Two
crucial meetings aimed at resolving the crisis in the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party which led to the recent defection of five governors
were held inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Sunday.
The first was between 11 governors and
two deputy governors and Vice-President Namadi Sambo while the
second was between President Goodluck Jonathan and the two remaining
rebel governors - Sule Lamido (Jigawa ( and Babangida Aliyu
(Niger).
While Jonathan met with the aggrieved
governors inside the First Lady’s Conference Room in the Villa; Sambo
and the other governors met in House Seven.
The Jonathan, Aliyu and Lamido’s meeting which ended at about 10.29pm was adjourned till Sunday.
The Chairman of the PDP Board of
Trustees, Chief Anthony Anenih, who briefed State House correspondents
at the end of the meeting said Jonathan, and the rebel governors were
happy that they were moving to restore confidence and trust in the PDP
leadership.
“We have had our meeting presided over
by the President with the Vice-President in attendance. We had useful
meeting, the summary of it all is that we are happy that we are moving
to restore confidence and trust. There will be a series of meetings
between now and the weekend,” Anenih said.
Lamido restated his position that he would remain in the PDP.
“I stand by my principles which is one Nigeria which is based on law and order,” he said.
Aliyu also said he attended the meeting because he was still a member of the PDP.
Sambo, Wada, Imoke and Akpabio joined the meeting before it ended.
The meeting between the Vice –President, the other PDP governors and the two deputy governors had ended at about 8.30pm.
None of those who attended it was ready to speak with journalists.
When State House correspondents
approached a factional chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, Governor
Jonah Jang of Plateau State, he directed them to the Chairman of the
PDP Governors Forum, Governor Godswill Akpabio.
Akpabio, who said the meeting was at the instance of the Vice-President, declined to state what they discussed.
Sambo was joined at the meeting by the
Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim
and the Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Mike Oghiadomhe.
The other governors present at the
meeting were Martins Elechi (Ebonyi), Sullivan Chime (Enugu), Idris
Wada (Kogi), Jonah Jang (Plateau), Shehu Shema (Katsina), Emmanuel
Uduaghan (Delta), Theodore Orji (Abia), Isa Yuguda (Bauchi), Seriake
Dickson (Bayelsa), Liyel Imoke (Cross River).
The deputy governors of Niger and Kaduna were in attendance.
The governors drove to the venue in a group from the Akwa Ibom State Govenor’s Lodge in Abuja where they had met earlier.
Five of the seven rebel PDP governors –
Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso
(Kano), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto) and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa)- had last
week defected to the APC.
At the meeting held by the 11
governors and the two deputy governors at the Akwa Ibom State
Governor’s Lodge, before they headed for the Presidential Villa, five
of their colleagues were not in attendance.
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