Sunday Tribune can authoritatively reveal some of the stands that will be taken at the meeting.
President Jonathan is expected to return from his trip to the United Kingdom today.
Sunday Tribune findings indicate that upon arrival in the country today, the president will take more rest, while he will be available later in the evening to meet with the group of seven governors.
The governors, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano, Murtala Nyako of Adamawa, Sule Lamido of Jigawa, Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara, Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, Sokoto and Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, had earlier been written by the Chief of Staff to the president, Chief Mike Oghiadomhe, over the parley.
Presidency goes for true reconciliation
Highly placed, sources revealed that the Presidency will be pushing to prove its interests in true reconciliation, even in the face of unsettling activities of the Kawu Baraje-led group.
A top administration official told Sunday Tribune that the president opted to host the meeting for the last time as a mark of respect for some national leaders who are reported to be urging peace and reconciliation within the party.
“The president has received representations from many prominent Nigerians. He felt another meeting is not a bad idea. This may, however, be the last opportunity for those affected governors to return to the fold and stop their current anti- party activities,” the official said.
Presidency’s response to aggrieved govs’ demands unchanged
Further findings by Sunday Tribune, however, showed that the Presidency has not shifted position on the demands of the G7 governors and the Baraje group. It was specifically learnt that the expected response of the president to the demands of the G7 governors would remain the same as during the last encounter.
According to a top source; “the president is handling it directly and that helps a lot. If they raise issues of party structures, Mr President will tell them it is not under his control. If they raise issues of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the president will tell them it is a legal matter.
“On the issue of the national secretary, he will tell them the matter is sub judice. At least, nobody can raise the issue of the president not contesting again. You cannot ask the president to forgo his rights. And on Tukur, the president cannot sacrifice his man for those who want him out of office.”
‘Jonathan, Tukur not at loggerheads over Oyinlola’
Meanwhile, Sunday Tribune has reliably gathered that contrary to media reports, President Jonathan and the PDP chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, are not in disagreement over the suspension of Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola.
There had been reports that the party leadership defied the president’s directive that Prince Oyinlola should be sworn in as the national secretary, in line with the court judgment.
A party chieftain, known to be a loyalist of the president, denied these, disclosing that the reports had hardened the Presidency the more over the issue.
According to the party chieftain, the president had told some top leaders that “they think I am a fool. Some people set fire to the house; some people stayed back to put the fire out. How can I now abandon the people who put out the fire in favour of those who set the house on fire?”
Baraje, Oyinlola’s fate hangs
In the meantime, Sunday Tribune has learnt that if Prince Oyinlola and four other suspended members of the PDP fail to appear before the party’s Disciplinary Committee on Wednesday, they would be recommended for expulsion.
A top member of the committee, who confided in Sunday Tribune, said “the threat by the suspended members to disregard the summons issued on them, if actualised, will leave us with no other option but to recommend their expulsion from the party.
“We read their arguments, but we have a mandate that is in line with the constitution of the party. We are giving them the opportunity to come and defend themselves against the charges forwarded to us by the National Working Committee (NWC). If they fail to show up, that is to say they agree that they are guilty.”
The committee had, earlier in the week, in a statement signed by the its secretary, Chief Solomon Onwe, levelled against them allegations of anti-party activities, among which are that “on the 3 August, 2013 at the Special National Convention of the party at the Eagle Square, Abuja, the above mentioned persons and others staged a walk-out in a manner contrary to Section 58 (1) (b) (g) and (h) of the constitution.”
Other charges include that “on 2 September, 2013, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja and Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola filed suit No ID/704/2013 against the legitimate party leadership at the High Court of Lagos State without first pursuing the internal remedies of the party, contrary to Section 58 (1) (l) of the constitution.
“Since 31 August, 2013, the persons mentioned above have granted interviews and made statements in the print and electronic media, not only disparaging the national chairman and other national leaders of the party, but also unduly publicising disputes/differences within the party, which contravenes Section 58 (1) (i) of the constitution.”
More allegations
The committee also alleged that “on 1 and 23 September, 2013, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola wrote two letters to INEC requesting the commission to recognise the persons above mentioned as the National Working Committee members of the party, even in the face of the national convention held on 24 March, 2012 and 31 August, 2013.”
Alleging that the above contravened Section 58(1)(b)(h)(i) and (j) of the constitution of the party, the committee also affirmed that “on 31 August 2013, the above mentioned persons have consistently maintained that they are of the ‘New PDP (nPDP),’ thereby promoting balkanisation of the party, and in doing so, recruiting to their ranks members of the party in the National Assembly, contrary to Section 58(1)(b)(i) and (j) of the constitution.”
There’s no such committee - Oyinlola
Prince Oyinlola had, however, affirmed that he was not aware of the composition of any disciplinary panel that was not ratified or known to the NEC of the PDP.
