Some governors elected on the platform
of the Peoples Democratic Party have reiterated their insistence that
party leaders must convene the meeting of the National Executive
Committee without further delay.
The call for prompt convening of NEC, The PUNCH
learnt, is to signal the governors’ resolve to battle with the party
leaders over the suspension of Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State.
Amaechi, who apparently defied the PDP
handlers’ order not to contest re-election as chairman of the Nigerian
Governors’ Forum, was on Monday suspended from the party by the National
Working Committee.
The outcome of the election has been
mired in controversy with both Amaechi and Governor of Plateau State
Jonah Jang, claiming victory.
Already, one of the governors from the
northern part of the country, who spoke in confidence to some
journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, said he and his colleagues were not
moved with threats to either suspend or expel them from the party.
He said it would be wrong for the
leadership of the party to claim ignorance of the law as stipulated in
the PDP constitution concerning the party’s NEC.
The governor said he and his colleagues
knew that one of the problems Amaechi had with the party was his
presiding over PDP governors’ meetings, where the state chief executives
demanded the convening of the NEC meeting.
The governor said, “You know that at our
meeting of Wednesday, January 9, we demanded the holding of NEC meeting
of our party and that the meeting must be held as stipulated in the
constitution.
“Twenty-one of us (governors) including
those mobilising against Amaechi now, were at that meeting, which was
held at the Rivers State Governor’s Lodge at Asokoro, Abuja.
“What does the constitution of the party
say concerning holding of NEC meeting? It says NEC meeting must be held
at least every quarter.
“We held the meeting last when? More
than 10 months ago and someone is there talking about someone breaching
the party’s constitution.
“Tell me, those who have refused to call
for NEC meeting or those who are subverting the provision of the
party’s constitution, who will query them?”
The party’s last NEC meeting was held in July 2012.
Apart from the suspension of Amaechi,
another issue the governors are insisting on is deliberation on the
report of the Independent National Electoral Commission on the party’s
national convention.
INEC, had in a letter to the PDP in
March, declared that the election of 12 party officials at its 2012
National Convention was flawed because it did not follow due process.
INEC, therefore, voided the election of the affected 12 party officials.
Those whose elections were cancelled
included the party’s Deputy National Chairman, Sam Sam Jaja; National
Organising Secretary, Abubakar Mustapha; and Deputy National Organising
Secretary, Okechukwu Nnadozie.
The four national officers whose
election were considered to have met democratic standards are the
National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur; former National Secretary, Olagunsoye
Oyinlola; former National Auditor, Bode Mustapha; and the party’s
Financial Secretary, Bolaji Anani. Curiously, Oyinlola and Mustapha
have been pushed out of office by court judgments.
In March, Metuh had issued a statement, saying that the NWC was ready for the much-talked about NEC meeting.
Metuh had, in the statement which was
silent on the expected date of the meeting, said the party’s leadership
would present clean copies of the PDP amended constitution to NEC.
The constitution was amended at the party’s national convention, which held in Abuja in March 2012.
The inability of the leadership of the
party to hold its NEC meeting since July 2012 due to its internal crisis
has prevented the constitution from being fully accepted and
circulated.
The few copies presented to NEC at its
last meeting, was said to be full of errors, which necessitated its
return to NWC for correction.
This, notwithstanding, the NWC had started implementing the constitution, a move the governors had complained about.
Amaechi also told an inter-party summit in Port Harcourt on Tuesday that only the PDP could suspend a governor without reason.
He said, “Any government formed without
the people’s votes cannot be responsible to the people. The only way
government or governors or presidents or whoever can stop corruption,
can stop maladministration is when that government is put in place by
you (the people).
“They know that if they don’t govern
well, you (the people) will vote them out. So your first demand should
be that all governments must be responsible enough to allow for a free
and fair election.
“Indeed, it is only the PDP that has the
guts to suspend a governor without a reason. I leave them to God and to
you. We must come together to defend Rivers State. It’s not about me; I
have served eight years as Speaker, nearly six years as governor.
“Even if I am removed tomorrow, I am
satisfied that this state, this country and history will recognise and
remember me. If there is no history that I have made, the one God has
helped me to make is the one that I stood out and fought for my right
and became a governor.”
Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu,
meanwhile, has said that he would not leave the PDP. Aliyu is the
Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum and major backer of
Amaechi in the NGF.
Aliyu denied being a part of a splinter group ready to dump the PDP.
The governor said this in Minna, on
Tuesday, while reacting to reports that he and some others were planning
to dump the ruling party to protest the outcome of the NGF election.
Aliyu, in a statement by his Chief Press
Secretary, Danladi Ndayebo, said, “The story of planned defection is a
figment of imagination of persons who are either threatened by the
successes the party has made in the last 14 years or are afraid of
squaring up with the party in 2015 general elections.”
He noted that he remained “a committed democrat, principled politician and loyal member of the Peoples Democratic Party.”
Meanwhile, the northern socio-political
group, the Arewa Consultative Forum, has raised the alarm about the
desperation of politicians ahead of the 2015 elections.
The ACF, which stated this in a
communiqué at the end of its meeting in Kaduna on Tuesday, said that the
undemocratic measures were contrary to the peace and unity of the
country.
PUNCH
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com