The crack in the new Peoples Democratic Party manifested more on Sunday when all the seven governors stayed away from a meeting of the group which was later disrupted by the Police.
Daily Review online gathered that Governors Aliyu Babangida of Niger, Sule Lamido of Jigawa, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers, Murtala Nyako of Adamawa, Aliyu Wammako of Sokoto and Abdulfatai Ahmed of Kwara State deliberately shunned the meeting because of a security report that there was going to be a crackdown on the meeting.
They however cited urgent state matters as reasons for staying away. Prominent members who attended the meeting which held at the Kano State Governor’s lodge included Danjuma Goje (Gombe State); and Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa State).Others are, the party’s National Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje; Deputy Chairman Sam Sam Jaja; National Secretary Olagunsoye Oyinlola; and Vice-Chairman, North-West, Ibrahim Kazuare, among others.”
The meeting was disrupted when the Divisional Police Officer in Asokoro stormed the area and asked that the meeting be stopped. National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chukwuemeka Eze in a statement said: “The Caucus of the New Peoples Democratic Party (New PDP) met this evening, Sunday, on 3rd November, 2013, at the Kano State Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja, to review progress reports, accept the reports of committees and take important decisions on the future of the movement.
“The Caucus comprises the G7 Governors, former Governors, present and past Senators, past and present members of the Federal House of Representatives, National Working Committee (NWC) members and some elders and stakeholders of the party.
“Sadly, midway into the meeting, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Asokoro Police Unit, CSP Nnanna Ama, burst into the scene and ordered the meeting stopped, threatening to mobilize troops to abort it if his order was not obeyed.
“According to CSP Ama he has the directive from the Villa to arrest the Governors if the meeting is not stopped. For a DPO to be sent not only to disrupt meeting of Governors duly elected by Nigerians but to arrest them if they fail to heed his counsel is a sign that these people can decide to disrupt the association of any group of Nigerians at any time knowing that such an act is a breach of the Constitution of our country.
“Not minding all our past complains about the impunity and disregard of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by our Security organs and it is sadden that the Federal Government has continued to maintain stoic silence and bluntly refused to call our security agencies to order accordingly to us is one of the wonders of the present administration in Nigeria.
“What is baffling to us the more is the continuous silence of our elders and past Heads of State on these various acts of impunity perpetuated by this administration knowing the grave danger such acts will lead “this country to. Let it not be assumed that we are the only one to suffer for this desperation and frustration by some of these misguided elements in this administration as they will go after other Nigerians if they are not called to order on time.
“Though before the arrival of CSP Ama the Governors (had) gone very far in their deliberations as the meeting (had) considered the Mobilisation/Contact Committee’s recommendations on how to receive the five new Governors joining the group and directed the NWC of the party to set in motion a machinery to receive the new entrants.
“The NWC was also directed to critically examine the available options and recommend to the Caucus the platform to be used for the 2015 general elections. The Caucus is to deliberate on this during its next meeting to be held immediately after the proposed peace talks with President Goodluck Jonathan.
“The options to be considered include to remain in PDP or adopt any of the three other options, namely, accept the proposal of APC or join PDM, VOA or form a new political party. The Caucus also noted the majority request that seeing that we have majority of our members in the National Assembly and majority of the Governors, the idea of continuous waiting for the meeting with Mr. President before deciding our future is no longer ideal in view of the lukewarm attitude of Mr. President and his lieutenants in restoring peace to the party and refusal to attend to most of our demands. The Caucus decided that we should give the President some weeks grace before finally deciding on our next line of action.
“The Caucus also stated total displeasure at the lack of reasonable effort to sort out the lingering ASSU/FG face-off which has kept our children at home for over four months. It counselled the Federal Government to urgently arrest this ugly incident by declaring a state of emergency in the education sector to enable the Government meet up with the demands of ASUU.
“The Caucus concluded by encouraging members to continue to keep faith with the leadership of the party at this trial period, fully aware that it is only a matter of time before we take a final decision that will auger well for our nascent democracy and the nation at large”.