•Atiku, Baraje, G7 Governors may move to
PDM •FCT seals Adamawa Governor’s
Lodge
Olawale Olaleye and Chuks Okocha
The splinter group in the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), led by Alhaji
Kawu Baraje, is now weighing its options
following the October 2 letter by the
Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC), which rejected
recognition for its leaders.
INEC, in the letter signed by its acting
Secretary, U. F. Usuman, to the National
Secretary of the New PDP, Olagunsoye
Oyinlola, had declined to recognise
Baraje as the PDP national chairman.
Instead, it re-affirmed its recognition of
the leadership of the party under its
National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.
The content of the letter was made public
last Thursday, the day a Lagos High Court
struck out a suit filed by the New PDP,
seeking to stop Tukur and some party
officials from parading themselves as PDP
executives, for want of jurisdiction.
The Minister of the Federal Capital
Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed,
also yesterday turned the heat on the
splinter group as he ordered the sealing
of Adamawa Governor’s Lodge, Abuja,
where the New PDP has been using as its
national secretariat.
The police had earlier sealed off a
building at Oyi Crescent, Maitama it had
initially acquired as its secretariat,
prompting it to relocate its office to the
Adamawa Governor’s Lodge .
The plot to stop President Goodluck
Jonathan from seeking re-election in 2015,
which is the root cause of the crisis in the
PDP, has also taken a legal turn as two
members of the PDP have filed a suit at
the Federal High Court, sitting in Kaduna,
seeking a judicial declaration that he is
not eligible to contest in the next
presidential election.
THISDAY investigations at the weekend
revealed that while the party members
were not surprised by the decision of the
commission, they were surprised by the
timing, especially when some bigwigs of
the New PDP, which has in its fold seven
governors and former Vice-President
Atiku Abubakar, among others, were in
Saudi Arabia for hajj.
One of the New PDP members told
THISDAY that the decision might force
them to eventually move to the Peoples
Democratic Movement (PDM).
One of the governors also said as soon as
those on pilgrimage returned to Nigeria,
they would meet with a view to
determining what next step to take in the
titanic political battle between the New
PDP and the mainstream party.
It was learnt that the decision by the
New PDP to write INEC in the first place
was deliberate as it was part of options
contained in its Plan A and now that the
recognition did not come, the faction
would consider options available to it
under its Plan B, which include opening
discussion with the PDM.
The discussion with the PDM, he added,
would be a prelude to discussions with
the All Progressive Congress (APC).
According to the source, all the
permutations are about 2015, adding that
since the PDM has no intention of
fielding a candidate in the 2015
presidential election, the new party that
consists mainly of political associates of
the late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua,
stands a viable option for the splinter
PDP.
He said: “We have seen the outcome of
Plan A; then what is available now is the
Plan B. By our Plan B, it is to open
discussion of fusing with political like
minds and the option available now is the
PDM. The PDM is the godfather of the
PDP.
“There is no option than this now
because with what is happening in the
PDP, the doors are gradually being closed
against us in the New PDP (nPDP). Take
for instance, the Tukur-led NWC of the
PDP has constituted the Disciplinary and
Finance Committees and none of our
members were considered and we say
that there is reconciliation going on.
“So, none of our members are considered
in the prime committees and you say that
we are reconciling, what kind of
reconciliation is this? Why the rush in
setting the two committees and by next
week, the committees would be
inaugurated. Some people are using the
reconciliation with the president as a
delay tactics while Tukur in PDP is busy
consolidating and the earlier we take a
decision on this, the better for us. In
every move, Tukur and his team are busy
tightening the rope against us.”
Against the backdrop of the report that
the INEC’s decision and the court
judgment constitute a setback for the
New PDP, the governor source dismissed
the belief, saying the faction did not
regard them as such.
He confirmed the statement by the party
source that they knew that INEC might not
recognise Baraje as the PDP chair and
they had mapped out their other
strategies to deal with the situation.
He however explained that what they did
not envisage was that the decision would
come at a time when other members of
the group would not be around.
According to him, they will review the
development after Sallah and the
mainstream PDP would be shocked by the
steps they would take.
He added that what the court ruling and
the INEC’s decision had done was to
further hasten their moves and seal the
fate of the ruling party.
He said PDP could only remain what it
used to be if Jonathan did not run,
adding that should he decide not to run,
the crisis will be resolved within a short
time and PDP will become stronger again.
He added that neither INEC nor the court
could save PDP from the self-inflicted
crisis it is enmeshed in as only the party
and the president can save the PDP.
Anything short of that, he added, the PDP
would be history by the next elections.
The governor urged their supporters not
to despair, assuring them that they
always have their strategies properly
thought out.
