Sept. 2, 2013
President Goodluck Jonathan has appealed to governors elected on the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to stop disgracing him in public
Jonathan, who is still coping with the unexpected shock he received yesterday when seven governors broke away from the party to form a parallel PDP during the party’s mini convention in Abuja, called the governors to a peace meeting at the Presidential Villa on Sunday night.
But as of the time of this report, only 16 of the 23 governors, including those of the G5+ who had been on a consultation tour, had arrived at the meeting, which was being held at the previously-unknown First Lady wing in the villa. Several of the governors hurriedly left Abuja to avoid meeting with the president.
They were Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano), Isa Yuguda (Bauchi), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Idris Wada (Kogi), Liyel Imoke (Cross River), Jonah Jang (Plateau), Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta), Ibrahim Shema (Katsina), Murktar Ramalan Yero (Kaduna), Garba Umar (Taraba Acting Governor), Seidu Dakingari (Kebbi), Theodore Orji (Abia), and Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe).
Also present at the meeting were the counsel to PDP, Joe Kyari Gadzama; the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki; the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim; and the Chief of Staff to the president, Mike Oghiadhome.
President Jonathan, along with his deputy, Namadi Sambo and some members of the PDP leadership, arrived at the venue of the meeting at exactly 9.27pm, while the governors were waiting.
Sources at the meeting said the President urged the governors to stop disgracing him at public.
The source said, “The President, who looked subdued, begged the governors to sheathe their swords and stop disgracing him in the public.”
Meanwhile, it has been learnt that the breakway faction of the party sent Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso to offer Mr. Jonathan two conditions for a meeting with him: step down from running in 2015, and let the party hold a fresh convention.
The split in the ruling party has seriously unsettled Mr. Jonathan, and earlier on Sunday, he invited former president Obasanjo to an emergency meeting.
It was learned that Mr. Obasanjo, who had earlier met with some of the rebellious governors, was the one who advised President Jonathan to invite the governors to an emergency meeting.
A source at the presidency said they were shocked that the breakaway governors only sent Mr. Kwankwaso to the meeting with the president as they had expected all the governors to be in attendance.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tambuwal is also contemplating pledging allegiance to the New PDP. A source told SaharaReporters that a lot of activities will change in the political landscape this week as a lot of political interests within the ruling party plan to abandon Mr. Jonathan and his team by openly pledging allegiance to the breakaway faction.