before a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja against the Alhaji Bamanga Tukur-led faction of the party.
The faction, through the suit, is seeking to stop members of the Tukur-led faction from further parading themselves as officers of the party.
The plaintiffs were Alhaji Abdullahi Kawu Baraje, Dr Sam Sam Jaja, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and the PDP.
They are asking the court to restrain defendants in the suit, Tukur; Prince Uche Secondus; Mrs Kema Chikwe; Olisah Metuh and others, from parading themselves as the members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of PDP.
The court, presided over by Justice Ganiyu Safari, granted the plaintiffs leave to serve the defendants in their various locations, which are outside the court’s jurisdiction.
But the court refused to hear the plaintiffs’ argument on the determination of which of the factions was legally entitled to be members of NWC of the party.
Justice Safari ordered that status quo be maintained and ordered the plaintiffs to convert the ex parte motion to motion on notice, which the court ruled must be served on other parties.
He adjourned the matter till September 9.
Tukur can’t be forced out —Presidency
Reacting, the presidency said there is no way Tukur would be forced out of office, since he was elected.
It said, instead, the “moles” already discovered within the ruling party would be taken care of, while all members would be re-united.
Also, the presidency took a swipe at former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over his role in the factionalisation of the party.
Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, told State House correspondents that the crisis in the party was about the interest of individuals.
He said the former vice president, even as a politician, was supposed to work for the unity of the party.
According to him, the “indebted” Atiku should be grateful to PDP for being magnanimous to him, adding that “the best way to continue to pay the debt is to protect PDP.
“Atiku left PDP and went to Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and he came back to PDP because he discovered that outside PDP there is no party; so he had to come back and he was even given the waiver to contest the primaries in 2011.”
Asked whether Tukur will survive the present storm, Gulak said “it is all politics.
“You cannot remove the national chairman like that. He was elected and you will remember that of all the offices, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) observed that only the position of the national chairman and the financial secretary were properly done and that is why we had do to the special national convention to properly elect the other officers.
“There are processes, there are provisions of the institution, there are provisions of the Electoral Act, we should not act outside the laws, we must act between the extant laws of the land.
Atiku replies Gulak
Atiku, reacting, said the best way to show appreciation to the ruling party was to protect it from forces bent on destroying it.
Speaking through his media adviser, Mallam Garba Sheu, the former number two citizen said he had heard Mr Gulak and he did not dispute the fact that he was indebted to PDP.
Atiku was quoted as saying that the best way to continue to pay that debt was to protect the party.
Stalemate as PDP govs disagree at parley
There was a sharp division among governors of PDP at the peace meeting called by President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday night.
The meeting, which lasted till early hours of Monday, however, resolved to continue today.
A source, however, said much of the submissions by the G7 governors bothered on flimsy excuses, adding that if the president should follow that path, he would have nothing to show Nigerians in 2015.
“It appears the aggrieved governors want the president to fail, so they can easily take his job in 2015,” a source said.
Sources close to the meeting, however, told the Nigerian Tribune that a sharp division ensued among governors at the meeting, following the declaration by the Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwakwanso, who spoke on behalf of the G7 governors that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had become a thorn in the flesh of state governors, calling on the president to order the commission to stop probing of governors.
Besides Kwakwanso, Kwara State governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, also asked the president to put a stop to activities of the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Kwakwanso, the first to speak among the aggrieved governors who, on Saturday, teamed up with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to form the New PDP, said they were angry over four issues.
He said they were being stalked by the EFCC, while the commission was also harassing the son of the governor of Jigawa State, also one of the G7 governors.
He said as PDP governors, they should be protected from EFCC harassment, adding that members of the ruling party should not be so exposed to EFCC probe.
Kwara State governor also told the meeting that he had been facing EFCC probe since he served in the cabinet of Senator Bukola Saraki, adding that there was an atmosphere of fear in the state over activities of the anti-graft agency.
He said as a PDP governor, the government should not only protect him, but also protect his predecessor, who was being investigated by the EFCC.
The claims by the two governors, however, elicited reactions from Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau, Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom and Gabriel Suswam of Benue.
The trio opposed the request that President Jonathan should put a stop to EFCC activities.
Jang was said to have insisted that EFCC should continue with its job, adding that he was also a victim of the probe by the commission for the first three years of his first term.
He said the fact that the commission was a federal agency did not mean the president should take control of its activities.
Suswam also told the meeting that his government had been severally investigated and that he never attributed the situation to the president.
Akpabio, according to a source, said that the governors should strive to keep clean books, since nobody would be in office for life.
Sources said Kwakwanso, who presented a four-point grouse, also mentioned the issue of Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) election, the Adamawa PDP crisis and the Rivers situation as some of the grouse of the aggrieved governors.
He was also quoted as saying that the president should find solution to the crisis rocking Adamawa PDP, as delegates loyal to the governor were stopped from attending the mini convention on Saturday.
