathan and his benefactor and godfather, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, are now working at cross-purpose in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The President is perceived to be nursing a second term ambition. But the former President has his eyes on another candidate. Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU writes on the antagonistic permutations of the two leaders, ahead of the 2015 elections.

     

     

    Before Dr. Goodluck Jonathan became the VicePresident in 2007, the relationship between him and former President Olusegun Obasanjo was like a father-son relationship. But the former President is now fighting the President by proxy.

    Obasanjo greatly admired the Ijaw technocrat and politician, who was a loyal deputy governor under former Bayelsa State Governor Diepreye Alamieye-seigha. The fondness was attributed to the fact that Jonathan neither undermined nor subverted his boss, until the governor was shoved aside, following the his face-off with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The relationship was cordial when Dr. Jonathan, in quick succession, became the Vice President, Acting President and President, following the death of President Umaru Yar’Adua.

    When the President contested for the highest office in 2011, Obasanjo was also a pillar of support for his administration. He mobilised support for him to defeat former Vice President Atiku Abubakar at the PDP primaries and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential election.

    The relationship has now turned sour. The President and the former President are divided by 2015 calculations. President Jonathan is perceived to be nursing a second term in office. But Obasanjo is looking at another direction. At critical moments, when the former President was expected to stand behind the President like the wall of Gibraltar, he was found in the company of those opposed to the President’s ambition. As the pro-Jonathan forces continue to push for his re-nomination, Obasanjo is propping up another aspirant to challenge him to a duel.

    The turn of events is worrisome to some admirers of Obasanjo in Jonathan’s camp. Efforts to broker reconciliation between the two leaders have failed. Although President Jonathan had visited Obasanjo in his Abeokuta, Ogun State residence, it has not led to a truce. The former President has also visited Dr. Jonathan in Aso Rock. But the visits have not endangered mutual confidence.

    Since 1999, when he assumed the reins as the President, Obasanjo has been playing the role of a godfather in the ruling PDP. As the PDP National Leader, the General decided who got what and how in the party for eight years. He brooked no opposition and his word was law.

    After completing his second term in office, Obasanjo reflected on the burning issue of succession. As a former military leader and civilian Head of State, he was not indifferent to the nature, tendency and sentiment of his successor. Thus, in 2007, he threw up former Katsina State Governor Yar’Adua as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag bearer. But another issue that came up at the convention of the party was the choice of the running mate. The former President, who had a running battle with his deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, wanted a cool-headed politician as the vice presidential candidate. After careful consideration, he picked former Bayelsa State Governor Jonathan for the role.

    After two and half years, President Yar’adua died. During his long absence, a cabal initially prevented Jonathan from stepping in as the Acting President. Obasanjo was among the eminent Nigerians who insisted that the 1999 Constitution should be followed in resolving the logjam. The former President even said that his successor should have thrown in the towel, owing to his incapacitation. When Yar’Adua died, the same forces were at work, until the ‘Doctrine of Necessity’ was invoked to pave the way for Jonathan’s emergence as the President. In those trying period, Obasanjo stood with the President.

    The relationship between Jonathan and Obasanjo was cordial, until his resignation as the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman. It was believed that Obasanjo displaced another party elder, Chief Tony Anenih. A source said that the former President was dazed by Jonathan’s reaction. Instead of prevailing on the former President not to abdicate from the powerful and influential party structure, Jonathan simply welcomed the resignation and wished him the best in his future endeavours.

    From that moment, the source said, Obasanjo started to review his relationship with the President. But open confrontation was avoided. The resumption of hostilities came, following the removal of Obasanjo’s men from the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party. The sack affected the National Secretary, Gen. Olagunsoye Oyinlola, National Vice Chairman (Southwest), Mr. Segun Oni, and National Auditor, Gbenga Mustapha. They were national officers from the Southwest Zone.

    Gen. Oyinlola had a ruptured relationship with the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur. When crisis broke out between the Chairman and Secretary, Tukur’s Chief of Staff, Abu Fari, was shown the way out. The former Osun State governor alleged that Fari had hijacked his duties and preventing access to the chairman. But the heat was later turned on Oyinlola, following persistent pressures from party chieftains from his home state and other Southwest states for his removal. They complained that he did not properly emerge as the secretary. But Oyinlola’s election was not voided by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which voided the election of other 16 national officers. When Tukur refused to reinstate him, Obasanjo’s camp took up the battle, claiming that it was an orchestrated plan to reduce the former President’s influence by eliminating his supporters from the organs of the party.

    Obasanjo has other grudges. He had taken side in the war of attrition rocking the Ogun PDP chapter. In hot competition for the soul of the party in the Gateway State were the Senator Dipo Odujinrin and Adebayo Dayo factions. Obasanjo supported the former. Following the collapse of reconciliation, the two parties went to the court. The temple of justice affirmed Dayo, an engineer, as the authentic chairman. Thus, the hands if the National Working Committee (NWC) were tied. Tukur had no option than to give recognition to the State Executive Committee headed by Dayo. The implication was that the control of the Ogun PDP slipped away from Obasanjo. It was a victory for his foes in the troubled chapter, who are financed by the billionaire businessman, Kashamu Buruji.

