Governors
elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and who
whould be completing their second term in May, are at war with the
leadership of the party over their ambition to go to the Senate.
Indications emerged yesterday that the
governors have been mounting pressure on the party’s national chairman,
Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu to cede senatorial tickets in their various zones to
them.
The Nation gathered that a peace meeting between Mu’azu and the governors Wednesday night over the matter ended in a deadlock.
The governors, it was gathered, had
insisted on getting automatic tickets of their senatorial zones, a move
that would see the present occupants of the seats out of contention.
The governors’ position is said to be
anchored on the premise that they needed to be rewarded for initiating
the idea of the automatic presidential ticket granted President Goodluck
Jonathan by the party’s National Executive Committee in August.
Mu’azu was said to have been miffed by
the governors’ position, particularly when they were said to have
insisted on fielding their preferred candidates as their successors in
the coming elections.
The party chair was said to have pleaded
with the governors to cede the governorship tickets to the senators
they wish to replace, a plea that was said to have angered the
governors.
A party source privy to the meeting told
reporters that Mu’azu’s opinion that the party needed the experience
of its ranking senators in the next dispensation, for stability of the
government, also did not sit well with the governors.
An enlarged meeting to include other
prominent party chieftains is expected to reconvene at the weekend to
find an amicable resolution to the matter.
Our correspondent further gathered that
shortly after the meeting with Mu’azu, a governor from one of the
Southsouth states brought a senator representing his zone before
President Jonathan.
The governor was said to have pleaded
with the President to “find something” else for the senator, since he
(the governor) would be replacing him in 2015.
Our source disclosed that the senator
had taken exception to the governor’s statement because he was never
given an inkling of the reasons for the nocturnal visit to the
President.
The party source, who pleaded not to be
named said “The truth is that the pressure has always been there since
the issue of the President’s endorsement was concluded at our last NEC
meeting.
“It is now taking a very dangerous dimension because our desire is to strengthen our National Assembly, especially the Senate.
“We believe that the polity could
benefit from their wealth of experience but the governors, with their
desire to all go to the Senate, are constituting a big constraint on our
desire for this.
“While we believe that the governors are
our field commanders, we cannot say in the same breath that our
senators are no more useful and should be discarded.
“So we have outlined some acceptable
conditions that will guide both the governors and the senators, because
there is no way the governors can have everything to themselves without
consideration for others.”
Some of the outgoing PDP governors who
have indicated interest in the Senate include Sullivan Chime (Enugu);
Martin Elechi (Ebonyi); Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta); Godswill Akpabio
(Akwa Ibom); Gabriel Suswam (Benue); Isa Yuguda (Bauchi); Jonah Jang
(Plateau) and Babangida Aliyu (Niger).
Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State is said to have shelved his plans to go to the Senate.
He is reported to be scheming to replace
the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba with his anointed candidate, Mr.
John Eno, who is a member of the House of Representatives.
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