Some members of the Peoples Democratic Party have faulted the alleged agreement made by President Goodluck Jonathan with members of the PDP in the Senate to curb the overwhelming influence of state governors in the affairs of the party, particularly its primaries.
At a meeting at the Presidential Villa on Thursday night, the President, the senators and the leadership of the party allegedly agreed to ensure a level-playing field at the primaries as a way of checking the governors.
The national leadership of the PDP had issued automatic second term ticket to its first-term governors and automatic senatorial ticket to the outgoing second-term governors. The latter were also given the opportunity to determine their successor.
The steps by the party had angered the senators, especially those who are seeking a return to the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly.
Speaking to SUNDAY PUNCH, the Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum and Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu, stated that the clash of interest between the governors and senators in the PDP would be resolved by the electorate.He said despite the decision of the Presidency, “the most important factor is the will of the people.”Aliyu, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Israel Ebije, in an interview with one of our correspondents on Saturday said only the wish of the electorate would prevail.
He said people must understand that politics should not be played on a platter of sentiment or bargained with the value of market commodity.
“No agreement reached anywhere with anybody can in any way threaten governors’ ambition for the senate.
“It is, therefore, instructive to intimate that the 2015 elections will be very interesting especially in the area of political mettle.
“It is, therefore, instructive to intimate that the 2015 elections will be very interesting especially in the area of political mettle.
“Governors or senators expressing concerns on any kind of agreement reached are only expressing myopic understanding of the matter on ground and not sure of their political value,” Ebije said.
He stated that what should be of concern is the personality and marketability of the aspirants. “The next general election is for the people to choose, based on performance and not on agreement or bargain. It is a pendulum that will certainly swing in favour of the most qualified politicians,” he added.
Also, the Coordinating Secretary, South-South Peoples Assembly and a leader of PDP in Bayelsa State, Ayakeme Whiskey, described the decision to grant automatic tickets to some serving senators as undemocratic.
Whiskey urged the leadership of the PDP to review the decision in the interest of justice and democratic principles.
He said failure to review the decision and give room for a level-playing field would spell doom for the party. He added that some of them (aspirants), who had sacrificed their money and reached out to their delegates, would not take it lightly.
Whiskey said, “The decision should be reviewed. It is an injustice to aspirants who have submitted themselves to provide effective representation to their people.
“Most of us have committed our money and have been doing underground work to actualise our aspiration. I call on the leadership of the party to review the decision, otherwise, we will feel the party has done injustice to us and we will protest it. The decision is undemocratic and should be stopped.”
He urged the senators not to follow shortcuts but to submit themselves to the people who have the final say.
He said the resort to award automatic tickets to some senators, most of whom, were not performing, would spell doom for the party.
“The decision is sure going to give the party some big problems. Election does not end at party primaries. Flag bearers of parties will face the best from other parties and where the party decides to impose a non-performing, non-performing in the eyes of the people, the outcome will be disastrous and this will cause the party fortunes.
“Let the senators come to the people they are representing and if they are accepted, the people will volunteer the mandate to them.
“But if the party decides to award party tickets to them, it will portend great danger for the party.
“It is my conceived belief that where party members and electorate are not given the rights to choose their representatives in the manner they want, the people are invariably alienated.”
However, governors in the PDP on Thursday said they were no threat to the ambitions of the party’s serving senators seeking to return to the Senate next year.
The governors, who spoke through the Chairman, PDP Governors’ Forum, Godswill Akpabio, pointed out to the senators that they (governors) would not surrender their leadership of the party in their respective states to anyone.
Akpabio, in an interview with journalists in Abuja after submitting his forms to contest the senatorial seat for the North-West Senatorial District of Akwa Ibom State, argued that there was no basis for the protests by the PDP senators over the issue.
The governor pointed out that the number of governors seeking to go into the National Assembly was few and should not be a threat to any senator.
When contacted, the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party said it had yet to be briefed on the outcome of the meeting between the President and the senators.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, stated this in an interview with one of our correspondents on Friday.
He said he would not be able to speak on what transpired at the meeting.He said, “We have not been briefed about the outcome of the meeting.”
It was, however, learnt that the leadership of the PDP was in a dilemma on how to accommodate the demands of the aggrieved senators, especially on their plan to return to the Senate in 2015.
It was also learnt that members of the party’s caucus in the House of Representatives were equally making their demands. REPORT FROM SUNDAY PUNCH NEWSPAPER
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