    The former President is not a coward who will run away from battles. He gathered his army and fired salvos at the President. As the relationship between Obasanjo and Jonathan deteriorated, relations between the embattled President and Nigerians who voted en mass for him over two years ago had strained. Their hope was raised by the transformation agenda. But, two years after, soaring unemployment, collapsed infrastructure, power outage, and poverty have created a deep hollow in the administration’s record. Gradually, the President begun to lose the goodwill and solidarity of the voters, owing to their inability to marry expectation with reality. Thus, Obasanjo secured a vantage position to attack the inept government, berating it for shortfall in focus and capacity.

    In fact, the former President wrote off the younger generation, which is exemplified Dr. Jonathan. Delivering a lecture at Ibadan, Oyo State, he said the generation has failed the nation, unlike his own generation, which he said, erected lasting legacies.

    Observers contend that the missiles at Ibadan were reserved by Obasanjo, who had earlier passed a vote of no confidence on the President when he shunned this year’s ‘Democracy Day’ at Abuja. Obasanjo was said to have been invited to the occasion where President Jonathan released his mid-term score card. He declined the invitation. Instead, the former President went to Dutse, capital of Jigawa State, on the invitation of Governor Sule Lamido. After commissioning some projects by the governor, Obasanjo praised him to high heavens. The extraordinary encomium was perceived as an endorsement of Lamido for the Presidency in 2015 by Obasanjo.

    Also, to underscore his disapproval of the party’s recent special convention at the Eagles Squares, Abuja, Obasanjo stayed away, to the consternation of the President. Mid way into the convention, seven governors walked out on the President and Tukur, citing irregularities in the conduct of the exercise. Among them are the five aggrieved governors, who are loyal to Obasanjo. They repudiated the convention and demanded for Tukur’s resignation from office.

    Obasanjo was instrumental to the installation of the ‘G5″ members as governors. He had directed Admiral Muritala Nyako to vie for the Adamawa State governorship in 2007 to checkmate Atiku. When Kano State Governor Musa Kwakwanso was dislodged by Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau of the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), the former President appointed him as the Defence Minister. Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu was a Federal Permanent Secretary before his election. In 2007, Obasanjo advised Aliyu Wamakko to defect from the ANPP to become the governor of Sokoto State under the PDP. Kano State Governor Lamido was Obasanjo’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs. All of them have remained loyal to the former President. In fact, before they announced a parallel executive, they had visited Obasanjo to complain to him about the way Jonathan and Tukur have been managing the party. Their visit to Obasanjo in Abeokuta coincided with the President’s visit. But, following a tip off, they dodged the President.

    When the ‘G5’ teamed up with other aggrieved PDP chieftains to form a faction led by the former Acting National Chairman, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, many believed that Obasanjo was not kept in the dark. A source said that was responsible for why Jonathan’s camp was weary of Obasanjo’s reconciliation initiative, following the split in the crisis-ridden party. Since they believe that the Ota farmer is not neutral in the crisis, the President’s associates feared that Obasanjo, who is unpredictable and cunning, had come up with his antics to pull the rug off the feet of his perceived enemy.

    Party insiders said that, ini-

    tially, the President wanted to

    keep Obasanjo at arm length. But key chieftains loyal to him stressed the importance of reconciliation to prevent the escalation of the crisis. But when the President’s disposition to the Obasanjo effort was unraveled, many party elders shunned the reconciliation meeting at Abuja. It was evident that the elders have been polarised by the protracted crisis into pro-Jonathan and anti-Jonathan forces. Apart from Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and Col. Ahmadu Ali, who had worked under him as the military Head of State, other notable elders at the venue were Senator Barnabas Gemade and Anenih, who was the link between the reconciliation meeting and Presidency. However, key elders, including former Vice President Alex Ekwueme, Chief Solomon Lar, Mrs. Titi Ajanaku, Prof. Jibril Aminu, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, General Yakubu Danjuma, Chief S.K. Babalola, former Anambra State Governor Jim Nwobodo, Alhaji Mohammed Abba-Gana, Gen. Ike Nwachukwu, Chief Tunde Osunrinde, Senator Ahmed Ebute, former Information Minister Chief Edwin Clark, Commodore Bode George, Chief Peter Odili, Senator Olofintuyi, Chief Shuaib Oyedokun, Gen. David Jemibewon, Senator Olu Alabi, Chief Alaba Williams, Alabo Ghram Douglas, Alhaji Hassan Adamu, Chief Dapo Sarunmi, Dr. Umaru Dikko, and Senator Yinka Omilani, were absent.

    Jonathan’s camp faces a big hurdle, ahead of 2015. Ebullient and fork-tongued Governor Aliyu had canvassed for power shift to the North, claiming that the President had a pact with some Northern leaders on presidential zoning in 2011. He said the inexplicable pact should be honoured. When Obasanjo visited Jigawa and showered encomium on Lamido, it was interpreted as a subtle endorsement for power shift.

    Sources said that the President’s associates were infuriated by the recommendations of the elders’ committee-led by Obasanjo. The proposals favoured the ‘G5’, which is Obasanjo’s machinery, and other chieftains, who are united in their bitterness against the President and Tukur, his dependable ally. The President, the source added, may reject the proposals.

    Under this prevailing atmosphere of mistrust and mutual suspicion between the President and his erstwhile benefactor, the perceived hidden agenda of Obasanjo may unfold. But the former President also faces some challenges in his perceived bid to edge out Jonathan from the exalted office.

