The Forum of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors on
Tuesday expressed disappointment over what it called series of scandals and
allegations rocking the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.....
This came as the Chairman of the National Caretaker
Committee (NCC), of the party, Ahmed Makarfi, disclosed that the party has only
endorsed the zoning of presidency and national chairman to the North and South
respectively.
The Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum and Ekiti State
Governor, Ayo Fayose, berated the All Progressives Congress (APC)
administration led by President Buhari over series of alleged cases of impunity
and corruption.
Fayose urged PDP to continue to expose alleged excesses of
the APC, declaring that “if we don’t expose them, nobody will do so.”
Fayose likened the administration’s anti-graft war to the
scenario where armed robbers engage perceived thieves in fierce battle.
“The opposition (APC) is now in many scandals, we have to
keep our voices up to expose them. Armed robbers calling people thieves, who
are the armed robbers now?
“Buhari’s anti-corruption fight is like Satan calling Judas
Iscariot a sinner.” Fayose said.
The Ekiti State governor charged party members to ensure
that the December 2017 elective convention succeeds, pointing out that “the
last convention was applauded; I want to believe that this one will be the
same. In this convention, there will be winner and loser, but in all, the party
must win. The fact that you did not win should not make you to destroy the
party.“
Meanwhile, while reacting to insinuations that the
leadership was behind the move to alter the micro zoning arrangement which
ceded the national, chairmanship seat to the South west, Makarfi said there was
no truth in such insinuation”
He also cautioned against pushing the leadership of the
party to assume powers that might make it act in an arbitrary manner and which
the party would later regret.
Makarfi who spoke at the 76th National Executive Committee
(NEC) of the party, said the NCC has no power ascribed to warrant its
interference in the choice of chairman
of the party.
“I want to make one thing categorically clear that it
is very unfair insinuation. Some people
think that I as the chairman of the caretaker committee should assume the power
that we don’t have.
“We have no power beyond the convention, and I want to
remind all of us that, the only thing convention did was to zone two positions,
and as chairman or caretaker committee, you cannot go beyond that.
“But to assume that the chairman of the caretaker committee
to exercise power that he doesn’t have, and start dishing out orders, that will
be undemocratic and will have no basis or foundation in our constitution,” he
said.
On the outcome of the meeting with aspirants, he said they
sought and obtained from the aspirants that they would all approach the contest
with decorum.
He told the meeting that the caretaker committee has been
able to restore order and sanity in troubled states.
Makarfi also said the party has also meted out disciplinary
actions on some erring members in Anambra State while cases of others have been
referred to the disciplinary committee.
Among the aspirants that met with the caretaker committee
included Chief Bode George, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, Prince Uche Secondus, Prof.
Taoheed Adedoja, Alhaji Rasheed Ladoja, Prof. Tunde Adeniran, Otunba Gbenga
Daniel and Mr. Jimi Agbaje.
While addressing the NEC meeting, the Chairman of the Board
of Trustees (BoT), Senator Walid Jibril, said success of the party’s convention
would depend on the unity and love for the party as the outcome is going to
determine the success or the death of the party as every Nigerian is waiting
for PDP to come back and rule Nigeria again.
He stated that members of the party should not begin to
adopt people without seriously adhering to rules and regulations of the party.
The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekwerenmadu, urged the
Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee to ensure that the forthcoming
national convention is conducted in a very transparent manner to serve as a
lasting legacy for the party.
Meanwhile, the NEC of the party has formally ratified
December 9 as date for its national convention.
While choosing the date for the national convention, the NEC
also said the venue of the event would be at Eagle Square in Abuja.
However, yesterday’s NEC meeting witnessed a drama when the
senator representing Ekiti South senatorial district, Senator Abiodun Olujimi,
brought a petition against the Ekiti state governor, Fayose over his alleged
interference in the selection process for the party’s governorship candidate in
the state.
Fayose was said to have unilaterally declared that his
deputy, Prof. Olusola Eleka, would run as the PDP governorship candidate in the
next year’s election.
Addressing journalists late evening after the meeting the
party’s spokesman, Dayo Adeyeye, said Olujimi brought a complain of alleged
acts of impunity by the leadership of the state chapter.
When asked about the NEC’s response to the petition, Adeyeye
said the matter was referred to the chairman of the caretaker committee, who
told members that an action was already being taken to resolve the issues in
order to avoid a catastrophic outcome of its convention.
He said the NEC approved a general weaver for every one
coming into the PDP in Oyo and Anambra States.
He also said the meeting approved guidelines for the conduct
of congresses and national convention.
In addition, Adeyeye disclosed that the caretaker committee
submitted the budget for the convention to the NEC for its approval.
On the controversy over the eligibility of the governorship
candidate of the party in Anambra State, Henry Obaze, the PDP’s spokesman said
that the candidate was given weaver before he contested for the primaries in
the same way Senator Ademola Adeleke was granted weaver before emerging
victorious as a senator.
“Most significantly the meeting looked at the various
proposals for constitutional amendments,” he said.
Explaining why the meeting took so long, Adeyeye said it
looked several touchy issues that warranted extensive deliberations.
According to Adeyeye, the meeting was painstaking in
considering amendments to the constitution in order to avoid mistakes which
could drag the party into problems like the one that led to the prolonged
crisis that besieged the party.
No comments: