The New PDP on Tuesday announced merging with the opposition APC.
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The decision was taken at a meeting between leaders of the APC and the New PDP at the Kano State Governor’s residence in Abuja.
The National Chairman of the New PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Baraje, announced the decision which was described by the Presidency as a welcome development.
“The Presidency does not feel threatened; the PDP does not feel threatened,” the Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Political Matters, Mr. Ahmed Gulak, told State House correspondents in Abuja.
But the New PDP said its members, including the rebel governors, were elated to “have abandoned PDP’s sinking ship.”
Although Baraje claimed that the group’s merger with the APC was a unanimous decision, two of the seven rebel governors – Babangida Aliyu (Niger) and Sule Lamido(Jigawa), distanced themselves from it.
Governor Aliyu Wamakko(Sokoto) and Lamido were absent from the Tuesday meeting.
One of our correspondents reported that Aliyu attended the meeting but left before it ended.
The other rebel governors in attendance were Rotimi Amaechi(Rivers); Rabiu Kwakwanso (Kano); Murtala Nyako(Adamawa); and Abdulfatah Ahmed(Kwara).
The leaders of the New PDP that attended the meeting were a former Governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Dr. Sam Jaja, ex-governor of old Abia State, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu; and a former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipriye Sylva.
The APC team comprised Chief Bisi Akande; a former Head of State, Maj.- Gen. Muhammadu Buhari; a former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; and an ex- Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mallam Aminu Masari.
Like Aliyu, Buhari left before the meeting ended.
Baraje, who read a statement after the meeting, said they agreed to merge in the interest of Nigeria’s democracy.
The statement which was signed by Baraje and the APC Interim National Chairman, Chief Akande, reads, “The leadership of the APC and the New PDP met this(Tuesday) morning at the residence of the Kano State Governor, Dr. Rabiu Kwakwanso, in Abuja.
“After exhaustive deliberation, we agreed to merge in order to rescue our fledgling democracy and the nation.”
• Aliyu, Lamido distance selves from merger
But shortly after, Aliyu, a very vocal member of the G-7, added a strange twist to the merger. His Chief Press Secretary, Danladi Ndayebo, did not only deny that he attended the meeting, he said the governor remained a member of the PDP.
Ndayebo, in a statement, said Aliyu was shocked that the merger was announced before a final decision on it was taken .
He argued that since reconciliatory talks between President Goodluck Jonathan and the rebel governors were still ongoing, the merger ought not to have been announced.
Also, Lamido, who said he remained a member of the PDP, added, “I will not give anybody the pleasure of engaging me by his terms for now.”
In a statement by his Director of Press, Alhaji Umar Kiyari, the governor described himself as” the living father of the PDP.”
The statement reads, “While I accept that my party, the PDP is currently embroiled in a serious crisis caused by the Bamanga Tukur style of leadership, that does not necessitate me renouncing myself and relinquishing my historical authority to anybody.
“It is true that myself and my family are currently under a huge political web and campaign of misinformation and smear to the extent that we have been adjudged guilty in the public court by the gullible and the ill-informed, this will not intimidate or harass me out of the party.
“I will not give anybody the pleasure of engaging me by his terms for now, I wish to say that I remain the living father of the PDP. As for my political persecutors, I will engage them by my terms at the appropriate time. Nobody speaks for me but myself.”
• We’ve abandoned PDP’s sinking ship – Eze
In spite of the position of Aliyu and Lamido, the New PDP said with its merger with the APC, the rank of governors in the PDP had further depleted.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, the group said a similar situation existed in the National Assembly where the APC now had the majority.
It said, “Now, we have reached the stage that we can only say: ‘PDP, your sinking ship has been abandoned to you.’ You brought this misfortune upon yourself; now, you must bear it alone.”
• It’s a welcome development
However, the Presidency and the PDP said they were not worried by the development because the rebel governors and their supporters would come back to the PDP after 2015.
Gulak, who spoke for the Presidency, argued that with the development, the leadership of the PDP would no longer be distracted from the task of building the party.
He added that many members of the APC were already waiting for the rebel governors to take a final decision before they would also declare for the PDP.
The Presidential aide said, “I know as of a fact that five of them (the seven aggrieved governors) said they would now join APC; but I know two of them – governors of Niger and Jigawa states – issued statements, saying that they are not part of that(merger).
“I believe others, for a long time have not had their hearts in the PDP.
“But it is good that they have told the world that they have taken a stand so that PDP will not be distracted; So that we in the PDP, will be focused to build our party.”
“A lot of people in the APC have contacted me several times that they want to come back to PDP; that they were just waiting for what happened today (Tuesday) to happen. And to us, it is a good development.”
On whether the Presidency was not feeling threatened ahead of 2015, Gulak said, “We do not feel threatened; the PDP also does not feel threatened. The PDP is the party to beat.”
Despite the rebel governors’ exit from the PDP however, the presidential aide did not completely rule out reconciliation.
He said the governors would always be welcomed back after they might have found out that life outside the PDP is empty.
“We are talking about peace; reconciliation is an ongoing process.If they go outside there like those that went there before them and realise that the outside is empty, they are always welcome back home like we did before,” Gulak said.
Gulak had met behind closed doors with the Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Mike Oghiadomhe, before speaking with journalists.
Issues bordering on the development were said to have been discussed extensively at the meeting.
• Merger’ll fail –PDP
The PDP, through its National Secretary, Prof. Adewale Oladipo, described the rebel governors’ action as a manifestation of the very fertile environment that “we as a party, have brought into the Nigerian political environment.”
He, however, predicted that the marriage between the aggrieved PDP governors and the APC would not last.
Oladipo said, “The allegiance between the splinter group and the APC will not last and they will return to the PDP before long.
“I am assuring you that after May 29, 2015, many of these people will come knocking again, and like the democrats that we are, we will welcome them with open hands.’’
He however admitted that the last four months had been quite challenging for the party. He said that President Goodluck Jonathan had effectively weathered the storm.
• Why Aliyu, Lamido kicked
A highly placed source at the meeting told The PUNCH that Aliyu told the meeting that he would join the APC in January and that it was better for his colleagues to also discuss the mode of their dumping the PDP together.
According the source , Aliyu was afraid that some influential persons in Niger State, could take over the structure of the PDP from him.
These influential persons are believed to have perfected their plan to nominate a retired colonel as PDP’s governorship candidate in 2015.
It was also gathered that Lamido was already negotiating with the Presidency over the arrest of his two sons by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for alleged money laundering.
Their arrest is said to be pulling the governor back in his move to defect from the PDP.
“I think this was why he was still foot dragging by saying we should meet with the President first,” our source added.
Ahmed, who requested for a meeting with the President before the final defection, was said to have no option than to join his godfather, Sen. Bukoka Saraki, who was also at the meeting.
It was not clear while the governor wanted to be part of the meeting with the President. Another sources said it was because of the fear that he might not be given either the APC ticket or that of the PDP in the state during the 2015 election.
• How the deal was struck
Unknown to many, the meeting was not free from disagreements as some of the aggrieved governors did not buy the idea of them joining the APC at the moment.
Investigations showed that some of the rebel governors argued that the New PDP should meet again after Tuesday’s meeting before taking a final decision while others advised that they should use the word “work together” with the APC in their statements instead of “merger.”
At the end of the deliberations, Kwakwanso was said to have told his colleagues that those who wanted to defect now were free to do so while others were free to move next year or anytime they prefer.
However, majority of them preferred immediate merger with the APC.