    Obviously, Obasanjo is not happy with President Jonathan. But, judging by his outburst at Ibadan, it is doubtful that the former President will endorse Atiku for the Presidency in 2015, although the former Vice President appears to be the arrowhead of the onslaught against the President and Tukur. There is no proof that the former leader will combine forces with Buhari, a likely presidential aspirant in the All Progressives Congress (APC). It may be suicidal. Also, the newly registered Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), which is believed to be fronting for the former Vice President, is ruled out in Obasanjo’s calculations. If he eventually settles for Lamido, Aliyu or any other candidate for the Presidency, will he have the last laugh?

     

  • PDP Crises: IBB, Ahmadu Ali in secret meeting at Presidential Villa

    To resolve the crises in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), some elders of the party including former Military President, Ibrahim Babangida and former PDP Chairman, Ahmadu Ali yesterday met secretly with President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa.
    The party broke up on August 31st when former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and seven state governors left the Mini Convention of the party to form the ‘New PDP’
    It could not be confirmed yesterday whether former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who had been involved in the past mediating meetings, was at the meeting held at House 7 in the State House yesterday afternoon.
    Journalists were not allowed to get close to the venue of the meeting which lasted for about one hour. There was no press briefing or statement issued at the end.
    The meeting, according to a reliable source who does not want his name in prints, was a preparatory meeting towards the scheduled meeting in the night with the aggrieved members.
    Even as it was not clear if any governor attended the meeting yesterday afternoon, some state governors were spotted at the Presidential villa before the meeting including the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta) and Gabriel Suswam (Benue).
  • Before the PDP self-destruct

    Before the PDP self-destruct

    As Nigeria’s politics continue to take shape ahead of the 2015 elections, the leadership deficit of the PDP came to the fore once again with a festering crisis tearing the party apart.

    Spirited attempts by former heads of state, and the incumbent President to reconcile the warring factions have so far fallen on deaf ears. The ruling party is like a time bomb, doomed for implosion! The sad reality of plunging the nation into avoidable political crisis stare us in the face as the party’s predilection to press the self-destruct button is rather habitual.

    The party exhibited its favourite pastime — dancing naked in public — this time at the Eagles Square, venue of the Mini Convention, where aggrieved members of the PDP stormed out to form a parallel faction now known as the ‘new PDP’.

    Members of the faction including notable governors from the north, joined by their counterparts from Rivers and Kwara states, led by former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, with Abubakar Baraje as Chairman. There was another drama as aggrieved members of factions in Anambra state PDP resorted to fisticuffs to press home their grievances.

    Such disregard for decency and decorum has become the hallmark of the party. The continuous existence of the party might be a mirage when viewed against the backdrop of its inability to justify its existence for 14 harrowing years other than plundering the nation’s resources. It is derisory that the party still thinks it can railroad voters in 2015 into its conquistadorial mission.

    The subversion of democratic principles to the whims and caprices of the party’s hierarchy is fast becoming the norm in the PDP. The job of taking Nigeria out of the abyss unto the path of prosperity, it does seem, we cannot continue to entrust into the hands of such mendacious, unrepentant and rapacious rascals, donning the garb of democrats.

    2015 will come upon us like a thief in the night, we must begin to be wary of self-seeking power grapping politicians who have failed the acid test of demonstrable leadership capacity. Their ability to make rational decisions is in doubt much as the lip service they pay to the vaunted transformation agenda of the present administration is evident in the dwindling fortunes of all sectors of the Nigerian economy.

    The recent squabble came as good news to many Nigerians who see the PDP as a monster that has colluded with the ruling elite for over a decade to loot the treasury, institutionalise corruption and ensure that Nigerians remain in perpetual captivity. That the party has survived series of crisis not occasioned by mass defection is largely due to the lack of a formidable opposition. As the APC, Atiku’s PDM, VOP – rumoured to be backed by the aggrieved governors in the ‘new PDP’ – are fast changing the political landscape, sooner rather than later, we shall witness a mass exodus of dissenting PDP members.

    Bamanga Tukur’s tenure as the PDP chairman has been nothing short of calamity on the party that pontificates as the largest party in Africa, as if political parties are defined and identified by size alone. At a time when the political minefield is being reshaped with APC and others, it is expected that Tukur would not push his game too far as the party continue to totter precariously on the brink of disaster. So far, he has failed to show tact, diplomacy and political savvy in dealing with the challenges that a party of strange bedfellows like the PDP pose.

    The ruling party, as always, downplays crisis rocking the party as one that should be expected in any large family. Some like Nysome Wike, go to such nit-witted extent to show their political naivety by saying political crisis “beautify democracy”.

    Sadly, the perpetual wrangling in the ruling party has nothing to do with Nigerians; it is not about policies, or issues that border on how to move the state forward, or how to build institutions, create jobs and develop infrastructure to improve the lives of the populace but instead it is how to massage their already over bloated egos and further their selfish ambition.

    More worrisome is the deployment of state resources and apparatus to fight perceived enemies. The current in-fighting and political skimming the PDP is enmeshed is nothing but jostling for 2015 elections. A truly democratic party will not estrange members for aspiring to any political office. Such actions are not only antithetical to every known democratic tenet but tyrannical.

    The split must have come as cheery news for the main opposition party, APC. How prepared they are to cash in on the PDP break-up and woo the aggrieved gladiators to their camp remains to be seen. It is not a co-incidence that since the APC was formed the party at the centre has never known peace. Now, the ruling party seems to be on the path to perdition.

