PDP rebel governors consult Obasanjo over party crisis
Five of the seven dissenting governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday met with former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abeokuta, Ogun State, barely 13 hours after policemen from the Asokoro Area Command in Abuja briefly disrupted the governors' parley at the Kano State Governor's Lodge.
The governors that met with Obasanjo were Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers); Babangida Aliyu (Niger); Rabiu Kwakwanso (Kano); Sule Lamido (Jigawa); and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa).
Governor Abdulfatai Ahmed of Kwara State and his Sokoto State counterpart, Aliyu Wammako, were however absent.
Journalists were barred from the Hilltop residence of the ex-President where the meeting, which is a continuation of the rebel governors' consultations on how to end their disagreements with President Goodluck Jonathan and the Bamanga Tukur-led PDP, was held.
They had previously met with Obasanjo who chairs the PDP Elders Committee which is trying to reconcile the parties . They also had talks with former Heads of State, Generals Abdusalami Abubakar and Ibrahim Babangida.
It was gathered that the rebel governors updated the former President on the latest developments in their efforts to end the face-off with Jonathan and the PDP leadership.
At about 1:50pm, Amaechi drove the other governors in an unmarked black BMW jeep out of the expansive mansion in a convoy of other vehicles.
Earlier, the Rivers State governor had interrupted Aliyu, who was addressing journalists on their Abeokuta mission .
The journalists had asked Aliyu if they came to inform Obasanjo about their alleged decision to leave the PDP.
Amaechi, in response to the question, asked, 'Who told you that?'
But Aliyu continued , saying 'I don't know about that. It's just a speculation.'
He added that their meeting with Obasanjo was part of their consultations with the elders of the party.
Aliyu however expressed hope that the disagreements between them and the President would soon be resolved.
He added that they had been having discussions with Jonathan on the current face-off.
The governor said, 'You may recall that when issues started, we consulted our elders, so this is part of the consultation; more so that we are coming to the resolution of the matter .
'We've been discussing with the President about these issues and we believe after the lull caused by the pilgrimage to Mecca, we will continue from where we stopped. So, we needed to consult again to find out if there is any variable that has intervened and we are very happy things are going normal.'
It was further learnt that the governors had scheduled separate meetings with other former Heads of State, including Gen. Yakubu Gowon . - Punch.