President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples
Democratic Party have begun a fresh plot to win the South-West states in the
2015 elections.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that developing an
acceptable modality to check the All Progressives Congress and eventually win
the zone topped the agenda of a meeting between the President and the
South-West PDP leaders at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday.
A former Chief of Staff to ex-Governor Segun Oni,
Mr. Segun Ilori, was said to have served as the secretary at the meeting.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that Jonathan was
disturbed by various crises rocking the ruling party in the zone.
It was gathered that as part of efforts to
dislodge the APC in the 2015 elections, participants at the meeting resolved to
settle the crises facing the party.
The crises, it was gathered at the meeting, were
identified as obstacles to the electoral success of the President and the PDP
in the South-West.
Party leaders from the South-West were said to
have complained again about the marginalisation of the zone by the Jonathan
administration.
The PDP held political power in the South-West
between 1999 and 2003; an era when the party produced all the governors in the
region, except Lagos.
A PDP chieftain, who attended the meeting, said
that the President promised to redress the marginalisation of the zone.
The party chieftain, who pleaded anonymity
stated, “The President acknowledged the need to ensure more representation of
the people in the South-West zone but he was reminded that he had once promised
to redress the marginalisation.
“He was told that without addressing the
marginalisation of the South-West, it would be difficult for the President and
the PDP to win the zone.”
Another issue that featured at the meeting,
according to the source, was who should be recognised as the leader of the
party in the zone.
It was learnt that the party leaders, who were
present at the meeting, expressed displeasure that a financier of the PDP in
Ogun State, Chief Buruji Kasamu, seemed to be the leader of the party in the
South-West.
The PDP chieftain, who confided in Saturday
PUNCH, said, “From all indications, the President is taking Kasamu as the
PDP South-West leader. If we are to win the zone, we must resolve who should be
the face of the party in Yorubaland.”
It was gathered that some stakeholders at the
meeting were pushing for an ex-convict and a former PDP Deputy National
Chairman, Chief Bode George, to lead the party in the zone.
It was learnt that others at the meeting opposed
the candidacy of George.
The PDP chieftain said, “Some stakeholders
opposed Bode George on the grounds that he was old and because of the need to
allow younger people to take charge.’’
But our correspondents learnt that Jonathan
appealed to the party leaders to cooperate with the reconciliation
committee headed by the Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake
Dickson.
It was gathered that the party’s decision to
suspend the South West congress was part of efforts aimed at resolving the
crisis in the zone.
The party NEC at its meeting
suspended the South West Zonal Congress of the party scheduled for
August 24, 2013.
The Acting National Publicity Secretary of the
PDP, Mr. Tony Okoke, announced the suspension of the congress
scheduled for Saturday after the party’s National Executive Committee.
He cited a court injunction restraining the PDP
from conducting the congresses as the reason for the decision.
He said that the PDP was committed to the rule of
law and upholding the sanctity of the courts.
Confirming the plot, a member of the PDP Board of
Trustees, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, said that the ruling party would do
everything to ensure victory for Jonathan in the 2015 presidential election.
Babatope, who spoke with one of our
correspondents in a telephone interview, also said that the PDP would bounce
back to political reckoning in the South-West from next year.
He said, “Everything will be done to ensure
victory for President Goodluck Jonathan. The PDP is poised to take over the
South-West.”
Babatope, who was at Jonathan’s meeting with
South West leaders, described Bode George, as a
“spokesleader” in the South-West, adding that “Chief Bode George’s views carry
great respect.”
When contacted, a former Governor of Ekiti State
and an ex-national chairman, Mr. Segun Oni, refused to comment on whether the
President could win in the South West or not.
Asked to comment on the growing influence of
Kasamu in the South West PDP and the strategy that could win the zone for
Jonathan, the former governor, who spoke through his media aide, Mr. Lere
Olayinka, said he would not comment on the issue.
Olayinka , in his response to enquiries sent to
him via email said, “ Oga’s position on all the issues raised is silence.”
Efforts to get the reaction of the Special
Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak, on the telephone
did not yield positive result at press time on Thursday.
Attempts made to get Kasamu’s reaction were
unsuccessful as he did not answer calls to his mobile phone. He also
failed to reply the text messages sent to him.
His aide, Austin Oniyokor, said he could not
speak on behalf of his boss.
But a former governor of Ogun State, Otunba
Gbenga Daniel, said Kasamu could not be a leader of the PDP in the South West,
alleging that he was only in politics for personal gains.
When contacted, the APC National Publicity
Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said, “The PDP has been unable to sleep soundly
since the registration of the APC three weeks ago.”
He said that the ruling party was day dreaming.
According to him, the PDP has been gripped with
panic and has become uncoordinated.
Mohammed said, “How will the PDP convince
the enlightened and politically- sophisticated people of the South-West to
re-elect a President, who has betrayed their trust in all respects? A president
under whose watch they have seen the quality of their lives ebbing away
with unprecedented economic decline, youth unemployment; dilapidation of
infrastructure, insecurity, decline in the educational quality, untold hardship
and despair. The PDP must be day dreaming.”
Source: Punch
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