How Jonathan handed aggrieved govs the excuse they needed

on December 01, 2013   /   in Politics, Special Report 12:46 am
*The President’s letter that infuriated G-7
*Defection, best decision of my life – Kwankwaso
By Soni Daniel, Regional Editor, North
It was an opportunity and they grabbed it with both hands.
The aggrieved governors of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, (G-7) wanted a reason to dump their party and they were handed one by no other person than President Goodluck Jonathan himself.
And although some of the seven governors explained that they all knew that Jonathan was not prepared to meet with them and resolve the issues that gave rise to the crisis, given his body language and the sustained acts of impunity arising from the party leadership, they waited for the appropriate time.
LETTER-IN-CHIEF FROM COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
In fact, one of the governors confided in Sunday Vanguard that the impression they got from the President’s body language suggested a “great deal that we were being taken for a ride”.
The meeting that was supposed to have been held on October 7, 2013 but which was postponed because some members of the G-7 had gone for the Hajj, appeared to have been permanently kept in abeyance.
Sunday Vanguard was made to understand that whereas the Hajj had been concluded and another meeting expected to be scheduled and held, nothing of the sort was in the horizon.
“It got to a point that we all decided to write a reminder to Mr. President”, one of the governors disclosed.
The content of the letter was simply to “remind Mr. President of the importance of time and the fact that he needed to meet with us”.
Rather than a quick response to their letter, the governors did not get any from the Villa.
Corroborating this, another governor revealed to Sunday Vanguard that what they got was a belated response, the content of which was “not only uncomplimentary, it showed clearly that some people were deceiving President Jonathan about their sense of self importance”.
The response jolted the governors.
“We were surprised to see a belated letter from the Presidency which should have read something like ‘based on earlier talks’ or ‘based on earlier exploratory talks with a view to achieving peace for our great party’, what we got was a letter telling us that ‘in response to our request for a peace meeting, the President has decided to meet with us.
“The impression the tone of the letter conveyed was that we were the ones seeking to make peace with President Jonathan.

Some of the faces at the merger includes Ogbonaya Onu, nPDP chairman, Kawu Baraje, Senator Bukola Saraki, Governor Rotimi Amaechi, former Lagos Governor, Bola Tinubu, chair of the APC, Chief Bisi Akande,

“Meanwhile, we staged an open walkout on him at Eagle Square during that sham described as a national convention; they leaders of the party called a meeting and we decided to honour our leaders and elders by attending the meeting; a committee was set up and we also accorded the committee some level of due regard and respect, only to be slapped with such a letter that can best be described as impudent.
“From the tone and contents of the letter from the Villa, it became clear to all of us that the President was not interested in resolving the contentious issues and we decided to leave the party for them and go over to the APC”.
Even the last opportunity to avert the defection was bungled last Sunday.
Although the seven governors had waited for him to meet with them in Abuja, as scheduled, the President surreptitiously called off the peace parley, claiming that he was tired after returning from the meeting of the Honorary International Investors Council, HIIC, in London. Jonathan shot himself on the foot by calling off the meeting when all the governors had already settled down in Asokoro waiting for his arrival for the final push to salvage the party from the brink.
“The President wanted to give the whole world the erroneous impression that it was the seven of us, who actually sought for peace, forgetting that he had intervened before and asked us to sheath our sword and we respected him and still waited,” the governor explained.
“As far as we are concerned, we are gone to the APC for good and there is no turning back. Any of the governors, who wants to still remain in PDP can do so; but for me, it is over and forever,” the governor said.
THE DRAMA OF DEFECTION
Meanwhile, Aminu Kano House, an imposing edifice on Jose Marty Crescent, in the high brow Asokoro District of Abuja, is not a thoroughfare. Vehicles don’t stop and pick passengers around the building, which is the official residence of the governor of Kano State. Neighbours of Aminu Kano House – including Lagos House and Ondo House – are aware of the unwritten rule prohibiting loitering around the area. But that Tuesday morning, the golden rule was consciously waved for political expediency. As early as 8am, scores of vehicles had started piling up opposite the house. As the vehicles screeched to a halt, the occupants moved towards the governor’s residence. Before long, convoys bearing political bigwigs from the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, and the All Progressive Congress, APC, also breezed in and went straight into the waiting arms of their host, Dr. Musa Rabiu Kwankwaso, the Kano State Governor.
Kwankwaso, Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, Murtala Nyako, a retired admiral and governor of Adamawa, GovernorAhmed Abdulfatah of Kwara, Babangida Aliyu of Niger State and chieftains of the rampaging APC had gathered there for one main reason: to make a clear statement that they there were fed up with the political crisis in the ruling party and were ready to move over to the opposition APC.
And, already waiting eagerly to receive the decampees into their fold, were APC bigwigs, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, APC interim National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, Ogbonanya Onu and scores of other chieftains. On the side of the leadership of the faction of the PDP popularly known as nPDP, were the chairman, Alhaji Kawu Abubakar Baraje, Dr. Sam Jaja, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Senators Bukola Saraki, Adamu Abdullahi and former Bayelsa governor, Chief Timipre Sylva.
Inside the expansive building, the defecting governors met for about three hours with their new-found party and concrete decisions taken before they emerged to address anxious reporters on the lobby of Aminu Kano House.
”We are merging,” Baraje, said; and added that “all these are implications of merging! What we are telling you is that we have merged and we have agreed to merge”.
But as they sauntered out with broad smiles on their faces, it was clear also that some dramatic developments that could jostle the merger arrangement had just taken place to the discomfort of the parties. Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu, and his Kwara counterpart, who were at the parley, had sneaked out even before the final decision to merge was taken. While Abdulfatah, a scion of Bukola Saraki, took permission from his boss to travel, Aliyu, on the other hand, stormed out of the venue when the decision to merge with APC was being taken. He, like his Jigawa counterpart, Sule Lamido, does not appear to favour a hurried defection to the opposition earlier than January next year. For that disagreement on transition timeline, Lamido did not even come to the venue of the meeting. Sokoto governor, Aliyu Wamakko, a staunch believer in the early defection to APC, was out in Senegal, attending an international development programme but had sent words to his peers to count on his support. Read more