Akpabio, PDP governors at war with Mu’azu over Senate tickets – The Nation newspaper

 

Akpabio (2nd from left) with other PDP governors (Photo credit: Vanguard newspaper)

By Gbade Ogunwale,

Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and who would be completing their second term in May, are at war with the leadership of the party over their ambition to go to the Senate.

Indications emerged yesterday that the governors have been mounting pressure on the party’s national chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu to cede senatorial tickets in their various zones to them.

The Nation gathered that a peace meeting between Mu’azu and the governors Wednesday night over the matter ended in a deadlock.

The governors, it was gathered, had insisted on getting automatic tickets of their senatorial zones, a move that would see the present occupants of the seats out of contention.

The governors’ position is said to be anchored on the premise that they needed to be rewarded for initiating the idea of the automatic presidential ticket granted President Goodluck Jonathan by the party’s National Executive Committee in August.

Mu’azu was said to have been miffed by the governors’ position, particularly when they were said to have insisted on fielding their preferred candidates as their successors in the coming elections.

The party chair was said to have pleaded with the governors to cede the governorship tickets to the senators they wish to replace, a plea that was said to have angered the governors.

A party source privy to the meeting told reporters that Mu’azu’s opinion that the party needed the experience of its ranking senators in the next dispensation, for stability of the government, also did not sit well with the governors.

An enlarged meeting to include other prominent party chieftains is expected to reconvene at the weekend to find an amicable resolution to the matter.

Our correspondent further gathered that shortly after the meeting with Mu’azu, a governor from one of the Southsouth states brought a senator representing his zone before President Jonathan.

The governor was said to have pleaded with the President to “find something” else for the senator, since he (the governor) would be replacing him in 2015.

Our source disclosed that the senator had taken exception to the governor’s statement because he was never given an inkling of the reasons for the nocturnal visit to the President.

The party source, who pleaded not to be named said “The truth is that the pressure has always been there since the issue of the President’s endorsement was concluded at our last NEC meeting.

“It is now taking a very dangerous dimension because our desire is to strengthen our National Assembly, especially the Senate.

“We believe that the polity could benefit from their wealth of experience but the governors, with their desire to all go to the Senate, are constituting a big constraint on our desire for this.

“While we believe that the governors are our field commanders, we cannot say in the same breath that our senators are no more useful and should be discarded.

“So we have outlined some acceptable conditions that will guide both the governors and the senators, because there is no way the governors can have everything to themselves without consideration for others.”

Some of the outgoing PDP governors who have indicated interest in the Senate include Sullivan Chime (Enugu); Martin Elechi (Ebonyi); Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta); Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom); Gabriel Suswam (Benue); Isa Yuguda (Bauchi); Jonah Jang (Plateau) and Babangida Aliyu (Niger).

Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State is said to have shelved his plans to go to the Senate.

He is reported to be scheming to replace the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba with his anointed candidate, Mr. John Eno, who is a member of the House of Representatives.

Culled from The Nation