Investigations by Sunday Tribune revealed that the fear of the unkown among this class of governors is responsible for, first, the uprising against the national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, with calls already inundating the Presidency for his replacement and, second, the inability to elect a successor to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who resigned as chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT).
Sources within the PDP told Sunday Tribune that 17 PDP governors, who were completing their tenure in 2015 were already looking into the future. Many of them, it was disclosed, were afraid that they could go into political extinction, if certain steps being taken by the Tukur-led leadership of the party should succeed.
Sources confirmed that while many of the second-term governors were already mapping out their future plans, they were not getting any signals from the Presidency as to support for their aspirations.
It was learnt that it is becoming apparent in the political circles that President Goodluck Jonathan is warming up to seek re-election and that the second-term governors need assurances on their future before it becomes too late.
A source said that not all the second-term governors were opposed to the speculated ambition of President Jonathan for re-election, but that they needed individual and collective assurances that the president would not work against their interests, if elected into office.
It was learnt that the governors saw the decision to dissolve the executive council of Adamawa State PDP as a prelude to a possible all-out battle to hijack the party structures from perceived recalcitrant governors ahead of 2015.
It was believed among the governors that the battle by Alhaji Tukur to wrestle the Adamawa PDP structure from Governor Murtala Nyako appears like a test case which could be used against any of them, should they have any cause to disagree with the powers that be as time progresses towards 2015.
Although the Presidency has moved to distance itself from the battle between Nyako and Tukur by painting it as a party affair, most of the governors are of the view that Tukur is pursuing a secret agenda on behalf of the president.
Sources said that one of the things agitating the minds of many governors is what would be the president’s position if petitions begin to flow to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against them after they might have left office.
Besides, most of the governors want to be in a position to produce their successors and it could be counterproductive if the party’s structures are taken away from them close to the next general election.
However, sources said President Jonathan had flagged off a confidence-building process with the governors, following the meeting he held with them last week.
A source said that the president was concerned about cohesion in the party and that he also wanted party members to adhere to the concept of party supremacy.
“The president wants to be seen as a believer in due process. He has not shown undue interference in the assignments of anti-graft agencies since he came into office and I don’t see why anybody would think he will with-hunt him or her after leaving office,” a source said at the weekend.
TRIBUNE
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