Apparently scared
by the planned merger of the major opposition parties ahead of 2015,the
immediate past governor of Borno State, Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff, and
ex-governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Sani Yerima, have approached the PDP for
accommodation in the ruling party.
The two stalwarts of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) on
Thursday held secret talks in Abuja with the national chairman of the PDP,
Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, to seek his consent for them to join his party.
The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN),Congress for Progressive
Change (CPC) and the ANPP are the key parties in the merger talks.
Sheriff,Chairman of the ANPP Board of Trustees (BoT) and
Yerima,according to sources, are frustrated by their inability to stop their
party from merging with the others.
But while Tukur appeared disposed to having Yerima in the PDP,
he was not excited by Sheriff’s planned defection.
It was gathered that Tukur was uncomfortable with the alleged
implication of Sheriff in the Boko Haram crisis plaguing the nation.
Boko Haram’s main operation base is Borno.
Sources said the situation made Tukur “not to make any
categorical commitment” to the former governor of Borno State .
The two former governors were said to have met with Tukur
between 8pm and midnight in the residence of the PDP chairman in Wuse II,
Abuja.
At the session, the two former governors made an “offer to join
the PDP” and assist it to win the 2015 poll.
It was learnt that upon arrival, the former governors were
received by a top aide of the National Chairman of the PDP who was holding a
separate meeting in his expansive garden.
But after some minutes, Tukur joined Yerima and Sheriff for a
“restricted private session” on their plans.
A source said: “The former governors came together in Yerima’s
ash-colour Range Rover SUV with some carefully selected aides in a separate
car.
“But Tukur was holding court with some party leaders in his
garden. A top aide, who received the ex-governors, later took them to a
reserved section of the residence.
“The National Chairman of PDP later joined the ex-governors for
interaction for about three and a half hours.
A top source in the PDP confirmed the visit of the two
ex-governors. They came with a few of their aides but these aides were not part
of the session at all.
Continuing, the source said: “The former governors said they are
reaching out, they are rallying round Baba(Tukur) to give him support because
they have much respect for him as a bridge builder.”
Another reliable source said of Tukur’s response: “The PDP
National Chairman said he is ready to welcome anybody to the party. He said the
umbrella is big enough to accommodate all Nigerians.
“He asked the former governors to assist in restoring peace to
the North and the country. If there is unity, Nigeria will move forward.
“He added that the PDP would, however, accommodate everybody
provided they will allow the majority to have their way and allow due process.”
The source quoted Tukur as saying: “Even in Adamawa State, which
is my state, majority will have their way and I will follow due process.
Whoever is more popular and accepted by the people should lead.
“I believe in due process. I will do my best to transform the
PDP to give a sense of belonging to all party members.”
It was learnt that Tukur’s disposition showed that he was not
“excited” about Sheriff’s bid but he had no reservations on Yerima.
“I think the party leadership might later meet to weigh the pros
and cons of sheriff’s plan to defect to the PDP,” the source said.
It was gathered that Sheriff’s alleged implication in Boko Haram
crisis made Tukur to be more circumspect.
The State Security Service (SSS) had on July 11, 2011 grilled
ex-Governor Sheriff on his alleged link with the sect.
One of the critical issues he was invited to help the security
agencies to unravel was the circumstances behind the killing of the leader of
Boko Haram, Mohammed Yusuf, and some key leaders of the sect after they had
been arrested on July 29, 2009.
Yusuf, who was found in hiding, was later killed at Giwa
Barracks in Maiduguri .
But a former cabinet member of Sheriff had said: “The governor
was never arrested. He actually booked for an appointment to go and see the
Director-General of SSS, Mr. Ita Ekpenyong, in my presence. He excused us,
along with other aides, to go and see the DG only for us to read that he was
quizzed.
“His Excellency went to the SSS to contribute or to make input
on how he felt on the situation in Borno State because this thing degenerated
after he left office.
“The ex-governor had offered public apology and at this time
everybody expected that the thing would abate with that apology only for the thing
to degenerate.
“The ex-governor felt it was statesmanly to offer that apology
and went to SSS to rub minds on how to arrest this thing from further
degeneration.”
A PDP source, who spoke last night, said: “I can safely say that
the National Chairman was warm to the two governors. There was no case of
anyone being rejected or not. You need to be fair to Tukur.
“The PDP chairman was fair to the two former governors. The
atmosphere at the session was convivial.”
Investigation, however, revealed that the former governors ran
to Tukur as part of plans to undermine the ongoing merger talks among key
opposition parties in the country.
A source involved in the merger talks said: “Yerima and Sheriff
are uncomfortable that their party is involved in the ongoing merger talks.
They opposed it, but majority of their members have opted for it.
“By meeting Tukur, they are merely out to scuttle the merger
talks. They want to sell out to the PDP and most ANPP members are in the
picture of their secret talks with Tukur.
“We won’t be surprised if they have leaked all the issues
involved in the merger talks to the PDP. But we are not doing the merger talks
in secret. Nigerians want change and we are working towards that now.
“Whether they hold nocturnal meeting 1,000 times with the PDP
leadership or not, the merger talks will go ahead. Nigerians will determine the
direction of this country in 2015.”
Source: The Nation
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