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Friday, November 22, 2013
More Govs Set to Dump Amechi
Ahead of Sunday’s peace meeting between President Goodluck Jonathan and the rebel G7 Governors, indications have emerged that some of the governors in the parallel ‘New PDP’ may dump the faction any moment from now.
Since former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, and the G7 Governors staged a walkout from the Eagles Square venue of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, special national convention, they have been having running battle with the PDP national chairman, Dr. Bamaga Tukur, and insist Tukur must vacate his seat as a precondition for peace.
Nigerian Pilot gathered that the initial plan to factionalise PDP failed from day one as former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is believed to wield a lot of influence over almost all the G7 governors, turned his back against them when his former deputy and arch rival, Atiku Abukakar, joined the group.
In a dramatic twist, former President Obasanjo advised the G-7 governors when they met with him in his Ogun State residence that it is better to work with President Jonathan than Zwith those who ordinarily should be in prison; that is the so called rebel governors.
Obasanjo urged the governors to settle their differences with President Goodluck Jonathan rather than contemplate leaving the PDP.
Since then, the membership of the G-7 has continued to dwindle with the likes of Governors Sule Lamido, Babangida Aliyu, Musa Kwankwanso, Abdulfatah Ahmed, boycotting the Sokoto retreat of the governor’s forum.
This was after a High Court had declared the faction illegal, in addition to other cases they lost serially in court.
Obasanjo was said to have harped on the booby traps ahead of them if they opt to dump PDP for the opposition APC or even the recently registered Peoples Democratic Movement, believed to have been registered by Atiku by proxy.
After the meeting with Obasanjo, some of the G7 governors were said to be having a rethink on the merit of continuing with the battle against the leadership of the party.
The dilemma of the G7 governors was compounded in some states like Kano, Sokoto, Kwara and Adamawa where the chieftains of the APC who are in firm grip of the party structures have vowed not to relinquish the structures to the rebel PDP governors as demanded by the G7 governors.
For instance, in Kano State, the former governor, Ibrahim Shekarau, and his supporters hold sway in the state chapter of APC, and have vowed to resist moves by the national leadership of the party to force Kwankwaso on them.
The story is the same in Kwara State where the defunct ACN governorship candidate in the 2011 general elections, Barrister Dele Belgore, has literarily shut the doors against Bukola Saraki and his political machinery.
The kitchen cabinet of some of the G7 governor is believed to have convinced the governors that since they have no personal grouse or any issue whatsoever with President Jonathan, it is better to return to the mainstream PDP as the governor of Rivers State, who is goading them against President Jonathan, is only pushing a personal agenda.
The disagreement among the G7 governors is said to be largely responsible for the poor attendance of the governors at Sokoto last weekend during the retreat organised by the Amaechi faction of the Nigeria Governors Forum.
To the chagrin of Amaechi, only seven out of the 19 governors he claimed to be in the faction attended the highly publicised event, while five others were represented by their deputies.
Before he left Yola for the Sokoto retreat, Governor Nyako had told his supporters that the G7 will use the retreat to conclude plans to ditch the PDP and move into the APC, but this was not to be as most of the governors shunned the Sokoto retreat.
It was also gathered that some of the G7 governors developed cold feet over fear of the anti-corruption agencies, following the arrest of two sons of the Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamodo, over N10 billion graft.
It is likelihood that more of the governors will dump Amaechi and Baraje; arrow heads of the New PDP, after their meeting with President Jonathan on Sunday.
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