    There’s no gainsaying the fact that the PDP has been sitting on a keg of gun powder for much of the time. The leadership of the party has completely ignored calls over the years to deepen democracy by eschewing factional politics, instilling discipline and ensuring a level playing ground for all members. Matter of fact, the party needs a reform, not just reconcile aggrieved members, if it is to wriggle itself out of the snarl it is currently mired.

    Past failure in putting its house in order culminated in the official rascality and uncivilised manner party members conducted themselves at the convention, a testament to the poor rating of the PDP’s leadership capacity.

    Political observers have surmised that the ‘Old PDP’ is headed for the rocks. The Baraje faction is taking their time to garner more members, goodwill from the public and ultimately, destroy the PDP, before finally making deft political moves to the new parties: PDM, VOP or the APC.

    Mr President’s desire to run for 2015 at all cost against the wishes of aggrieved governors, and his quest to have a firm grip of the party’s machinery, by launching a counter attack to whittle down the influence of those opposed to his ambition, coupled with the wind of the opposition, is what is tearing the umbrella to shreds today. The president’s foot soldiers are ready for a showdown with the ‘new PDP’.

    Without a clear cut policy direction, the continuous existence and dominance of such a party will mean total ruination of all the attractions, stimulation or semblance of democratic principles that has given Nigerians hope in governance. The reality of the situation is, the party is already headed towards destruction. The death knell is sounding loud and clear. Nigerians must rise up to bail the country from the firm grip of the PDP powers that be have plundered the resources of the country in a mafia-like circus.

    The war of words between the Tukur and Baraje factions is bound to leave a bad impression on the minds of Nigerians. The PDP wittingly or unwittingly is nursing a dangerous death wish. The party behaves as if it has no opposition which can capitalise on its monumental weaknesses, or they assume that whatever their weakness, they can still capture power in 2015 and it seems every action of government is now deliberately intended to intimidate opposition, within and outside the party, against President Jonathan’s pesky 2015 ambition. This perception from the public can erase whatever good luck is left in Jonathan or any PDP politician for that matter. Such negative politics that elevates party chaos with its attendant reconciliation process with tax payer’s money over governance must henceforth be put on the back burner.

    The writer can be reached via: theophilus@ilevbare.com, http://ilevbare.com, twitter: @tilevbare

  • Anenih to Jonathan: state your 2015 ambition now

    Anenih to Jonathan: state your 2015 ambition now

    PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan is to decide his political future at the end of this month – if he accepts a piece of advice from a party chieftain.

    The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih, on Sunday night told Jonathan to make his intention towards the 2015 presidential election known to Nigerians at the end of this month or “as we enter October”.

    Anenih spoke during the PDP post convention dinner at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja. He said that taking such a decision was necessary towards giving the party a proper direction.

    The dinner, which was earlier scheduled to hold immediately after the special convention, was postponed due to the splitting of the party. Seven governors – Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Abdulafatah Ahmed (Kwara), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Aliyu Wammako (Sokoto) and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) – walked out of the venue with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to form a parallel executive for the “new PDP”.

    Before the new group named its executive, including National Chairman Kawu Baraje, National Secretary Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Deputy National Chairman Dr. Sam Jaja, the aggrieved governors had demanded Chairman Bamanga Tukur’s sack. They complained of lack of internal democracy in the party.

    The dinner party on Sunday night was attended by those loyal to the Tukur-led PDP faction. None of the aggrieved governors attended.

    Some of the elders mediating in the crisis rocking the party, such as former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Military President Ibrahim Babangida were absent at the Villa dinner.

    Anenih said: “I will appeal to our leader, the President of this country, that at the end of September or as we enter October, we should not tell anybody that the time is not right. I think the time is right. It is good that we tell our people where we are going to; what our journey will be like.”

    Referring to the on-going reconciliatory efforts in the party, he said: “We must be seen as a team and not as a group”.

    He acknowledged that there was a crisis in the party, but, according to him, all the disputes will be settled. “We will not fire any shot but we will win the war,” Anenih said, adding: “We will not recognise opposition within PDP. We will work together as a team so that by 2015 we will come here again to shake hands. We stand for unity and discipline. Nobody will be spared if he behaves out of indiscipline. We will do everything to bring everybody together.”

    President Jonathan has been telling his aides that his focus is working to justify his mandate, adding that 2015 is still far and he would not like to be distracted.

    The popular thinking is that the party’s crises are all about who gets the ticket to run in 2015.

    Jonathan is said to have signed an agreement to spend one term in office. His aides deny such an agreement was signed.

    Stressing that the PDP is intact, President Jonathan told the gathering that what was going on in the party was a minor disagreement that would be resolved.

    He said: “There is no human institution that you don’t have disagreements. What happened on that Saturday was a minor disagreement. In every society, there must be differences. There is no other party that can replace the PDP. It is only in the PDP they can grow.

    “For those who have issues, we thank the elders and governors who have been meeting and listening to them, we are committed to resolving our differences.”

    “We will resolve all our differences. PDP is intact and will remain intact. We will do everything to make sure the party grows stronger. Without PDP, there is no democracy in Nigeria. We will make sure that the party remains one, those who left will rejoin us.

    “It is only PDP that has not changed name or form. We will do our best to keep PDP one, to keep Nigeria one”.

    According to him, the dinner was part of his promise to create more opportunities for periodic meetings and interaction among party members at all levels.

