FG persecuting rebel govs, others –New PDP

Abubakar Baraje

Members of the  New Peoples Democratic Party   on  Sunday  alleged that they were being persecuted by agents of the Federal  Government.

They  said the agents had been using   “unconstitutional means” to achieve their selfish goals.

In a  statement made available hours before the seven rebel governors in the New PDP and other leaders of the group met in Abuja on Sunday  evening, they gave examples of  how  the  agents had in the past few weeks been  using a well co-ordinated and systematic plot to traumatise, annihilate and cripple them  economically and politically.

The statement by their  National Publicity Secretary,    Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, added that  the  acts amounted to    flagrant disregard  for Chapter IV, Section 33 – 45 of the  1999 Constitution that guarantees “our fundamental human rights as Nigerians.”

A part of the statement reads , “Contrary to the provisions of Chapter IV Sections 42, 43 and 44 of the 1999 Constitution which guarantee our rights as Nigerians to acquire and own property in any part of the country, our national secretariat and most of our state secretariats have been sealed off   by the Police on the orders of those in power.

“This is despite the fact that we still have a court case against Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and the  National NWC  of the PDP.

“Two weeks ago, the Federal Capital Territory Administration in its overzealous  effort to please President Goodluck  Jonathan marked our   closed  national secretariat for demolition on the laughable excuse that it was originally approved as a residential building.”

It said before it  acquired the house, it was being used by another political party, the National Democratic Party as its national secretariat without the FCTA complaining that it was against the Abuja Master Plan.

The group  also named the sealing  off  of the Adamawa State Governor’s  Lodge   in Abuja  as one of the negative actions taken by the government.

 The lodge was being used   as temporary national secretariat of the New PDP when it was sealed off by the FCTA  on the same excuse of violating the Abuja master plan.It has however been reopened.

Besides,  the New PDP   mentioned  Kwakwanso , Senator Aisha Al-Hassan,   Saraki, Danjuma Goje, Rotimi Amaechi  and Abubakar Baraje, as some of its leaders who have suffered humiliation from the government.

It added that  the government was already using the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to hound  many of its members.

The New PDP said,   “ Mr.  Timipre Sylva, the former Governor of Bayelsa State, and  Saraki are two foremost examples.

“We understand that the worst is yet to come as this unserious organ masquerading as an anti-graft agency would soon be unleashed on all our key members in both the Senate and House of Representatives in an operation code-named ‘Operation Coerce Them Back to Tukur.’

“On its part, the Nigeria Police, which has abysmally  failed to find a solution to the menace of Boko Haram, kidnapping, assassination and other criminal acts ravaging the country, has been given a fresh mandate to frame up our members and term them criminals in order to keep them at bay.”

The factional PDP  therefore    appealed  to Jonathan “to be a statesman and caution these dogs of war before they do irreversible damage to our dear country.”

The   Baraje-led faction of the ruling party was to meet 8pm on Sunday at the Sokoto Governor’s Lodge in  Asokoro, Abuja but had to shift the venue to Kano State Governor’s Lodge out of suspicion that the police might storm the venue.

 At the  Kano State Governor’s Lodge,also in Abuja, they  discussed  briefly  and rose without issuing a statement. Eze however assured that that would be done on Monday(today).

Two of  the seven rebel   governors in the New PDP – Abdulfatah  Ahmed of Kwara and Aliyu Babangida of Niger – were  absent.

Governors  Sule Lamido of Jigawa; Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto  State;   Kwakwanso; Murtala Nyako of Adamawa,  and Amaechi        were however present.

A source at the meeting said,  “The members of the group were aware that policemen could be asked to storm the venue (Sokoto Governor’s Lodge) of the meeting  That   was why we  decided to relocate to  another venue (Kano Governor’s Lodge).

 “But at the end of the day, we had  a useful deliberation and I can tell you that we reached some meaningful conclusions. Those conclusions would be made known to Nigerians soon.”

Also at the meeting were former governor of Kebbi State and minister of the Federal Capital Territory Administration during the government of  late President Umaru Yar’adua, Senator Adamu Aliero; former governor of Kwara State, Senator Bukola Saraki; former governor of Gombe State, Senator Danjuma Goje; Former governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Abdullahi Adamu;   Baraje; the  Deputy Chairman, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja; the Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola; National  Vice-Chairman, North -West, Ibrahim Kazuare; Kassim Shettima, among others.

It was the first time the group would be meeting since  a Federal High court sitting jn Abuja ruled that the Dr. Bamanga Tukur-led National Working Committee of the PDP  remained  the authentic NWC of the party.

Also, at the same time, the Independent National Electoral Commission had  said  the Tukur-led NWC was the one it recognised.

Another  source at the meeting however told our correspondent that the faction was yet to decide on which of the political parties to defect to if  negotiations  with the leadership of the PDP failed.

 He said, “We have agreed that we are not going to the PDM and that any political party we might defect to, negotiations with such party would be done collectively and not by individual.

“But I can tell you that we have ruled out the PDM. You can see that we are being pushed out of the PDP. We are going to be decisive soon on what we are going to do.”