As if the INEC decision and the court
case were not enough setbacks for the
splinter group, the FCT minister
compounded its trouble as he ordered
that the Adamawa Governor’s Lodge,
being used as the New PDP national
secretariat, be sealed off.
Mohammed hinged his decision on the
fact that it amounted to the abuse of the
Abuja master plan for the building, which
is supposed to be used as a residential
building, to be used for a political
purpose.
Mohammed, in a statement by his Chief
Press Secretary, Mohammed Sule Hazat,
said: “All the governors’ lodges in the
Federal Capital Territory, Abuja are
enshrined in the Abuja Master Plan to be
for residential purposes but not for
political party secretariat as Adamawa
State Governor’s Lodge is currently being
used.
“The governor’s lodge as it is today is
being used as a political party office
thereby negating the spirit of urban
planning and causing nuisance and
disturbance to the residents dwelling in
that area of the city as well as inflicting
undue pressure on the infrastructure and
services therein, contrary to the principles
of the Abuja Master Plan.”
When THISDAY visited the governor’s
lodge, five armed policemen where
sighted at the in front of the building to
enforce the closure order.
However, the New PDP spokesman, Mr.
Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, in a text message
to THISDAY, disputed the claim that the
faction’s secretariat had been sealed off.
“I have sent our Youth Leader, Timi
Frank, to visit the Adamawa Governor's
Lodge and he spoke with me from the
lodge that the place is not sealed off as
erroneously insinuated in some quarters,”
he said.
Meanwhile, another legal battle to stop
Jonathan from running in 2015 has been
initiated by two PDP members who have
asked the Federal High Court, sitting in
Kaduna, to determine his eligibility for the
2015 presidential election.
Besides the president, his party, the PDP,
and the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) are respondents in
the suit.
The plaintiffs, Alhaji Shuaibu Lilli and
Richard Tersoo Mnenga, in the suit,
averred that they are bonafide members
of the PDP and have locus standi to
institute the case.
In the originating summons and other
court documents exclusively obtained by
THISDAY, counsel to the plaintiffs, Tony
Yunana Agaga Esq. of Peace Chambers,
the plaintiffs are seeking “the court
interpretation of the provisions of section
130, 131, 135 137 140, 141, 142, 143, 144,
145, 146 and 147 and other relevant
provisions of the constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as
amended”.
Lilli and Mnenga in the suit, which was
filed on October 7, averred that the
interpretation of the sections of the
constitution is of great national
importance against the background of the
uncertainty of the tenure of office of
Jonathan, who assumed office on May 6,
2010 following the death of President
Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
According to the plaintiffs, the court
should also declare that the president is
not qualified to contest the 2015
presidential election because such an
attempt will violate the provisions of
Section 137 (1) of the 1999 Constitution.
In addition to these demands, the two
plaintiffs are seeking an order of
injunction restraining the president from
presenting himself for nomination by the
PDP and for the party from presenting
him as its candidate in the 2015
presidential election.
They also want the court to restrain INEC
from accepting the nomination of
Jonathan by the PDP as its presidential
candidate in the 2015 presidential
election.
announced a couple of days ago by the
Delta State Resident Electoral
Commissioner, Mrs. Gesila Khan.
Reports received from the local
government areas indicated early arrival
of relevant voting materials at the polling
centres.
The only exception to the timely supply of
voting materials was recorded in parts of
Ughelli South, but THISDAY learnt the
delay was caused by the involvement of
one of the vehicles conveying the
materials in an accident.
Unlike it was commonplace in national
elections in the past, there were also no
reports of shortage of election materials
at the polling centres.
The weather was also clement, as there
were no rains but sunshine in the entire
Delta Central zone during the period till
the voting was concluded.
In most of the areas visited by THISDAY
between 9am and 11am yesterday in
Uvwie, Udu, Okpe and Ughelli South local
government areas, accreditation of
registered voters went on without hitches.
Members of the National Youth Corps
Service (NYSC), who served as INEC
temporary staff, were generally
responsible for the accreditation of
voters.
Emerhor was accredited for voting at
Evwreni, his native community in Ughelli
North Local Government Area about 10:24
at Mariere Primary School.
Emerhor's countenance, however,
changed into a melancholic picture after
he received a telephone call while
speaking with reporters about 10:30am.
He subsequently dismissed the
journalists, claiming that he just received
information that rigging was going on in a
secret place somewhere in Aladja area in
Udu Local Government Area, allegedly,
with the connivance of security operatives.
Delta State Deputy Governor, Prof. Amos
Utuama (SAN), who spoke with reporters
at his country home in Ughelli South, said
he was impressed by the peaceful
conduct of the election.
He also said he was confident that his
party, PDP, would win the election with
conviction.
The smell of victory threw the PDP camp
of Aguariavwodo into a celebration mood
following reports that the party was
leading in at least five of the eight local
government areas of the Delta Central
senatorial zone.
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