    Assuring the newly elected leaders of the party of his support, he urged them to work as a team.

    On the support for the party, he said: “Even ordinary Nigerians believe PDP must remain one because it is the only party that can continue to give leadership.Even those that are aggrieved call themselves the ‘new PDP’, meaning they know without PDP they are nothing.”

    Vice President Namadi Sambo also said that the PDP had always provided leadership for others to emulate. He highlighted the government’s achievements in sectors of the economy.

    Akwa Ibom State Governor and Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum Godswill Akpabio said: “We want Nigerians to challenge us on performance, not on the pages of newspapers. We want to assure you there is no faction in the PDP. What we are seeing today is just a storm in a tea cup.

    “If you want to step out of the party you are free, this is the only party you can leave and return and become a national party chairman. The people are not with those who do not respect constituted authority. Those who do not respect authority will not get authority.”

    Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, speaking on behalf of Senate President David Mark, noted that the Senate is united and will continue to protect the interest of Nigerians and support President Jonathan’s administration.

    House Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, who was represented by Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha, said the PDP members in the National Assembly will continue to support the party through legislative means.

    Tukur harped on the importance of party loyalty and discipline.

    “We must learn to accept change in order to build on democratic principles. Our party cannot be relevant to the people only once in four years, when votes are needed, but at every time in order to improve their lot.

    “Dialogue and reconciliation should be encouraged but our politics should be based on issues rather than personalities,” Tukur said.

    Former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, noted that the party was going through a difficult time as he stressed that this period of claims and counter claims is no time to show weakness.

    At the dinner, state party chairmen also declared their loyalty for President Jonathan, the national chairman and their governors towards the 2015 elections.

    Women thanked the President for empowering them and for increasing their number in appointive and elective offices.

    The group urged him to stay back to continue for another four years to impact more on Nigerian women.

    Former Adamawa State Governor Boni Haruna, who was surrounded by Dipreye Alamieyesigha (Bayelsa), Jim Nwobodo (old Anambra State), Ikedi Ohakim (Imo), Sam Egwu (Ebonyi), Abdulkadri Kure (Niger), pledged the loyalty of former governors to the party under Jonathan.

    In his welcome remark, Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs, Ahmed Gulak appealed to members on the “wrong path” to return to the “right path”.

    At the dinner were Governors Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta), Ramalan Yero (Kaduna),Theodore Orji (Abia), Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe), Liyel Imoke (Cross Rivers) and Serieke Dickson (Bayelsa).

    Also present are Idris Wada (Kogi), Isa Yuguda (Bauchi), Sullivan Chime (Enugu), Jonah Jang (Plateau), Ibrahim Shema (Katsina), Saidu Dakingari (Kebbi).

    The Acting governor of Taraba State and deputy governors of Benue and Ebonyi states also attended the dinner.

    Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Anyim Pius Anyim, former Senate President Senator Ken Nnamani, Senator Barnabas Gemade and Ahmadu Ali were also at the dinner.

  • Jonathan… the foes’ list increases

    Jonathan… the foes’ list increases

    Daily, members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) opposed to President Goodluck Jonathan openly identify with the new PDP, writes OLUKOREDE YISHAU

     

    Namadi Sambo, until his emergence as vice-president, was governor of Kaduna State. For the years he was governor, the architect-politician was in control of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) apparatchik in the state. It was like his words were law. His elevation seemingly did not change his influence within the party much. Or so it seemed.

    Evidence that Sambo’s grip on the party structure was not as strong as it seemed emerged yesterday when the Kaduna State chapter of the party split into two, with a faction declaring allegiance to the Abubakar Kawu Baraje group. It was like an uppercut for President Goodluck Jonathan, who on the same day had some of his kinsmen in Bayelsa State declaring support for the Baraje group.

    The revolt against Jonathan and Sambo in Kaduna is championed by Audi Yaro Makama, a former chairman of the party, and Gideon Morik, a former member of the House of Assembly.

    Makama is a close associate of former Governor Ahmed Makarfi, who is now a senator. Makama’s closeness to Makarfi has led to assumptions that the former governor may be the mastermind of the new faction. But, Makarfi’s spokesman, Mukthar Surajo, denied the involvement of the senator in the development.

    The statement accused Sambo of decreasing the fortunes of the party in the state.

    The faction, in a statement, said: “Fundamentally, this decision has been taken after deep reflections on happenings in Kaduna State since the elevation of Namadi Sambo as Vice President. It is instructive that since his elevation, the fortunes and prestige of the party in the state has been declining rather than improving, because he has been incapable of rallying the people under its umbrella.

    “Although this is hardly surprising since he lacks the political wherewithal and the requisite structure to preside over the politics of the state, but it was expected that he would come to terms with his inadequacies and enlist the support of established political actors.

    “This expectation has been a forlorn hope because the Vice-President has surrounded himself with political paperweights. These hangers-on drive Sambo’s vehicle of political exclusionism by hunting for enemies even where they don’t exist. All efforts by concerned party members and elders to make him see reason, as well as draw the attention of the sacked party leadership were in vain.

    “In the last few weeks, a political Tsunami was unleashed on the nation with the emergence of a new leadership to pilot the affairs of our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    “The decision of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and seven governors elected on the platform of the party, is not only worthy of commendation but worthy of emulation.

