by Adeola Balogun

 

The proposed peace talks between President Goodluck Jonathan and the 7 aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors might have missed their mark before they have even begun.

This is due to strong indications that the 7 governors, who are major stakeholders in the Baraje-led faction of the PDP, may boycott the peace meeting set to hold on the 7th of October with President Jonathan and his supporters.

Both parties reportedly agreed to meet on October 7 at the last session on September 16. The meeting also agreed that both parties must avoid making inflammatory statements. The communiqué of the meeting was read by Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu with whom were President Jonathan and the other governors .

But yesterday a source close to the G-7 governors said they could have honoured the meeting in deference to the President but for his close aides’ continuous umbrage against members of the New PDP, thereby giving the impression that the President and the Alhaji Bamanga Tukur-led faction are prepared for a fight to the finish in the “battle for the soul of the party”.

The source said it would be insulting for PDP National Chairman Bamanga Tukur, who was never recognized as leader of the party to give directive to Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi who is a strong voice in the party from its inception.

He cautioned against any situation that may push members of the new PDP to declare support for the All Progressives Peoples Congress (APC) noting that doing so may lead to complete annihilation of the party in the country.

He said: “For now, nothing has changed. We had initially agreed to honour the October 7 meeting with the President out of courtesy. But it’s obvious that some power drunk persons have not been able to caution their aides against making inflammatory statements that may jeopardise the peace effort.

“As things stand today, we are collective in our decision to boycott the October 7 Aso Rock meeting. What are we going to discuss when some of the close aides of the President have said that they are ready for fight to the finish? I think they are toying with this matter and they will soon realise that this is no longer a joke.

“Maybe, by next year, when it dawns on them that the President cannot win the election with all the battles going on, they may come to the table. But that will be too late. I pray they don’t push us to join the APC or any other party. If that happens, then we can say a goodbye to the PDP as a ruling party in Nigeria.

“When people say we don’t have the majority, I always laugh. How could anyone say that when we already have a majority in the House of Representatives? We already have more than 200 on our side and I know others are waiting to join. Even in the Senate, efforts are on to get a majority or, at least, two-thirds of the members on the side of the new PDP. Let’s see how Tukur and those backing him will sustain the tempo of the noise they are making.

“When people say Tukur has written a letter to Governor Amaechi to tender a letter of apology, I laugh. Who is Tukur to write to a governor for an apology? In the first place, is Tukur the recognized chairman of the party and what authority does he have to make such a questionable demand? It is all a lie. The Rivers governor has not seen any letter and if he sees any, I can tell you that he would ignore it. In fact, they should push any of the aggrieved governors to point of turning this into a personal battle. I doubt if they can bear the consequences of such a possibility.”