Political Briefs
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THE All Progressives Congress, APC, is working frantically to bring back Olusegun Osoba, former governor of Ogun State, Segun Adesegun, current embattled deputy governor and their followers who defected from the party on Wednesday, November 5, to the Social Democratic Party, SDP. A South-West truce committee headed by Atiku Abubakar, former vice president and Tony Momoh, former information minister as one of the members, met on Thursday, November 6, to work out modalities to bring back the aggrieved members to the APC.
Lai Mohammed, national publicity secretary, who confirmed the existence of the committee, said he was optimistic about the outcome of its work. “We believe that the grievances are not irreconcilable and we are redoubling our efforts to bring them back. What we share in common with them is much more than the areas of disagreement. There’s nothing absolutely fundamental that cannot be reconciled….We will concentrate efforts on bringing the major players into accord. The committee has the mandate to get to the root cause of the disagreement and achieve total reconciliation.”
The peace committee was expected to meet with Osoba, Adesegun and others who joined the SDP, over the weekend.
Earlier on Thursday, November 6, Mohammed, had in a statement expressed the hope that the defectors would reconsider their decision and return to the party. He said the party was shocked by the defection because efforts had been ongoing to reconcile all its aggrieved members in the state. He, however, said that the defection would not affect the overall chances of the party in the forthcoming polls in Ogun State.
‘’Yes, the defection of some our members will create some challenges for our party, but we will go back to the drawing board to restrategise and redouble our efforts to retain the state in 2015. ’Every member of our party is important to its overall success, but none is more important than the party. Against this background, no member can hold the party to ransom,’’ Mohammed said.
The other APC members that defected are Adegbenga Kaka, Ghenga Obadara and Akin Odunsi, all senators representing Ogun East, Ogun Central and Ogun West, respectively. The defected members of the House of Representatives are Kunle Adeyemi, Babatunde Olabode, Olumide Osoba, Abiodun Abudu and Bukunola Buraimo.
In the meantime, the state House of Assembly is factionalised into 13 members loyal to Governor Ibikunle Amosun and the other 13 making up the opposition.
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Governors Are No Threat to Serving Senators — Akpabio
THE governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have assured the serving senators that they were no threat to the ambitions of the party’s serving senators seeking to return to the Senate next year.
The governors, through Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, chairman, PDP Governors’ Forum, however, told the senators that they would not surrender their leadership of the party in their respective states to anyone.
Akpabio in Abuja, on Thursday, November 6, after submitting his forms to contest the senatorial seat for the North-West Senatorial District of Akwa Ibom State, said there was no basis for the protests by the PDP senators over the issue.
The PDP senators had on Tuesday and Wednesday, embarked on protest sittings and vowed to continue so until the Presidency curbed the autocratic powers of the governors, whom they accused of hijacking the party’s ward congresses in their respective states.
The senators were said to be demanding that at least, two sitting senators must be allowed to return to the Senate in 2015.
The anger shown by the senators during their sittings on both days was said to have rattled the Presidency and the national leadership of the PDP because the Senate was considered as an important ally of the federal government and the PDP.
The action led to an emergency meeting between the leadership of the PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja on Wednesday, November 5. The party and the Presidency were said to be in a hurry to end the problem in the Senate in order not to paralyse government activities. Besides, the Presidency feared that the aggrieved senators could defect to the opposition All Progressives Congress, thereby putting pressure on the government with their activities in the Senate.
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Balewa Shelves Presidential Ambition
AFTER initial bravados and threats of taking the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to court to enforce his fundamental human rights, AbdulJelili Tafawa Balewa, son of former prime minister, Tafawa Balewa, on Thursday, November 6, announced that he had dropped out of the presidential primary election of the party slated for December 6. Apart from withdrawing from the presidential race, he pledged his support for the candidacy of President Goodluck Jonathan.
Balewa announced his withdrawal from the presidential race at a press conference organised by Edwin Clark, an Ijaw leader and strong supporter of Jonathan. Balewa’s statement laid credence to an earlier statement made by Clark that he had succeeded in intervening to make peace between Balewa and Jonathan whom he referred to as his sons.
Balewa had indicated his intention to contest the presidential primaries on the platform of the PDP against the decision of the party to give Jonathan the right of first refusal. The issue generated so much public debate, which eventually forced the PDP to allow other interested persons to contest.
— Nov. 17, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT
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