    “The PDP in Kaduna State, therefore, proudly and wholeheartedly identifies with the new leadership of the party, under Alhaji Kawu Baraje and follows in the footsteps of its sister chapters of Adamawa, Jigawa and Taraba States in setting up new leadership to give our party a new lease of life.”

    The assault on the pro-Jonathan PDP from Bayelsa State is being spearheaded by Dr. Perekeme Richard Kpodoh, Timi Frank, a known ally of Atiku, Sir Tonye Okio, Alabo Martins, Chief Preye Agama, Ineye Okara, Braboke Stanley and Abel Oggboma.

    In an advertorial congratulating Baraje and Olagunsoye Oyinlola, they said: “Let the old PDP of impunity and injustice pass away and a new dawn break over Nigeria with the new authentic PDP.”

    Oyinlola, in a statement announcing members of the faction’s National Working Committee (NWC), unfolded the faces of more foes of the president.

    The NWC members are: Baraje (Chairman); Dr Sam Sam Jaja (Deputy National Chairman); Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, (National Secretary); Hon. Maode Umar Hiliya (Deputy National Secretary); Timi Frank (National Youth Leader); Binta Koje (National woman leader); Mallam Nasir Issa (National Organising Secretary); Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze (National Publicity Secretary); Hon. Wadada (National Financial Secretary); and Mallam Tanko Isiaku Gomna (National Treasurer).

    The party’s chapters in Adamawa, Kano, Jigawa, Rivers and others have earlier been balkanised along the pro and anti-Jonathan line.

    The party’s structure in Kano, whose governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, is one of the arrowheads of the new PDP, has slipped off the hands of the Tukur group. The commissioners and special advisers in the state pledged their loyalty to the Baraje group. They said this was in the interest of the country.

    Kwankwaso has even been quoted as saying if efforts to reform the party failed, the faction would consider joining the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Another dimension to the crisis emerged yesterday when chairmen of the party in the seven states whose governors joined the Baraje-led breakaway faction stayed away from a meeting with PDP Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur. But, those present pledged their loyalty to Jonathan and Tukur.

    States, whose chairmen were absent, are: Kano, Jigawa, Sokoto, Niger and Kwara. Also, factional chairmen loyal to Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako were also absent.

    Tukur said only the PDP could guarantee the country’s unity, adding: “It is possible to have dissidents and it is also possible to have good men to defend what the party stands for… Majority will always have their way, while minority will have their say.”

  • Blame not Jonathan

    Proverbs in African culture speak louder and clearer than a thousand words. Among the Yoruba, it is often said that if a household is peaceful, the illegitimate child there has not reached adulthood.

    You may wish to interpret this proverb the way you like after reading this piece.

    Since the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election widely acknowledged to be the freest and fairest in the history of general elections in Nigeria by the then military rulers in 1994, the Lagos State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) had set aside June 12 of every year to commemorate this historic day that Nigeria’s democracy came of age with the jettisoning of ethnic and religious politics that had always impeded our development as a people and a nation. The day is always marked with a lecture among all other activities.

    The 2013 edition was not different and I could recall listening to the guest speaker, Comrade Frank Ovie Kokori, the General Secretary of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers (NUPENG) during that period in our history when Nigerians fought the military not only to restore our democracy but also to revalidate the mandate given to late Chief MKO Abiola in that election as Nigeria’s president-elect.

    Needles to recall here the heroic role played by NUPENG, Kokori and other pro-democracy groups and activists in the struggle that eventually culminated in what we have today, in Nigeria, as democracy.

    At the event also were Aremo Olusegun Osoba, former governor of Ogun State and erudite lawyer and activist, Chief Femi Falana (SAN). One after the other, they all lamented and expressed regrets that most of the major actors that fought and drove the military out of power in Nigeria then were nowhere to be found at the outset of this democracy in 1999, hence the problems besetting our democracy now.

    Before the politicians hijacked the struggle around 1998/99, the battle against the military junta and restoration of democracy was largely being fought by the activists working together with the Nigerian Press. When the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) came it was heralded across the land as the vehicle to rescue Nigeria from the military usurpers of power. Among the signatories to its declaration that included revered statesmen were some journalists including then rookie editor Labaran Maku. Yes, you guessed right, Labaran Maku, Nigeria’s current Information Minister.

    But because the “boys” so to speak were cruising home to victory in the battle to save Nigeria, the “big boys” had to step in and the politicians hijacked the process. In came second republic vice president Alex Ekwueme and some of his colleagues in that era including founding chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Solomon Lar. The G-57, a seemingly pan-Nigerian group, the mid-wife that gave birth to the PDP also sprung up with Ekwueme as the leading light, of course with former military president Ibrahim Babangida and his likes pulling the strings at the background.

    Virtually all the activists and the other patriots in the media, save a few, who actually fought the battle retreated to the background maintaining a puritanical stance, insisting on the military convoking a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) before participating in the emerging democratic process. That was the opportunity the politicians and some apologists of military rule were waiting for and they seized it with both hands. That was an opportunity missed by the pro-democracy groups and activists to shape the future of this country in their own image so to speak; to mould a better democratic future for Nigeria.

    This was the opportunity that Osoba and Falana were rueing at that June 12 lecture. They lamented not listening to the advice of former South African president Thabo Mbeki who came with a message then from then President Nelson Mandela to the pro-democracy camp in Nigeria not to boycott the emerging democratic process. They half listened.  They even ignored the time tested admonition of late sage Chief Obafemi Awolowo against election boycott. Those old men; they stubbornly stuck to their guns allowing the political opportunists backed by their retiring or retired military rulers to take centre stage. Only a few, especially the younger ones among them shunned the boycott advice and embraced the then emerging democratic process. The rest as they say is history.

