As part of the efforts aimed at resolving the crisis rocking the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, the governors elected on its platform met with some national officers of the party in Abuja on Thursday night.

The meeting, which was held behind closed doors, was held at the Akwa Ibom Governors’s Lodge, Asokoro.

At the meeting were the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur; Speaker, House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, PDP governors, Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus while the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim came briefly.

Journalists were not allowed to enter the compound where the meeting was held as security men that manned the gate said they were under strict instructions not to allow them (journalists) access into the compound.

Apart from discussing the crisis in the party, it was also gathered that the meeting discussed the gale of defection in the party among its members, especially in the House of Representatives.

Four governors later joined Tukur at the meeting with the House members.

The governors were those of Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Katsina and Cross River States.

It was gathered that they were invited by Tukur to help appease the angry lawmakers.

It was gathered that the governors had agreed that Tukur should retain his position and that changing him could spell doom for the party and the President in 2015.

“We have agreed that the chairman should not be removed and that was why the President asked him to come and beg us at the meeting. So, for the sake of the President, we have agreed that he should be allowed to stay,” a governor, who was at the meeting told our correspondent on condition of anonymity.

He, however, added that Tukur had been asked to embark on a genuine reconciliation drive.

After the meeting, the governors left for the State House without briefing journalists.

Among the governors at the meeting were those of Delta, Cross River, Enugu, Gombe, Bayelsa, Bauchi and Kaduna States.

Before the meeting went into closed door, House Leader, Mulikat Akande said the meeting was meant to create synergy between the House Caucus and the party.

She said at the last leadership meeting of the House, it was agreed that the leadership of the party must be invited to brief the House on the happenings in the party.

http://www.punchng.com/news/tukur-tambuwal-pdp-govs-others-meet-over-defection/

Nigeria needs prayers. First to comment though.

PDP is busy tearing itself to shreds while APC sits back and laughs.

Tambuwal should not be trusted.

Tambuwal will soon defect too,watch out!!!

#endtime tinz#

PDP is a goner

Why reconciling with the defected members, Tukur once said they wont miss them. Bunch of jokers.....
Some mo'R'ons even labelled those that defected as the corrupt people in Pdp.
I know before 2015, Gej would have sanitized Pdp by chasing all those corrupt personalties thereby leaving behind saints like Tony Anenih, Bode George, Farouk lawan, Ibrahim Mantu, Vincent Ogbulafor, Adebayo akala, Alameisigha, Stella odua e.t.c
Pdp will soon turn to a regional party!

[size=15pt]Na wa o. So because they have defected to APC they are now progressives? Wonderful. [/size]

Tambuwal Rejects Plea By Tukur, PDP Governors To Declare Seats Of Defectors Vacant



By SaharaReporters, New York

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, in the early hours of Friday brushed aside pleas by the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as well as the party’s governors to declare the seats of 37 PDP lawmakers who recently defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) vacant.

The speaker’s resistance came at the meeting the PDP’s national chairman, Bamanga Tukur, and members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) had with several top lawmakers at the Hilton Hotel in Abuja. The meeting started Thursday evening (Nigerian time) and ended in the early hours of Friday.

Mr. Tukur, who arrived at the venue of the meeting with some members of the party’s NWC, set the ball rolling by telling the lawmakers that the meeting would be frank. Before journalists were asked to leave the venue of the meeting, the PDP chairman stated that the meeting was a family affair. Speaking in a similar vein, the House Leader, Ms. Mulikat Akande, said the meeting would create a synergy between the legislators and the leadership of the party.

Two sources who attended the meeting told SaharaReporters that atmosphere became tense when Mr. Tukur demanded that the seats of the defected lawmakers should be declared vacant. “A majority of the lawmakers shouted him down,” said one source.

Exasperated, the national chairman placed a telephone call to Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State. Our sources said the governor rushed to the venue of the meeting with his counterparts from Bauchi (Isa Yuguda), Katsina (Ibrahim Shema) and Cross River (Liyel Imoke). Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa also joined the meeting later.

The atmosphere at the meeting was so charged that neither Speaker Tambuwal nor Governor Akpabio was enthusiastic to speak to the media at the end of the parley.

Mr. Tukur’s media aide, Oliver Okpala, did not allow most of the gathered journalists to ask Mr. Tukur any questions at the end of the meeting. Mr. Okpala only allowed a reporter from the government-owned National Television Authority (NTA) to ask Mr. Tukur two inconsequential questions.

Approached by reporters, Governor Dickson stated that Mr. Akpabio was the person to speak. However, Governor Akpabio ran from one exit door to another in order to avoid reporters.

SaharaReporters learned that, prior to meeting with the legislators, Mr. Tukur had met behind closed doors with the party’s governors at the Akwa Ibom Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja. A source at the meeting told SaharaReporters that many of the governors were not happy with Mr. Tukur’s management of the political crisis that has torn the party apart.

However, after the meeting, one of Mr. Tukur’s aides, Cairo Ojugboh, told some reporters that the governors had passed a vote of confidence in Mr. Tukur. “What Cairo Ojugboh told the media is a fabrication of what happened at the national chairman’s meeting with the executive governors,” one source said.

samuelkaykay: Tambuwal should not be trusted.

Do PDP have any choice at the moment...?

Very funny, within few day PDP has become a regional party and APC a national party

See as Tambuwal don turn to Mandela of PDP! Party chairman and governors de follow beg d guy and he de form shakara!

By the time Yuguda,Shema and the commissioner of Kaduna state,Ramalan, are rendered inconsequal in their respective states, the PDP will be confined to the east where they will become regional champions if the try hard to defeat APGA.

I have known that "career politicians" are not principled, I wish I was wrong.

Instead of nipping the discord early in the bud, PDP was bragging and being agressive to the Governors.

Now that its about coming around to bite their butt, they're holding peace talks.

The options left for PDP is to sacrifice G.E.J's presidential ambition for the Party's survival or swim against the tides of disintegration of the party.
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I'm sure Gov Akpabio must have said some obnoxious statements to make the aggreived politicians shun reconciliation.

SMH for the choice of people G.E.J associates with, they'll end up pulling him down in the mud with their pride filled, crass utterances.

Damn too late!

I want to hear Godswill Akpabio brag one more time.

ba7man:

Instead of nipping the discord early in the bud, PDP was bragging and being agressive to the Governors.

Those renegade governors, Obasanjo & Atiku, were the problems in PDP. Thank God they left. Thank God the more that they've joined Tinubu and other progresthieves.

berem: I want to hear Godswill Akpabio brag one more time.

Ha ha ha ha. Welcome to AKPABIOSM. If you live in Nigeria you will know what is on ground.