Some former ministers, who served under
the Peoples Democratic Party-controlled Federal Government have
threatened to leave the party if its current National Chairman, Senator
Ali Modu Sheriff, returns to office on May 21.
Investigations by our correspondent
showed that some of the ministers insisted that they would not be in a
party that would be led by the former governor of Borno State from that
date.
The former ministers met in Abuja on
Thursday where they reviewed activities in the party, with particular
attention to its forthcoming national convention.
They also considered the preliminary reports from the zoning committee of the party.
The zoning committee, headed by the
Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, was said to have zoned
the office of the national chairman to the North-East.
It was generally believed that the
committee, which has the Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, as
deputy, zoned the office to Sheriff.
Fayose and the Governor of Rivers State,
Mr. Nyesom Wike, were said to have sold the candidacy of the former
governor to the party in February.
They were also said to still be backing him to continue in office despite a barrage of opposition to his candidacy.
But the PDP governors, led by the
Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, had given assurance to
those opposed to Sheriff then that the former governor would only be in
office for three months.
The forum of the ministers at its
different meetings, had insisted that Sheriff must leave at the
expiration of his tenure in May as stated by Mimiko.
Strategically, Sheriff was said to have
appointed some of the former ministers into some of the committees like
zoning, finance, convention and reconciliation with the aim of breaking
their ranks.
However, sources at the Thursday meeting
said the debate on Sheriff was tough and that the seven-point agenda of
the meeting nearly tore the ranks of the ex-ministers.
Reliable sources said some former
ministers, after listening to the contributions of their former
colleagues, felt betrayed and threatened to leave the party if Sheriff
was made the chairman.
Some of the affected ministers were those from the North-Central, North-East, South-East and North-Central.
It was learnt that a particular former
minister, who served under the regime of former President Goodluck
Jonathan and another former female minister, said they would not sit at a
meeting to be presided over by the former Borno State governor.
One of the former ministers, who was at
the meeting but spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “It was so funny
the way our colleagues were trying to defend the former governor despite
the collective decision we took before.
“Some came to say we should give him the chance and that we should not be seen to be opposing him as a person.
“But it was gratifying to note that the
majority of us have said there and then that we would leave the party
for them. Our aprons are not tie to the PDP.
“We told them that Sheriff had always
worked against his party. He worked for former President Olusegun
Obasanjo; he worked for the late former President Umaru Ya’Adua; he
worked for former President Goodluck Jonathan, who were all in our
party.
“This was when Sheriff was in the opposition. Now, tell me: is there anything to suggest that he won’t work against us in 2019?”
He said rather than see reason with
this, some of the former ex-ministers, who were said to have been
promised structures in their states by Sheriff, said “it was because
Sheriff loved the PDP, that was why he worked against his party in those
years.”
Already, he said the forum might be
heading for the rocks because of the threat to defect unless the zoning
committee took the position out of the North-East.
It was, however, not clear when the
committee would be meeting, as mounting criticisms that trailed the
zoning of the office of the national chairman to the North-East had
forced it to adjourn sitting till further notice.
The National Publicity Secretary of the
party, Chief Olisa Metuh, told our correspondent on Sunday that he did
not know when the committee would be sitting again.
But he said the party was consulting
widely with the hope of making sure that there would be no rancour
before, during and after the convention.
He said, “The committee ought to meet on Tuesday, but I’m not sure whether they will meet again. I need to confirm this.
“Consultations are ongoing and I can
assure you that by the time the committee submits its reports, all
caucuses of the party, all the zones and all the stakeholders would be
satisfied.”
The National Secretary of the party,
Prof. Wale Oladipo, who is a member of the reconciliation committee,
said his committee was already discussing with aggrieved members and
groups within the party.
“Very soon, Nigerians will hear from us.
But let me say that we are already working. We are talking, meeting and
discussing with our members already on the need to come together and
confront the All Progressives Congress,” Oladipo added.
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