“ Oyinlola has not received any correspondence from any quarters and would not honour any invitation from any illegal body since that would amount to violating the constitution of the party. It is important to stress that the first meeting of NEC of PDP, which is statutorily expected to be a quarterly affair, deliberated on the composition of NEC, but never agreed on its membership at the meeting. I am also sure that the second NEC meeting, out of the seven meetings that ought to have been held statutorily by the present NWC, did not also agree on the membership of any Disciplinary Committee,” the former governor had said in a statement.
The former governor has also had his lawyer, Mr Awa Kalu, SAN, to write to Tukur to thread softly over the lingering issue.
PDP faction commissions anti-Jonathan campaigns
Meanwhile, the aggrieved members of the nPDP are said to have commissioned an anti-Jonathan campaign in the Northern states of the country.
Reports available in official circles confirmed that one of the Northern leaders expected to lead the campaign was invited to the Lodge of one North-West governor who is an arrowhead of the G7 agitation in Abuja last week.
Sources close to the administration confirmed that the G7 governors resolved to embark on the anti-Jonathan campaign to douse the feeling in the North that their agitation had nothing to benefit the North.
Some PDP leaders in the North, including the Kano State chairman of the party and former Deputy Majority Leader of the Senate, Senator Jonathan Zwingina, had insisted in recent interviews that the agitation by the G7 governors could not benefit the North.
It was learnt that such sentiment was already spreading against the G7 agitation and that the group had resolved to mount a massive campaign against the feeling in the North.
Northern leaders penciled in for anti-Jonathan onslaught
It was learnt that three Northern leaders have been targeted as the head of the planned campaign. These include a former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), a top leader from Bauchi and another from Kano.
Said a source; “the three-man team is expected to go round the Northern region and convince the populace that the current administration of President Goodluck Jonathan does not mean well for the North. The plan is to rally grassroots support against the administration and portray the G7 agitation as a just cause.”
It was, however, gathered that the man targeted to lead the anti-Jonathan campaign from Kano had already rejected what was termed a lucrative offer, while the former CJN and another top leader from Bauchi are said to have continued discussions.
G7 jittery over tonight’s meeting
Another source said of the development: “The decision to embark on campaign across the North is not coming as a surprise. The G7 believes that the meeting with President Jonathan on Sunday (today) may not yield any desired result as the president has kept his aces under wraps all along.
“It appears the president does not seem to want to give in to any of the options proposed by the G7 governors. And there is the belief across the North that the governors are fighting personal battles that has nothing to do with the people of the North.
“Stakeholders across the North are not surprised, as available reports show that many notable political figures in the North are not convinced that the G7 governors are fighting a just cause for the North.”
Jonathan, EFCC cannot break me - Lamido
In the meantime, Governor Lamido has boasted that the arrest of his two sons – Aminu and Mustapha – by the EFCC over alleged money laundering was part of a plot by President Jonathan and the anti-graft agency to make him change his position on the crisis rocking the party.
The governor spoke on Friday when the Emir of Gumel, Alhaji Sani Ahmed, paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House in Dutse, Jigawa State capital.
“Some politicians believe that they can use intimidation and threat to have their way. In the last 30 years, I have suffered all kinds of intimidation and harassment you can think of. And so, there is nothing new. All these harassments cannot break Sule Lamido.
“I am a human being and I can make mistake, but honestly speaking, in the last six years, I have tried my best for Jigawa State and even President Jonathan has testified to that severally when he visited Jigawa.
“I have tried to be just and fair in running affairs of this state to the best of my ability. Jonathan, Lamorde and the SSS cannot say they love Jigawa State more than me. My culture and faith taught me justice and fairness,” he said.
Lamido said he was aware of the antics of his political adversaries to blackmail him and force him into submission.
We will fight on - Wamakko
In the same vein, Governor Wamakko has said that the G7 governors would neither falter nor flicker in their efforts at “ensuring that justice, transparency, fairness and inclusiveness are guaranteed.”
Wamakko stated this on Saturday when he received His Eminence, Prophet Jones Ode Erue, who led members of the Eminent Clerics Forum of Nigeria on a courtesy call to the Sokoto Government House.
Prophet Erue had said the forum was out seeking partnership with patriots for the purpose of promoting the doctrines of peace and national unity as opposed to injustice, impunity, insecurity and leadership crisis that characterise the Nigerian polity.
Wamakko said in their quest for justice to all, the G7 governors consulted former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Alhaji Shehu Shagari; former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida; former head of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar; and General Theopillus Danjuma over the need for them to speak out on the injustice in the country.
“We told them that you people should not sit down and keep quiet watching our country being run through injustice,” he said.
Source: Tribune
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