Kwankwaso also stressed the need for PDP to discuss party structures, with the president ensuring inclusive government.
According to him, the list of those who were appointed into positions and boards of parastatal agencies in his state, for example, did not emanate from him, adding that those people had been giving him a lot of problems.
“We don’t want to leave PDP, but we want to ensure the right things are done. We need a united NGF and we want the president to intervene and help sort out the crisis,” he was quoted to have said.
The governors, however, insisted that besides the listed grievances, they did not intend to leave the party, adding that their action on Saturday was aimed at driving home their grievances.
A governor at the meeting further confirmed that Jang was angry at the mention of the NGF crisis and that when he was given the floor, he accused his colleague governors of playing a deceitful game.
He told the president that he was drafted into the NGF election by his colleagues who adopted him as a consensus candidate, adding that he was shocked to discover that the same people who drafted him later said they were deceiving him.
He also said the action of the breakaway governors on Saturday was premeditated, adding that they had planned to hold a parallel convention long ago.
According to him, the governors could not just wake up and get the venue decorated within few minutes of their leaving Eagle Square.
He insisted that political leaders must do away with politics of deceit if the PDP must get to the roots of the problem.
A source said President Jonathan, who rounded off the discussions, said the problems enumerated were all human problems, promising that all of the issues would be resolved.
According to a reliable source, the president declared that those within his powers would be resolved by him, while he would readily refer issues of the party to the party leadership for appropriate action.
Parley may not hold
There are indications that the peace meeting of PDP scheduled for today may not hold, as sources confirmed that the G7 governors had started making excuses for some of their colleagues.
It was learnt that the aggrieved PDP governors had, by Monday evening, started making representations to the leadership of PDP and to the presidency over the need to shift the meeting because of the absence of some of their colleagues.
It was, however, gathered that the request was being viewed as a strategic delay tactics aimed at further unsettling the mainstream PDP.
A source said proponents of the New PDP had already procured an office in Wuse, Abuja and the aggrieved PDP members had also instituted a suit at the Lagos High Court.
It was also gathered that proponents of the New PDP may be using the delay tactics to further established state chapters, so as to deepen their “revolt” against the mainstream PDP.
Akitoye remains national secretary -PDP
The national leadership of PDP, on Monday, reaffirmed Dr Charles Akitoye as the acting national secretary of the party, until a court order, which restrained it from conducting an election into the office, was finally disposed off.
Fielding questions from newsmen in Abuja, on Monday, shortly after the meeting of the members of NWC, the newly-elected national publicity secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, said there was no basis for the removal of the acting national secretary of the party, Dr Akitoye, from office, since there was no representation to that effect from the South-West where the position was zoned to.
According to Metuh, “there is no basis for the replacement of Dr Akitoye as the acting national secretary of the party until the pending suit is decided finally, moreso there is no protest from the South-West zone against him. There is no protest, there is no petition, there is no representation against him, so, Dr Akitoye remains the acting national secretary of the party until the court decides otherwise.”
Prince Oyinlola had written to the national convention planning committee of the party over his pending appeal on the office and the need for the committee not to conduct election into the office of the national secretary of the party.
On the crisis rocking the party over the formation of a parallel PDP by some governors along with some party leaders, Chief Metuh said “consultation is going on at the highest level of the party.”
On whether the leadership of the party was contemplating sanctioning state governors and other party members involved in the formation of the parallel PDP, Metuh said “we have not got to that level.”
We’ll not abandon rescue mission -Atiku-led faction
The Atiku faction PDP has vowed not to abandon the ideals of justice and equity that gave birth to the new faction under Alhaji Abubakar Baraje.
This is coming as more facts emerged over the reconciliation meeting held at the Asokoro residence of Chief Tony Anenih, which was attended by President Goodluck Jonathan and aggrieved governors of the party.
A statement issued by the national secretary of the Baraje-led faction, Prince Oyinlola, stressed the resolve of the new leadership to continue with its mission of rescuing the party, adding that party members and leaders from all states of the country had continued to reach out to its secretariat in solidarity.
“Alhaji Baraje and other leaders of the party appreciate the overwhelming outpouring of support and encouragement from genuine members and leaders of the party across the country.
“We assure them that we will not disappoint in the mission to make the PDP work again in the interest of Nigeria and its people,” the statement read.
It stressed the respect of the members of the factions to the elders of the party, including President Jonathan and former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, promising that they would not abandon the ideals of justice and fairness that gave birth to the new party.
Nigerian Tribune was told that the Sunday meeting was more of exploratory than fundamental, as the new faction was said to have reeled out a long list of violations and act of impunity committed by the Tukur leadership of the party, with a source disclosing that “the next meeting is the one that will actually address the key issues.”
Meanwhile, there are strong indications that head may roll if there is to be peace within the party.
Investigations showed that the issue on the table appeared to have indicted some established party chiefs handling the political matters of the presidency.
Tribune
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