JONATHAN CAN NOW SLEEP WITH EYES CLOSED, SAYS TUKUR

Chairman of the newly formed Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum (PDPGF), Godswill Akpabio, said on Tuesday that his priority would be to weed out “Judases” out of the party and restore sanity to its fold.

He also advised opposition parties to bury their idea of snatching power from the PDP, especially at the centre, saying the party is not in a hurry to leave.

And following Akpabio’s remarks, PDP National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur, assured that he would pass the message on to President Goodluck Jonathan by asking him (Jonathan) to now sleep with both eyes closed, as all threats are being taken care of effectively with Akpabio at the driver’s seat of the party’s Governors’ Forum.

Akpabio was at the national secretariat of the PDP on his first official visit as chairman of the PDPGF.

He stated that the negative comments that trailed the formation of the PDPGF were borne out lack of proper information.

The Governor explained that the formation of the group was not necessary in the past, but that circumstances in the political field have changed, necessitating the coming on board of the forum.

He described the PDP as a party with some “Judases” who are trying to bring the efforts of the party at developing the nation to ridicule, noting that such should not be encouraged at all.

He noted that PDP was facing challenges but that it has decided to face it squarely by presenting a front where all the good deeds of the party can be made public to counter all negative comments against it by the opposition.

Akpabio also admitted that the newly formed group is set to provide a bloc for the PDP within the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) through which opposition has been riding roughshod over the ruling party for some time now.

He, however, added that the new forum is not positioned to compete with the NGF.

It was rather set to strengthen it, the Governor added.

He insisted that the PDP is not getting good publicity for all the works it is doing because its traducers are taking over the spaces available in the media.

He described this situation as unfortunate because, according to him, “PDP is actually the one delivering the dividends of democracy to the people.”

He advised members of the opposition parties who are craving for development of the nation to move over to PDP, as “APC is an expired drug that has no NAFDAC number.”

He urged members of the party to come together, and make it stronger, noting that “PDP is the soul of Nigeria” and that “when PDP shakes, Nigeria quakes.”

Akpabio insisted that there are no clear indices that prove that the party can lose election to the opposition because PDP is the only party with the widest spread in the country.

According to him, the party is the only one that fields candidates in all elections at all levels, but usually lose some seats to the opposition when aggrieved PDP members team up with them.

Tukur, in his short response, expressed delight over the emergence of the Akwa Ibom State Governor as the pioneer chairman of the forum.

He noted that with the emergence of Akpabio, the PDP has positioned itself in a better stead to face the challenges that might arise from the ranks of the opposition.

He added that with the formation of the forum, he (Bamanga) will go ahead and tell the President to go to bed with his two eyes closed, as no challenge from whichever angle can overrun him.

Meanwhile, facts emerged on Tuesday on how former Works Minister, Tony Anenih, emerged as Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT).

Anenih became chairman of the BoT barely 48 hours after the formation of the new PDP Governors’ Forum.

The forum was formed ostensibly to break the ranks of the all-powerful NGF which has been having a running battle with the Presidency on a number of issues lately.

The emergence of Anenih, a source told Daily Independent, was the product of a “discreet plot to avoid further crisis in the party.”

Announcement of the new chairman of the BoT came to many as a surprise because the thrust of the party’s caucus meeting at the Presidential Villa was to receive the report of Professor Jerry Gana-led committee to “streamline’’ the membership of the body.

The source, himself a member of the BoT, said most of the members were unaware that a new chairman was going to emerge at the Monday night meeting which spilled over to the early hours of Tuesday.

“Well, in politics, you ask less questions, but if you keep your cool, you will get more answers; honestly, no one knew it was a meeting called to elect a new chairman.

“When I got the invitation for the meeting, I had the impression that we were merely going to receive and possibly adopt the report of the committee and then fix a time and date for the election of the chairman.

“But in politics, anything can happen; just as the report was submitted, someone moved for its adoption and it was seconded, but in seconding a motion, you end there rather than going further to propose that a particular person chairs the BoT,” the source added.

“It was at the early stage of the meeting that the issue was brought in strangely to the surprise of most of us; we thought the issue of chairman would only come up at a later date”.

He, however, declined to disclose the name of the person who suggested Anenih “at the early stage”.

Anenih, who once chaired the BoT at some point during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, told reporters after his election that his new position means that he is the head of the “conscience of the party which is made up of elders, men of integrity, honour and experience.”

Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson; former Oyo State Governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala; and socio-political groups such as Akwa Ibom Progressive Forum (AIPROF) and the Centre for Awareness on Good Governance were among those who have lauded the emergence of Akpabio as chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum.

Dickson in a statement congratulated Akpabio, saying it was a testimony to his vision, purposeful leadership and contributions to the growth of the party.

Alao-Akala on the other hand described Akpabio’s election as a welcome development.

He said it was important for the PDP to have its own Governors’ forum, because members would be free to discuss issues with the Governors of the party without interventions from outsiders.

Source: Daily Independent