A source at the meeting said it was held at the residence of the Sokoto State governor.
The meeting repoedly lasted about two hours, with Ribadu being the first to leave, followed by the former governor of Osun State, Prince Oyinlola.
The source hinted that Ribadu was carrying a message from the leadership of APC, though details was not disclosed. It was learnt that it was Ribadu that had been facilitating movement of Governor Murtala Nyako boys into APC in Adamawa State.
Further checks revealed that Nyako had been working on his colleagues to cross over to APC, as the presence of Ribadu was said to have confirmed that the splinter PDP and APC were, indeed, talking.
Meanwhile, the meeting of G7 governors ended on Sunday night without any communique or statement from the group, with none of the governors talking to the press.
The meeting, which had five out of the seven governors in attendance, lasted for about 45 minutes at the Kano governor’s logde.
As of the time of filing this report, some of the governors were back in their base.
Newsmen, who had kept vigil at the Sokoto governor’s lodge, later scampered to the Kano governor’s logde by which time the governors were already entering setting out in their cars.
Governors at the meeting included Nyako of Adamawa, Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano, Wamakko of Sokoto, Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers and Sule Lamido of Jigawa.
When contacted, the publicity secretary of the New PDP, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, declined to speak on the outcome, informimg that “we are issuing a statement tommorow.We will issue a statement which will list the conclusions reached.”
There were, however, reports of division among the G7 governors, who met on Sunday night in Abuja, over whether to quit or stay within the mainstream PDP.
Informed sources hinted that the main agenda of the meeting was to determine the next line of action for the group, after series of setbacks in their bid to take over the main party.
The group had, so far, lost two court cases and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has delivered its ruling, reaffirming Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as the validly elected chairman of the party.
While the group, through its spokesman, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, had denied any rift within the group, the Nigerian Tribune gathered that the issue of way forward had split the governors into two camps.
A camp led by the Adamawa State governor, Nyako, was said to be pushing for an exit from the PDP and had already sent his aides to defect to APC.
Reports also had it that Amaechi was ousted from PDP, while Wamakko was said to be following the path of Nyako.
Another group reportedly led by Lamido was insisting on staying within the PDP, a position reportedly shared by the Niger State governor, Babangida Aliyu.
Further checks showed that those pushing to quit the PDP were also not sure of which party to go.
While Nyako had endorsed APC, others were said to be looking in the direction of Bashir Yusuf-led Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM).
It was learnt that some elements within the New PDP were not happy with the actions already taken by the Adamawa governor, whose action of getting his aides to defect to APC they saw as undermining their claim to the leadership of the PDP
Insiders within the political camps of Governors Kwankwaso of Kano and Wamakko of Sokoto said the two leaders were worried about how to tackle their rivals already entrenched within AP C in both states.
Former Sokoto State governor, Attahiru Bafarawa, is the current leader of APC in Sokoto, while former Kano State governor, Ibrahim Shekarau, is the APC leader in Kano.
The option of moving to PDM was also said to be creating ripples, as many of the governors still believed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar still nursed presidential ambition.
Don’t admit Nyako, APC chief warns
A chieftain of APC and former governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Adamawa State, Mr Markus Gundiri, has warned that Nyako’s admission into the party would only serve to destabilise it.
Speaking in Abuja at the weekend, Gundiri said Governor Nyako and his colleague governors had excess baggage which they would bring into APC, advising that it was best if they stayed in PDP to resolve their differences.
“They now want to get out of PDP and go somewhere else. But frankly speaking, whichever party they go, they will create problem there,” he warned.
Gundiri said with the development now in Adamawa, people were at a loss as to why APC was bringing in strange bed fellows from another party.
“If they have problem in their house, they have to stay there and solve it. Why coming to other people’s house with their problem?
“So, if you now bring people from outside the four merged parties and you make them custodians of APC, there would be problem.
“It cannot just work. What we are saying to the chieftains of APC is to treat the admission of these people with caution in Adamawa State,” he said.
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