    But then with the seeming ‘A’ list of those that fought the military to surrender government to civilians sitting on the fence, what did we have?  The hijack of the process by those who sold their conscience to the military for a mere pot of porridge. Those that betrayed the people’s mandate of June 12, 1993. Reaping where they had not sowed, these people came together under an umbrella called the People’s Democratic Party and took over virtually everything, especially at the centre.

    Give it to them, the Chief Tony Aninihs of this world; they knew what they wanted and how to go about it.  They are veterans. They quickly sew together a pan-Nigeria coalition and easily grabbed power from the departing soldiers. They have since monopolized it to their advantage and almost total exclusion of the generality of Nigerians.

    But because their sole motivation was to grab power, they had no plan of how to use it to serve the interest of the majority hence Nigeria under their watch has been taking one step forward and two steps backward. Now there past is beginning to haunt them as Nigeria slip from one crisis to another as they bicker over who becomes Nigeria’s president in 2015.

    The house they thought they were building in 1999 when they dragged recently released from prison and hurriedly pardoned Olusegun Obasanjo into the presidential race and handed the presidency on a platter, is now crumbling. Obasanjo we now know was a mistake, even though not a few, especially those that fought the military for this democracy, warned then that the former military ruler was not the best to lead Nigeria into democracy in 1999. Now they have been proved right.

    But one would have expected that having discovered the mistake in the making of the Obasanjo presidency the PDP would think Nigeria before installing his successor, but no. In their greed to hold on to power they brought a dying man and paired him with another who didn’t and still doesn’t seem to know his left from right into the presidency in 2007.

    The story of the Yar’adua/Jonathan presidency we all know. It was one of those reluctant presidencies that Nigeria has been producing since independence. But if there had been relative peace with this kind of leadership since October 1, 1960, that ‘peace’ is about to be shattered now as that child, remember, the one I mentioned earlier, seems to have reached adulthood.

    The deception called PDP is unraveling and disintegrating now before our eyes not only because of President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 second term ambition, but also because the party was built on falsehood. And as the Yoruba would say, any house built with spittle would be demolished by dew.

    The founders of PDP never fought for this democracy and they and their party deserve what is happening to them now. And they deserve to be punished by Nigerians at the polls next time for reaping where they had not sowed. There is no way they would get it right because they are not deserving of the power they are holding. If they had fought for and earned the right to our presidency, they wouldn’t have punished us with an egomaniac as president in 1999, an infirm as our leader in 2007 and a colourless, clueless and dangerous man obsessed with power as president 2011.

    Those who brought him, first with Yar’Adua in 2007 and as the lead candidate in 2011 deserve what they are getting now. Don’t cry for them, but cry for Nigeria. Do we deserve a Jonathan and what PDP is doing to us now? I don’t know. But don’t blame the man, blame those that brought him. As the saying goes you can’t give what you don’t have. The man has given everything he has and capable of, but regrettably, his best doesn’t appear good enough for Nigeria. That is what you get when you promote someone beyond the level of his/her competence. Jonathan wanted to remain a governor, you promoted Vice President and mother luck made him President. And now he can’t live up to that office. What else do you expect?

    And with the handwriting clearly on the wall, the man, like the Biblical Samson, wants to bring down the roof on his/our head(s). God forbid. Nigeria will not die. PDP can disintegrate. Nothing spoil.

  • Anenih to Jonathan: Declare your intention on 2015

    Anenih to Jonathan: Declare your intention on 2015

    The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Tony Anenih, on Sunday night challenged President Goodluck Jonathan to make his intention towards the 2015 presidential election known to Nigerians on or before the end of next month.

    Speaking during the PDP post- convention dinner, which was held at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja, Anenih said that taking such a decision is necessary in order to give the party a proper direction.

    The dinner earlier scheduled to hold immediately after the special convention of the party was postponed because of the crisis rocking the party.

    It would be recalled that seven governors – Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Abdulafatah Ahmed (Kwara), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Aliyu Wammako (Sokoto), and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) left the venue of the convention with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to form a parallel executive for the “new PDP.”

    Before the new group named its executive including the National Chairman, Kawu Baraje, National Secretary, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Deputy National Chairman, Dr. Sam Jaja, the aggrieved governors had demanded the sack of Bamanga Tukur, citing lack of internal democracy in the party.

    The Sunday night dinner party was attended by those loyal to the Tukur -led PDP faction as none of the aggrieved governors attended the dinner.

    Also, some of the elders mediating in the crisis rocking the party like former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Military President, Ibrahim Babangida were conspicuously absent at the dinner.

    Anenih said, “I will appeal to our leader, the President of this country that at the end of September or as we enter October, we should not tell anybody that the time is not right, I think the time is right. It is good that we tell our people where we going to, what our journey will be like.”

    Referring to the on-going reconciliatory efforts in the party, he said that even though the task ahead is enormous, “we must be seen as a team and not as a group.”

     

     

  • PENGASSAN petitions Jonathan over oil workers’ abduction

    The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to address the kidnapping of oil workers in the Niger Delta region with a view to guaranteeing safety of lives and property of its members.

