8 PDP governors float new party

[Mirror]

* Aliyu, Wamakko, Nyako, Kwankwaso, Amaechi, others involved

* PDM, Anenih disagree over party status

The crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is far from being over as eight governors elected on the party's platform are set to dump the party for a new political party to be known as the Voice of the People, VOP.

The new political organisation is already awaiting registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

It was learnt that the arrowheads of the new party are Governors Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Aliyu Babangida (Niger) and Sule Lamido (Jigawa).

The factional chairman of the Nigerian Governors' Forum, NGF, Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State and Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State are said to be part of those floating the new party.

The identity of the eighth PDP governor is still being shielded.

The source added that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, is also being speculated to be part of the plot.

The PDP currently has 23 governors in its fold.

"We have filed our papers with INEC and we are only awaiting the registration as a political party. I can tell you that we will soon pull out of the PDP, which has made life unbearable for our leaders," a source familiar with the registration process told National Mirror.

The Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, told National Mirror that there is nothing strange in an application for registration as a political party before the commission.

He noted that INEC receives applications for party registration on weekly basis. He, however, said he had no information about the VOP and those behind it.

"Honestly, I don't have that information about VOP; who they are and what they represent. I have tried to reach the person in charge, but to no avail. And I can't guarantee that I can get the information today (yesterday). But application for party registration comes to INEC every week. It is a routine exercise," Idowu stated.

National Mirror reliably learnt that the failure of President Goodluck Jonathan to effect the removal of the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, is one of the reasons why the governors are leaving the party.

The partisan stance of the Presidency in the NGF crisis is another reason for the development.

Already, most of the political associates of Nyako in Adamawa State had dumped PDP for the All Nigeria People's Party, ANPP, before its collapse into the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Five of the governors, Kwankwaso, Nyako, Wammako, Aliyu and Lamido have demanded the removal of Tukur for peace to reign in the party.

But some of the aides of the governors who spoke with National Mirror yesterday denied knowledge of the new party.

Governor Aliyu's spokesman, Danladi Ndayebo, told National Mirror that his principal remains in the PDP. "We are going nowhere. Governor Aliyu remains member of the PDP. He is not leaving the party," he said.

Dr. Femi Akorede, the Senior Special Assistant on Communications to Governor Ahmed also denied that the governor was part of the plot. "I'm not aware of the new party. Governor Ahmed has nothing to do with the new party. It is not true," Akorede said.

Also, the Director of Press and Publicity of Kano State, Baba Dantiye, also denied the involvement of Kwanwaso in the plot. "He is in PDP," Dantiye said in text message in response to National Mirror enquiry.

But an aide of one of the governors confirmed the development. "The floating of the new party is true. I can confirm the involvement of my principal in the arrangement. That is all I can say for now," the source said.

It was learnt that Governors Kwankwaso, Nyako, Wammako and Lamido during their recent visit to former President Olusegun Obasanjo expressed their frustration with the PDP and their game plan.

They later visited former leaders, including Alhaji Shehu Shagari, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar and Dr. Alex Ekwueme.

The governors are political associates of Obasanjo.

"The governors told Obasanjo that they are no longer comfortable in the PDP. They said as a mark of honour they have come to inform Obasanjo about their plan to move out of the PDP. They didn't want the former ruler to hear about the plan outside without due consultation," a source at that meeting said.

Obasanjo was said to have told the governors to allow peace to reign, promising to mediate in the crisis.

National Mirror had exclusively reported that the plan of the governors was to allow the crisis in the PDP to fester towards the elections in 2015.

"There is no doubt that President Jonathan will get the PDP ticket for the 2015 presidential election, but the North is keen about power returning to them. For the South-South, President Jonathan's re-election is a necessity while power coming back to the North is a survival battle.

"We are not contesting the PDP ticket with Jonathan because we know the party will hand over the ticket to him. But the game plan is to weaken the PDP and reduce the party to nothing before the 2015 elections.

"Our governors won't join the APC but will float a new party that will form an alliance with the people of the South-West. Don't forget that the North has the numerical voting strength to decide who wins the Presidency," a source privy to the arrangement had told National Mirror when the five governors visited Obasanjo.

Meanwhile, the Chairman, PDP Board of Trustees, BoT, Chief Tony Anenih, yesterday described the recent registration of the Peoples Democratic Movement, PDM, by INEC as a political trickery that would not survive the test of time.

Anenih, in a statement made available to National Mirror, said leaders of the movement did not intend that it should transform into a political party, insisting that the group envisioned under the leadership of the late Gen. Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, remains an integral part of the PDP.

He said: "Reports about the registration of Peoples Democratic Movement, PDM, as a political party by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, have inundated the polity; and because of my leading role in the formation and nurturing of the movement, concerned members of the movement have contacted me to confirm if it was our PDM that has witnessed the transformation.

"After in-depth investigations and extensive consultations with a wide spectrum of the membership and leadership of the PDM, which is just like a pressure group within the Peoples Democratic Party, I consider it moral to use this medium to clarify that the PDM, which some persons, purporting to be interim leaders, secretly and mischievously promoted and succeeded in registering with INEC to operate as a political party, is not our PDM that worked with other political associations to form the PDP in 1998.

"For the avoidance of doubt, the PDM, which we collectively envisioned under the leadership of the late Gen. Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, remains an integral part of the PDP, whose Board of Trustees, I currently chair by the grace of God and the consensus of founding fathers and leaders of our great party.

"I hereby wish to urge those who look up to me for guidance in this circumstance to remain steadfast with me in the task of building a much more united and formidable PDP and to discountenance the registration and treat it as a political trickery, which will not survive the test of time.

But the Media Adviser to PDM Chairman, Alaba Yusuf, decried Anenih's outbursts.

Yusuf said: "The masquerade behind the anti- PDM propaganda has been unmasked. Chief Anenih's statement is a positive advertisement for PDM and what it stands for. There is no turning back the hands of time. PDM is an idea whose time has come.

"We are not going to waste our time exchanging words with those who want to live in the past, and continue to impoverish the ordinary Nigerian.

"Let the PDP BoT chairman resolve the crises tearing his party and the country apart; before dabbling into the affairs of another party over which he has no control.

"Sadly, Chief Anenih's description of PDM's registration as "a political trickery" is nothing but an insult to the electoral laws and the credibility of INEC. The beauty of democracy lives on the principles of freedom of speech, association and the right to exist politically."

National Mirror