Ahead of the election of the new Chairman of the Board of Trustees,
BoT, of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, there are strong indications
that the North, especially the core part in the political calculation,
is not keen about producing Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s replacement as
Chairman of the Board.
Vanguard gathered at the weekend that the North was
withdrawing because if it pushes for the position and produce the BoT
chairman, its chances of negotiating and pushing for the presidency
ahead of 2015 may be jeopardised.
A senior member of the BoT and a northerner who spoke with Vanguard
said: “BoT is presently made up of 88 members with some as statutory
members and at present, the core North is not too keen about producing
the next chairman of the board because of 2015 presidential election and
if the North does that, it may affect the chances of producing a
president from the zone.
“The North already has the position of Secretary of BoT in the person
of Senator Walid Jibrin. At the moment, strong feelers have it that
former Vice President Alex Ekwueme may be favoured for that position.”
The North presently has the position of National Chairman of the PDP
in the person of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur from Adamawa State following the
zoning of the position to North East before the March convention while
Vice President Namadi Sambo is from Kaduna State, North-West Zone and
the number three citizen, the Senate President, David Mark, is from
Benue, North-Central zone of the country and the BoT Secretary, Senator
Walid Jibrin is from Nasarawa State, also North-Central.
Meanwhile, with his return to the country after a short break, the
PDP National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur, was said to have begun discussions
with some BoT members especially on the letter of resignation by the
immediate Chairman, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
But Vanguard gathered that no date has been fixed for a
meeting of the BoT against the backdrop that the chairman will need to
meet and brainstorm on issues affecting PDP with the leader of the party
and President Goodluck Jonathan.
It would be recalled that former President Obasanjo had in a letter
to the National Chairman in April 3, resigned his position as Chairman
of BoT.
In the letter, he said, ‘’I have formally sent in my letter of
resignation as the Chairman of BoT of PDP to the National Chairman of
the party as prescribed in the party’s constitution.
‘’I have formally requested the President to allow my bowing out and
to issue a short statement to that effect. By relieving myself of the
responsibility for chairmanship of BoT of PDP, I will have a bit more
time to devote to the international demand on me.”
It was also gathered that as the race for the chairmanship position
is on, former Chairman of the party, Dr. Amadu Ali, former Senate
President, Ken Nnamani are said to be interested, just as erstwhile Vice
President Alex Ekwueme is also being penciled down for the position.
Ali who is said to be having the support and backing of former
president Olusegun Obasanjo may have problem from his zone against the
backdrop that the secretary of the board, Senator Walid Jibrin is from
the same North Central zone with Ali.
As part of moves to frustrate Amadu Ali, PDP governors of the North
Central States have concluded arrangements to push him out as a
candidate for the position of chairman of the board. It was gathered
that as part of moves not to heat the politics in the party and
especially that of the north central, the five PDP governors of Kogi,
Kwara, Plateau, Benue and Niger state have decided the BoT secretary who
is already there and push against the person who is not there and for
the zone not to lose out at the end of the day.
It was also gathered that one of the reasons why the aspiration of
Ali is being frustrated by the zone is that the North Central is not
ready to have a person who may be forced to resign later especially
against the backdrop that Farouk Lawan’s Committee report on the
management of the nation’s subsidy mentioned him as one of the
beneficiaries.
According to a source, the North Central wants to settle with the
position of Secretary which it has in its hands rather than present a
candidate who may be asked to resign like in the case of former National
Chairman of PDP, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor or that of former Secretary,
Abdullahi Adamu who resigned as secretary of BoT following some
allegations that were raised.
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