    This was contained in a statement issued by PENGASSAN in Lagos and signed by its Public Relations Officer (PRO), Seyi Gambo.

    Gambo, who said the situation is worrisome also, lamented what he described as, “seemingly uncontainable oil theft, illegal bunkering and abysmal petroleum refining which has put the oil and gas revenue prospects on the alarming brink with attendant deficit impact on the committed expenditure and capital projects across the various levels of government.”

    He called on the president to stem this ugly incident, saying the vulnerable business environment in the oil and gas industry is capable of deterring any serious investor from doing business.

    He said, “Nothing could be more pleasing than the news that government has been able to stem the nefarious acts of kidnapping and killing of innocent oil workers in the course of doing their lawful duty. The reappearance of such traumatic and daring criminal acts would worsen the preconceived Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), induced slow investment climate and divestment propensity in the Sector.”

    Gambo pointed at the recent event where two contractors were taken from the creeks including the wife of an SPDC staff from her poultry farm, while another staff member was abducted and subsequently assassinated while on a private business.

    “Workers’ fundamental rights to life, right to mobility and the right to work without fear of victimization/molestation is again being challenged. Opinion are that the Federal Government and states in the Niger Delta have relaxed their intelligence, security and law enforcement responsibility that had given room to renewed hostage taking for ransom.

    With the resurging threats to the oil and gas industry, the International Oil Companies (IOCs) have issued security alert and warnings to their employees..

    “As labour union, we will equally not shy away from our moral and constitutional role to direct our members to take cover accordingly. This may possibly lead to the withdrawal of services until the government and the relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies can ensure appropriate safety and security of lives as required,” the PENGASSAN spokesman warned.

    He insisted that the association would not hesitate to withdraw it staff from duty if their safety cannot be guaranteed, saying “the association may in the above regard have no other option than to yield to the intense pressure from our members, whose lives are at risk, to withdraw their services from the industry if the security and safety of lives and that of their families could no longer be guaranteed by the government.”

     

     

     

     

  • PDP crisis: Jonathan to reject Obasanjo’s terms

    PDP crisis: Jonathan to reject Obasanjo’s terms

    President Goodluck Jonathan may reject the recommendations of the seven-man peace team led by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, which has examined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) crisis.

    It was learnt that some of the recommendations of the panel leaked to the Presidency and some PDP leaders at the weekend.

    Some of the recommendations are rated as one-sided in favour of the G-7-Kawu Baraje faction of the party.

    Also, the President has raised three strategic committees to suggest how to contain the aggrieved governors, if the peace efforts fail.

    The committees, which were set up covertly on Thursday before the President flew out to Kenya, include Political, Legal and Contact.

    According to sources, some of the decisions taken at the Obasanjo session with the two factions of PDP on Friday got leaked.

    It was gathered that some of the recommendations include reinstatement of Adamawa PDP Executive Committee, restoration of Rivers PDP Executive Committee; recall of Governor Rotimi Amaechi from suspension — in line with the PDP Constitution—; and the resolution of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) crisis through a meeting between President Jonathan and the two claimants to the chairmanship – Rivers Governor Rotimi Amaechi and Plateau’s Jonah Jang.

    A source, who spoke in confidence, said: “Virtually all members of the peace panel agreed on these recommendations.

    “The Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, only differed on 2015 poll. He said Jonathan should be allowed a second term in office after he has accepted all these recommendations.

    “If the recommendations are acceptable to Jonathan, members of the team will then mobilise party leaders on how to appease the North to allow Jonathan a second term in office.

    “But the panel would ask Jonathan to make a written commitment that he will not embark on vengeance against the aggrieved governors, ex-governors and all those involved in the formation of Abubakar Kawu Baraje faction after getting a second term ticket.

    “He is also expected to use his second term to promote unity and stability of the country.”

    A Presidency source said the report was one-sided.

    The source said: “The question is what the other faction is giving back. A resolution should be a give-and-take and not one sided.

    “How come all the recommendations appear to indict the PDP hierarchy and the government. Does it mean that only Amaechi and others are right and the PDP is wrong all the way?

    “Jonathan may ignore the report, if it contains all the one-sided recommendations, I can assure you.

    “It is bound to be a carrot and stick approach because while some of the aggrieved have cases, there are others who are clearly guilty of indiscipline. The President cannot condone brigandage, while some elders appear to be stoking the fire from behind.”

    But the president has put in place three committees to contain what is termed as “the rebellion or insurgency” of the governors and Baraje faction.

    The committees are expected to submit their report on Tuesday.

    Another source said: “The committees are to immediately fashion ways of containing insurgency within the party and also fashion appropriate response to contain the aggrieved members, especially if they continue to resist peace options.

    “The committees will ensure a holistic approach to the resolution of the crisis.”

    The Baraje faction of PDP may today take up issues with the Bamanga Tukur faction on the interpretation of status quo ante bellum.

    The faction might ask the court to prevail on the Police to end the siege to its secretariat.

    The secretariat was sealed off on Saturday based on the order of the Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja.

    The Lagos High Court, Ikeja Division had earlier ordered that the parties should maintain the status quo.

    The battle ground is the Lagos High Court, Ikeja Division.

    A source in Baraje’s camp, who spoke with our correspondent, said: “We are going to court to challenge the sealing off of our secretariat. We want the court to interpret its order on status quo ante bellum.

    “We will ask for an order from the court to end the police siege.”