Police disrupt rebel governors’ meeting in Abuja

November 4, 2013 by Olusola Fabiyi and Segun Olatunji. Policemen drafted from the Asokoro Area Command in Abuja disrupted a meeting by five of the seven aggrieved governors of the Peoples Democratic Party in Abuja on Sunday night. The policemen were led by the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the command, Mr. Nnanna Ama. The rebel governors were at the Kano State Governor’s Lodge to meet on their grievances against the PDP and how to marshall their points ahead of their planned meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan . Those at the meeting were Rabiu Kwakwanso(Kano), Chibuike Amaechi (Rivers), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Aliyu Babangida (Niger), and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa). Governor Abdulfatai Ahmed (Kwara) and Aliyu Wamakko(Sokoto) were not at the meeting. The meeting was also attended by the Chairman of the New PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Baraje; the National Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola; a former Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Segun Oni; a former Governor of Nasarawa State, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu and a host of others. One of our correspondents sighted armed policemen when he arrived at the lodge. They were said to have arrived the venue in three trucks , including a Toyota Hilux marked NPF6679C. It was learnt that they initially disrupted the meeting by asking the governors and others at the meeting to disperse or be arrested. It was learnt that when the governors insisted on continuing the meeting, the policemen moved away but stayed within the premises of the lodge. Both Kwakwanso and Lamido spoke on behalf of the governors in Hausa Language. But Oyinlola, who spoke in English, said that the meeting was a mere consultation by members of the New PDP. The former PDP national secretary of the PDP said the police held them hostage for several minutes, adding that they were astonished when the DPO told them that he was under instruction to disperse them . He said, “We were holding our meeting with the governors when the DPO of Asokoro came in to say that he had an instruction to disperse us from holding our meeting or else effect arrest. “We were surprised that in spite of the fact that the consultation on the resolution of the PDP crisis had been put on hold as a result of the pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Mecca. “And it was made known to all Nigerians that we will continue after the pilgrimage break. It is for the continuation of the reconciliation process that we were meeting here only for the DPO to come. “And we said okay if you had instructions that we should not hold the meeting, we were ready to be arrested.” He said he and the governors “ felt that it was the height of impunity for a DPO to have the guts to tell a group of governors to stop meeting. ” He said the situation was not that bad even during the military era. Asked what they told the DPO, he replied, “We told him that we were ready for arrest and that he should go and bring his troops to do so.” He said the DPO later walked away when he realised that the governors were adamant to continue with the meeting. The DPO, who dressed in a T-shirt, refused to speak with journalists. The spokesperson for the New PDP, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, wondered why former leaders of the country had failed to speak on the “ impunity perpetuated by this administration.” He said, “What is baffling to us the more is the continuous silence of our elders and past heads of state on these various acts of impunity perpetuated by this administration knowing the grave danger such acts will lead this country to. “Let it not be assumed that we are the only ones to suffer for this desperation and frustration by some of these misguided elements in this administration as they will go after other Nigerians if they are not quickly called to order.” He said the National Working Committee of the New PDP was also directed to critically examine the available options and recommend to the Caucus, the platform to be used for the 2015 general elections. Meanwhile, the New PDP has said the rebel governors are comfortable with their open romance with the All Progressives Congress. Although the New PDP added that the G-7 , were still hopeful that their grievances against the Bamanga Tukur-led National Working Committee of the PDP would be resolved, it said APC’s zeal to rescue the country was what attracted the seven governors. The factional PDP stated this in a statement made available to journalists on Sunday less than 24 hours after the PDP National Secretary, Prof. Wale Oladipo , described a former Vice- President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and other New PDP members, including the rebel governors, as ingrates. In a statement by Eze , the factional PDP said its members also appreciated “politics of tolerance and cooperation “in the APC which are the basic tools for peace and tranquility in the country. It said, “Even though we remain hopeful that wise counsel would prevail and our demands granted by the PDP, we, at the same time, feel comfortable in the company of APC since we share the same goal of rescuing our dear country from the precipice and putting her firmly on the path of sustainable development. “The presence of APC and the (New) PDP leaders in large numbers at the Sokoto State University inauguration is a positive development which raises hope for our fledgling democracy. “It is a good example of politics of tolerance and cooperation which we consider necessary if the country is to experience peace and tranquillity, without which there could be no development.” It added that if the Tukur-led NWC was determined to keep the governors and others, their conditions should not be difficult for the PDP to meet. The terms are the removal of Tukur, the recognition of Amaechi as the authentic chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, an end to the alleged harassment of its members by security agents and the restoration of peace in the Rivers State chapter of the party. But the PDP deputy spokesman, Mr. Abdulahi Jalo, appealed to the rebel governors not to yield to the lobby by the APC. Jalo, in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja on Sunday, said the issues raised by the seven governors were being looked into. He said, “Our governors should not be deceived by the antics of the undemocratic party called the APC. They can’t gain anything there. “They should remain in the PDP where their rights are guaranteed and where they are free to express their opinions without molestation. “Apart from the fact that the PDP remains the only true national party, it is also a party loved by the majority of Nigerians because they are all stakeholders.” Meanwhile, PDP has given an indication that Tukur may not be removed to appease the seven governors and their supporters. It said the majority of its members wanted him to continue steering the affairs of the Party. The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, added that Tukur’s maturity and fatherly disposition were the hallmarks of a statesman willing to build, rather than destroy an institution he co-founded. It said, “Tukur as a founding member of the party is a bridge between the original ideals of the formation of the party and its contemporary existence. “His understanding that the PDP is a broad-based coalition that exists to cement the bonds of national unity is the reason he has been very accommodating to all views no matter how they may have personally inconvenienced him.” In Abeokuta, the PDP National Secretary , said on Saturday that the party was not shaken by the recent APC moves to woo the aggrieved governors into the fold. He said this at a reunion rally organised by the Ogun State chapter of the PDP for its members in Ogun-West Senatorial District in Idiroko, Ipokia Local Government Area. Oladipo, who was reacting to the reported claims by Abubakar that it took him and his allies only four months to hatch the plot that resulted in the formation of the the New PDP, argued that the former vice-president had bitten the finger that fed him. The PDP national secretary said it was unthinkable that Abubakar and his allies who had benefitted so much from the ruling party would not only turn their back on their benefactor but would also plot its downfall. He said, “As far as the South -West is concerned, you can see that PDP is waxing stronger by the day, particularly since the last mini- congress of the South-West that we had in Ibadan. I don’t want to over-dramatise the situation, the PDP has not fallen and it will not fall.