There seems to be no end in sight to the crisis rocking the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, as the Abubakar Baraje- led faction yesterday denied reaching any agreement with President Goodluck Jonathan on the 2015 presidential election.
Chairman, PDP Governors’ Forum, Godswill Akpabio, had on Monday claimed that the seven aggrieved PDP governors had dropped their demand that President Jonathan should not seek re-election in 2015, stressing that his aggrieved colleagues had consented that President Jonathan’s unofficial ambition to run for another term in 2015 was not negotiable.
But the New PDP stated that Akpabio was not saying the truth, in his claims that the aggrieved governors and other members of the new PDP accepted that President Jonathan should contest the 2015 presidential election and that most of their demands were being met.
The New PDP advised Nigerians to ignore the tissue of lies and propaganda from the Alhaji Bamanga Tukur faction of the party on the outcome of its meeting with President Jonathan at the Presidential Villa on Sunday.
The New PDP members and the aggrieved seven governors had on Sunday met with President Jonathan and other stakeholders of the party to proffer solutions to the crisis rocking the party.
The Baraje-led PDP in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, said: “We wish to specifically urge Nigerians and our supporters to ignore the concocted tales of Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom and Chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum. Akpabio lied by claiming that we have accepted that President Jonathan should contest the 2015 presidential election and that most of our demands are being met.
“The fact of the case is that no agreement has been reached on any of the issues we tabled before the President and until we see results, Nigerians should ignore the present efforts by the Tukur camp to deceive them.
“We have read various misleading accounts of what transpired at that meeting between our progressive governors – Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara) and Sule Lamido (Jigawa) with President Jonathan on how to resolve the self-inflicted crisis in our party.
“We wish to say that we have a mechanism and system of electing our flagbearers for any election and until the time to choose the party’s presidential flag bearer comes, any speculation on this is just a mere academic exercise.”
The New PDP, however, said that Tukur and his faction were not serious about their search for peace.
“We have been vindicated in our claim that Tukur and his faction are not serious about their purported search for the return of peace in our party.
“Just a few hours after Sunday’s meeting between the progressive governors and the President, Tukur’s faction once more showed its disdain for peace by unilaterally setting up a caretaker committee to run the affairs of our Kano chapter.
“This was done without recourse to either the leader of the party in Kano State, Governor Kwankwaso or other stakeholders of the party from Kano.
The party stated that ‘this illegality is a clear violation of our party’s constitution and was hurriedly done just to spite Kwankwaso.
“We hereby urge our people in Kano State to ignore this illegality as we have set in motion the machinery to organise a proper election as stipulated by our party’s constitution. We are still at a loss as to why Tukur and his cohorts do not want peace to reign in PDP, but no matter the odds, we are very determined to ensure that peace is restored to our party with the prayers of Nigerians.
“Along this line, we once more appreciate the efforts of our party elders to resolve the current crisis bedevilling our party and wish them success irrespective of the evil designs of Tukur’s faction to elongate the crisis for selfish reasons”.
Meanwhile, the Tukurled faction yesterday urged an Ikeja High Court to strike out a suit by the Baraje- led faction for lack of jurisdiction.
Baraje-led faction had in the suit urged the court to stop Tukur and other officials of the party from parading themselves as national officers of the party pending the determination of the case.
Other respondents along with Tukur who yesterday urged Justice Oludotun Adefope-Okojie to dismiss the suit for lack of merit included Deputy National Chairman, Uche Secondus; National Women Leader, Kema Chikwe and National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh .
While challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the matter, Tukur’s counsel, Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama (SAN) argued that the case ought to have been filed before a state or Federal High Court in Abuja where the action took place.
He said: “Ikeja High Court lacks competence and jurisdiction to hear this matter because the convention took place in Abuja and the defendants reside outside of Lagos. It is the position of the law that all matters must be heard within its jurisdiction and where parties reside.”
He also contended that not only was the writs not signed but that the subject matter of the suit is the PDP, which has its registered office in Abuja and not Lagos and that none of the defendants is resident in Lagos State.
Gadzama submitted that the writs of summons, which is meant for service outside Lagos State have not complied with the mandatory requirements of section 97 of the Sheriff and Civil Process Act.
The Act, he argued, stipulated that court order should be obtained for service outside jurisdiction.
He further argued that every court is a creation of law and thus a court of law has its jurisdiction limited and circumscribed by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended especially at Sections 6(6)(b), 270(1).
He further submitted that by virtue of Order 2 Rule 4 of the Lagos High Court, Civil Procedure Rules 2004, all other suits, apart from land and property, penalties and forfeitures, and contracts may be commenced and determined in the judicial division in which the defendant resides or carries out business.
Consequently, Gadzama asked the court for an order striking out the suit in its entirety for lack of jurisdiction.
Emeka Etiaba, counsel to Secondus, Chikwe and Metuh , also adopted arguments canvassed by Gadzama after withdrawing his own objection to save the time of the court.
Responding, Baraje’s counsel, Mr. Robert Emukpoeruo, asked the court for more time to respond to the preliminary objection filed by the respondents.
According to him, “I need more time to respond to the application as I had earlier responded to an earlier objection filed by the former counsel to the respondents.”
Justice Adefope-Okojie however adjourned till September 25 to allow the plaintiff to file and serve his response to the objections.
The court had earlier struck out an application by Gadzama in which he sought a change of counsel for the first defendant after he withdrew the said application on the ground that Ajibola Oluyede, the counsel who was handling the matter before has been integrated into his team.
Similarly, the controversy surrounding legal representation for Secondus, Chikwe and Metuh was resolved when Etiaba’s application for a change of counsel was granted by the court.
Baraje and four others had dragged the Tukur-led PDP before the court asking it to restrain the embattled chairman and his co-defendants from parading themselves as PDP NEC members. Other claimants in the suit are Dr. Sam Jaja and Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola.
In another development, the All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday claimed that many “progressive” members of the PDP in the House of Representatives were holding desperate talks with the new party on the possibility of defecting to the opposition camp.
A member of the APC, Hon. Ibrahim Bello (Kaduna), after a short close-door session of the House, told National Mirror that “as at this morning (yesterday), members of the PDP have risen to 151.”
The Minority Leader of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila (APC-Lagos), and the Deputy Minority Whip, Hon. Garba Datti (APCKaduna) in a joint briefing held in Hearing Room 1, claimed that the number of APC and other opposition parties have risen in the House.
In a speech titled, “APC: Towards a Greater Nigeria” and read by Gbajabiamila, the opposition lawmakers disclosed that the APC plus other opposition parties, added up to 160 members.
“We are 137, plus other opposition members we are about 160 members and counting, and as I am talking to you now, there is no secret about it they are even pleading to join us,” the lawmaker said.
He said the party would seek further alliance with other political parties in its quest to entrench good governance in Nigeria.
“We seek partnership with young, old, men, women, from the east, west, north or south for we believe that though tribe or tongue may differ, in brotherhood we stand.”
He offered invitation to other members of the House in the PDP with progressive minds to join the party.
His words: “To this end we want to invite our colleagues in the House who found their way into the PDP through craft or deception but who in their hearts are progressive in inclination and bent, and there are many of them, to join hands with us in pursuing our agenda of change and hope of saving Nigeria.”
He said the struggle against the PDP government, if sustained had the potential of rescuing Nigeria from its present brink.
“We must be watchful and vigilant. We must pray. We must fight a good fight believing that the end of this dark tunnel we have been plunged into is luminous. This is the real transition agenda, from darkness into light. We must understand that the only thing that’s constant in life is change and change is what APC represents,” he said.
