PDP crisis continues as Obasanjo peace initiative fails

The hope of resolving the festering crisis  in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF) crumbed like a pack of cards the two-day meeting to tackle them ended in the wee hours of  Wednesday in a deadlock.

Obasanjo met with the governors on Tuesday night at the Presidential Villa, Abuja to intervene in the crisis rocking the Nigeria Governors' Forum.

A major decision at the meeting was to persuade both Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi; and his Plateau counterpart, Jonah Jang, to step down for a neutral person as Chairman of the NGF.

But the two governors were unwilling to step down.

Amaechi and Jang are both claiming the chairmanship of the forum since its controversial election three months ago. The NGF has since split into two with Amaechi and Jang controlling different factions.

Before the Tuesday's meeting, which ended at a few minutes after 3am, Obasanjo had earlier met with the governors on Monday night.

The two meetings were said to have centred on discipline in the PDP, the NGF crisis and sundry issues among which are the crisis in Rivers State; matter of  automatic tickets for political office holders, and lack of cohesion among the governors.

The govers, according to reports,  stuck to their positions as neither the supporters of Plateau State Governor, Chief Jonah Jang, whose claim to the chairmanship of the forum was that he was the party's consensus candidate, nor those of Rivers State Governor, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi, who won the NGF election, were ready to concede anything to the other.

Amaechi, in the election, had scored 19 votes to Jang's 16 to retain his position as the NGF chair.

It was learnt that the meeting rather than resolve the crises over which it was convened, ended up deepening the cracks among the governors.

Another source said the governors were intransigent because they came to the meeting with a mindset.

He said:  'The five governors openly identified with the leadership of Amaechi as the chairman of the Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF), while others in the Jang camp defended the support for him as the chairman of the governors' forum.

'From the meeting we had, it seems that none of our colleagues wants to shift grounds. I am among the supporters of Amaechi because he won an election among us the governors to lead us.

'To us, this is seen as part of democracy. An election among 36 equals was conducted and one person got 19 votes and the other got 16. So, on the basis of a simple majority, the person with the highest number won; but some of us refused to accept the outcome of the election.'

The source explained that the Chairman of the PDP Governors' Forum (PDP-GF), Chief Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, leading his group, insisted that the PDP as the political party with the highest number of governors in the NGF had chosen a consensus candidate as the chairman of the governors' forum and it must remain so.

The source said the pro-Jang governors insisted that they had a paper, where 19 governors appended their signatures that Jang was the PDP candidate for the NGF chair.

He also said attempts were made for Amaechi and Jang to resign, but the Rivers State governor rejected the suggestion, insisting that his election as the chairman of NGF was not negotiable.

'At this point, we knew that there was nothing anyone could do to ask Amaechi to step down. He was supported by the governors of Sokoto, Jigawa, Adamawa and Kano. The Kano governor also said in the meeting that they were not quitting the PDP as some of us were thinking,' the source added.

A governor, who also gave some insight into what transpired at the meeting, said Amaechi rejected entreaties from his colleagues, including Niger State Governor, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, and his Kwara State counterpart, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, to step down.

He said: 'Our friend (Amaechi) has become paranoid. He feels he has to hold on to the NGF chairmanship as a bargaining chip. Niger and Kwara governors even advised him to step down, but he declined.

'The governors even suggested that he should call for a general meeting of all the governors, during which he will announce his resignation, but he refused.

'Jang was more than willing to step down, but since Ameachi remained obstinate, he decided to hold on to his position of chairman of the NGF faction.'

On what Obasanjo's comments were as a result of the stalemate that had ensued, the governor said the former president became philosophical by stating the 'door had been shut but was still open'.

'It was quite disheartening because we thought this crisis will be resolved. Baba (Obasanjo) told him (Amaechi) he is too clever and arrogant,' he said.

The governor, however, added that some of them felt Obasanjo would not have been able to convince Amaechi to step down given their history.

Until a Supreme Court judgment in October 2007, Obasanjo as sitting president, was alleged to have been instrumental to ensuring Amaechi did not contest the Rivers governorship election in April that year, even though he had won the state primaries for the ticket of the PDP a few months earlier.

It was learnt that the governors might meet again after the August 31 special national convention of the party.

Meanwhile, Amaechi on Wednesday gave conditions under which he could resign as the Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum.

The governor said that he was ready to quit the office if the 19 governors who voted for him asked him to.

Amaechi like Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang is claiming to have won the election for the chairmanship of the NGF.

Amaechi's position was made known to journalists in Port Harcourt by  by his Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari.

The governor reiterated that  those who are accusing him of nursing a vice presidential ambition were mischievous since he had not made any formal declaration in that regard.

Semenitari told journalists in Port Harcourt that Nigerians were aware of the democratic process in which Amaechi emerged as the chairman of the NGF and that the governor is someone who does not treat a democratic process with levity.

She said  Amaechi remained the authentic chairman of the NGF, adding however that if his  colleagues, especially those who voted for him,  prevail on him to  step down in a bid to pave the way for peace in the forum, he would step down.

'If all the governors decide, especially those who voted for Governor Amaechi, that he should step down, naturally, he will concede to his colleagues,' she said.

On the issue of reconciliation between President Goodluck Jonathan and the governor, the commissioner stated that there had been meaningful discussion between both leaders.

She denied an allegation that Amaechi was planning to leave the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because of his difficulties within it. According to her, irrespective of the governor's suspension which is now before a court, he remains a bonafide member of the PDP.

To Semenitari, the speculation that the governor is nursing a vice presidential ambition is the work of mischief-makers who are bent on creating disaffection between him and the Presidency. She said that the governor had never told anyone that he would be vying for vice presidency in 2015.

Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Leyii Kwanee, has urged youths to support Amaechi in what he described as a critical moment of his political career.

He advised the leadership of PDP at the national level to disregard those who were feeding it with the wrong information that they could do without the governor.

According to him, the option left for PDP if they are interested in Rivers State is to intervene and have an amicable solution because the people that are deceiving them are mere paper tigers in the state's politics.

He said that the House leader, Chidi Lloyd, was psychologically tortured while in police detention. He disclosed that Lloyd's doctors were working to stabilise him, after which the necessary arrangements would be made to fly him abroad for proper medical attention.

'Honourable Chidi Lloyd was in a very bad state of health and there is the plan to fly him out of the country. Currently, the leader's health is still unstable, that is why we have not been able to do anything as it relates to taking him overseas. The leader was not just physically tormented, he was also psychologically tormented. So, he is not in a stable state. We do hope that the physicians that are currently handling him will be able to stabilise him,' he said.

He added: 'As soon as that is done, like I said before now, we intend to approach the same judge that has granted him bail to look at the issue of his international passport which he was ordered to deposit with the court and there is likely going to be a waiver because we need to get him out of this country so that he can be properly taken care of medically,' Kwanee said.