Monday 28 October 2013

G7 govs, others chased out of nPDP meeting

CRISIS rocking the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP took another turn
yesterday, as the Police stormed the Sokoto
Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja where the
Abubakar Kawu Baraje-led new PDP, including
opposition governors were holding a meeting and chased them out. A few hours before the
group assembled at the Sokoto Governor’s
lodge, it had cried out that the government had
started a clampdown on the businesses of its
members as well threatening their lives. Having been prevented from holding their
meeting at the Sokoto Governor’s lodge,
members of the group reassembled at the
Kano State Governor’s lodge where the
meeting eventually held. The meeting was first of its kind since the
Federal High Court upheld the Alhaji Bamanga
Tukur-led National Working Committee as the
authentic one as well as the endorsement from
the Independent National Electoral
Commission, INEC. Present at yesterday’s meeting were governors
Sule Lamido of Jigawa; Aliyu Magatakarda
Wamakko of Sokoto State; Musa Rabiu
Kwankwaso of Kano; Murtala Nyako of
Adamawa and Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers
State, just as governors Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara and Aliyu Babangida of Niger were
absent. Also at the meeting were former governor of
Kebbi State and ex- FCT minister during late
President Umaru Yar’adua’s administration,
Senator Adamu Aliero; former governor of
Kwara State, Senator Bukola Saraki; former
governor of Gombe State, Senator Danjuma Goje; former governor of Nasarawa State,
Senator Abdullahi Adamu; chairman of the
group, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje; the
group’s Deputy Chairman, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja;
secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola; PDP
National Vice Chairman, North West, Ibrahim Kazaure; Alhaji Kassim Shettima, among
others. There was neither a press briefing nor
statement at the end of the meeting, just as
the group’s National Publicity Secretary, Eze
Chukwuemeka Eze promised that a
communique will be issued today. A source disclosed to Vanguard that the group
discussed the Abuja High Court judgement,
INEC recognition of Tukur-led PDP, and
clampdown on members’ property in Abuja by
the government through the Minister of FCT,
Senator Bala Mohammed. They were also said to have discussed how to receive new
governors who plan to join the group.



We are endangered — G7 Govs, Baraje Meanwhile, the new Peoples Democratic Party,
nPDP members had earlier cried out that its
members have become endangered species
with series of clampdowns on them, their
offices and businesses. The Presidency was also alleged to have
concluded arrangements to go after all
senators and members of the House of
Representatives who are members of the
group with the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC under an operation code- named, “Operation Coerce Them Back to
Tukur”. Also as part of clampdown on the members,
the Inspector-General of Police, IGP
Mohammed Abubakar was said to have ordered
the immediate withdrawal of security aides
attached to former governor of Gombe State,
Senator Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central) and former governor of Kwara State, Senator
Bukola Saraki (Kwara Central). A statement signed by the group’s National
Publicity Secretary, Eze Chukwuemeka said: “It
has become necessary for us to cry out in view
of the war declared on the New Peoples
Democratic Party (NPDP) and its members by
certain agents and henchmen of the Goodluck Jonathan administration who have embarked
on a mission to intimidate and overawe us,
using various unconstitutional means to
achieve their selfish goals.” Giving a chronicle of experiences of members
of the Baraje-led PDP, Eze said: “The past few
weeks in particular have witnessed the
implementation of a well coordinated and
systematic plot to traumatise, annihilate and
cripple us economically and politically in flagrant disregard of Chapter IV Section 33 to
45 of the Nigerian Constitution that guarantees
our fundamental human rights as Nigerians. A
few examples of the excesses of these agents
of confusion and enemies of democracy would
suffice: “Contrary to provisions of Chapter IV Sections
42, 43 and 44 of the Constitution which
guarantee our right as Nigerians to acquire and
own property in any part of the country, our
National Secretariat and most of our State
Secretariats have been sealed up by the Police on the orders of those in power. This is despite
the fact that we still have a court case against
Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and his National Working
Committee (NWC). “Two weeks ago, the Federal Capital Territory
Administration (FCTA) in its over zealousness
to please President Jonathan marked and
sealed our National Secretariat for demolition
on the laughable excuse that it was originally
approved as a residential building. Yet this property was being used as the National
Secretariat of another political party, the
National Democratic Party (NDP), before New
PDP acquired it – and the same FCTA kept
mute! At that time, the FCTA did not realise
that it violated land use but it now wants to demolish the building in a hurry simply because
the authorities perceive the new owner (New
PDP) to be anti-government! What is more, the
Adamawa State Lodge, also in Abuja, which we
were using as temporary National Secretariat,
has also been sealed off on the flimsy excuse that the area is not for commercial activities! “This invidious crackdown has been extended
to individual leaders of the New PDP. The
legally acquired Abuja property of His
Excellency, Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso, the Governor
of Kano State, has been revoked by the
tyrannical Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed. The same
treatment has been meted to Senator Aisha Al-
Hassan from Taraba State, whose event centre,
A-Park Gardens, which has been in operation all
these years, has suddenly been revoked by the
FCTA and slated to be demolished at any time from now. Information available to us indicates
that property in Abuja owned by other New PDP
leaders may suffer the same fate. “Today, the security details attached to
Senators Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Danjuma
Goje, former Governors of Kwara and Gombe
states respectively, have been withdrawn; so,
too, the security details attached to our
National Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje. Of course, Governor Rotimi Chibuike
Amaechi of Rivers State was the first victim
and now operates without an ADC and a CSO in
order to pave way for his kidnapping or
assassination if peaceful ways of removing him
from office fail. The police orderlies of the Rivers State SSG and those of Amaechi’s Chief
of Staff have also been similarly withdrawn
without any cogent reasons. “The use of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) to hound our members is
no longer news. His Excellency Timipre Sylva,
the former Governor of Bayelsa State, and
Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki are two
foremost examples. We understand that the worst is yet to come as this unserious organ
masquerading as an anti-graft agency would
soon be unleashed on all our key members in
both the Senate and House of Representatives
in an operation code-named “Operation Coerce
Them Back to Tukur”. Meantime, competent police source confirmed
that the security details of former governors
of Kwara and Gombe states, Senator Bukola
Saraki and Danjuma Goje were withdrawn four
weeks ago on the orders of the Inspector-
General of Police. The source however did not give reason for the action.

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