Chairman, Chief Tony Anenih; President Goodluck Jonathan; Governors
Liyel Imoke; Aliyu Babangida; Vice-President Namadi Sambo; Governors
Chibuikie Amaechi; Rabi'u Kwakwanso; Godswill Akpabio and Abdulfatah
Ahmed after a meeting with Jonathan at the Presidential Villa... on
Sunday.
President Goodluck Jonathan and the aggrieved governors in the New
Peoples Democratic Party have agreed to sheath their swords as they
commence immediate action towards the resolution of the crisis in the
party.
The decision was reached at a meeting they held on Sunday at the
Presidential Villa in Abuja on Sunday night.
This was disclosed in a communique issued after the meeting, which
ended around 11:00 pm.
A statement issued at the end of the talks was read by one of the
seven aggrieved governors in theNew PDP and Niger State Governor
Babangida Aliyu.
He was surrounded by Jonathan, Vice-President Namadi Sambo, and the
Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih.
Other governors in theNew PDPin attendance were Rotimi Amaechi
(Rivers), Rabiu Kwakwanso (Kano), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Sule Lamido
(Jigawa) and Abdulfattah Ahmed (Kwara).
In the Bamanga Tukur-led PDP were Liyel Imoke (Cross River) Godswill
Akpabio (Akwa Ibom) and Idris Wada (Kogi).
In the statement, the parties to the talks also agreed to avoid
inflammatory statements on contentious issues, pending the resolution
of the crisis.
The statement reads in part, "With a view to resolving the recent
crisis in our party and sequel to the number of meetings convened by
leaders and stakeholders and the governors of Adamawa, Niger, Rivers,
Kwara, Sokoto, Jigawa, Akwa Ibom, Kogi, Kano and Cross Rivers states
met with the President, the Vice -President and the chairman of the
BOT and extensively deliberated on various issues over a three -day
period.
"The meetings were cordial and deliberations fruitful with a clear
commitments on all sides to resolve all issues raised at the meetings.
"The meeting also called on all parties to sheath their swords and
avoid further inflammatory comments on issues particularly during the
course of our deliberations as we have all agreed to resolve all the
differences.
"In the interim, all parties have accepted to commence immediate
action and agreed towards complete resolution of all matters and
continue to meet until all processes toward reconciliation are
concluded amicably."
The statement also disclosed that the "meetings will continue on
October 7, 2013." It added that both sides would ensure that the
problems in the party were resolved.
"We will make sure and ensure that there is progress in resolving the
crisis," they said in the statement.
The meeting was initially scheduled to commence by 10pm, but it
started at 4.35pm. Also, the venue was moved from House Seven, a
guest house in the Presidential Villa where it was slated to hold to
one of the meeting rooms in the First Lady's Wing of the State House.
Security officers in the Presidential Villa instructed journalists to
stay away from the vicinity of the meeting.
They said the parley was a private meeting and therefore not open to the media.
Amaechi, who was among the first to arrive, drove himself . He was
closely followed by Aliyu.
The PUNCHlearnt that one of the reasons the meeting was commenced
earlier than it was initially scheduled was because Jonathan was to
meet with Anenih, Tukur and Baraje by 11pm also on Sunday.
As of the time of filing this report, the outcome of the meeting had
not been made public.
A similar meeting on Tuesday between Jonathan and some of the
aggrieved governors ended in a deadlock.
The aggrieved governors had during the meeting tabled before
Jonathan, some conditions from the New PDPwhich must be met before
they would return to the mainstream PDP.
The demands included the sacking of Tukur as the PDP national
chairman; sticking to a one-term tenure by the President by not
seeking re-election in 2015, and stopping the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission from further investigating them.
Others are that the President must halt the plans to take over
PDP's structure in their various states, the resolution of the
Nigeria Governors' Forum crisis and the recall of Rivers State
Governor Rotimi Amaechi from suspension.
Baraje and another chieftain of the New PDP,Senator Bukola Saraki,
had said only two or three of the demands had partially been
addressed.
Baraje claimed that the President and the Tukur-led PDP had accepted
to reverse the dissolution of the Adamawa State chapter executives
and to rescind the suspension of Amaechi.
Less than 72 hours after, the New PDP leader added that his team
and the aggrieved governors had given Sunday (yesterday) as
the last opportunity for a truce to be reached.
But the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ahmed
Gulak, said on Friday, that his boss would not meet any of the demands
of the aggrieved governors and other members of theNew PDP.
Meanwhile, lawmakers loyal to the Baraje-led PDP will meet on Monday
(today) to discuss how to approach their legislative functions as the
National Assembly resumes tomorrow (Tuesday).
It was learnt in Abuja that the members of the group are to play a
greater role in the scheme of things within the two chambers.
A source said the members of the group were of the opinion that those
in the Tukur-led faction who are currently leading the National
Assembly, might thwart their plans if there was need for reforms to
be carried out in the assembly.
The source said the meeting was basically to set an agenda for
legislative business as Senators and members of the House of
Representatives resume.
According to him, issues on the agenda include an appraisal of the
legal actions so far initiated by the factions as well as other
options that may be available if the crisis persisted.
A member of the group , who also asked not to be named, said, "Our
meeting is aimed at basically setting the agenda in the light of
current happenings within our party and the polity.
"We now have the numbers to effect some changes in the way things are
done with about 90 to 125 members of the house and close to 55
Senators. So, I think we have the numbers."
He also expressed confidence that the 137 members of the All
Progressives Congress in the House would support the faction.
A Senator, who is a member of the group, confided in one of our
correspondents that the House members and Senators would hold
separate meetings before an enlarged one to harmonise positions.
It was also learnt on Sunday that the Senate leadership had summoned a
PDP caucus meeting for 8pm on Monday(today).
This, according to an informed source, is aimed at dousing tension
ahead of Tuesday's resumption.
He added that the notice for the meeting was sent via short message service.
The source said, "We received text messages this(Sunday) evening
inviting the Senate caucus of the National Assembly for a meeting
tomorrow (Monday).
Meanwhile, the National Treasurer of theNew PDP, Alhaji Tanko
Gwamna, has resigned from the faction.
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