How Presidency Rallied PDP Govs Behind Jonathan
SATURDAY, 18 DECEMBER 2010 00:00 BY AZIMAZI MOMOH JIMOH (ABUJA), SAMSON EZEA (LAGOS) NEWS - NATIONAL
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PDP Reps Pledge Fair Presidential Primaries
DETAILS of the intrigues which characterised the 55th National Executive Council (NEC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja on Thursday in which 20 state governors in the ruling party reportedly endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid, have emerged.
A member of the PDP NEC who pleaded anonymity disclosed to The Guardian that the meeting was highly charged as President Jonathan allegedly warned the governors of the consequences for all stakeholders, if they dared to abandon him.
The threat prompted some of the governors to hurriedly organise a gathering to endorse the president.
The NEC member quoted President Jonathan as having told the governors at the meeting: “You have given me assurances of support but some of you are secretly campaigning for another candidate. I can’t stand here and be humiliated by you. Everything I have asked for, you have refused to give me. No president anywhere has been treated by his party the way you are treating me.”
At this point, Chairman, Nigeria Governors Forum, Bukola Saraki was said to have risen to President Jonathan’s rescue and told the meeting that they must toe the president’s line in order to save the party from a looming crisis.
According to a source, before the meeting, Saraki allegedly told his colleagues and the PDP Chairman, Okwesilieze Nwodo, that “all of us here got everything that we have asked for—the order of the primaries, the delegate issue and all that. There must be something for the president.”
It was gathered that Niger State Governor, Aliyu Babangida, put the motion to endorse the president for the re-election bid as the PDP candidate on condition that he serves just one term and go by 2015.
According to the source, there was a palpable sense of relief in the expansive office of the PDP chairman. The question that followed was whether the president was willing to do a single term and go away.
Governors Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Alhaji Danjuma Goje (Gombe), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Liyel Imoke (Cross River), Chief Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), and Mallam Sule Lamido (Jigawa) persistently asked the president to respond to the question.
“What are we going to tell our people when they ask?,” Governor Aliyu was quoted to have asked the president.
But the president was mute, giving rise to suspicion that he wanted to have the office for at least eight more years “if that is what Nigerians want.”
At this stage, the source said, former BoT Chairman of the PDP, Chief Tony Anenih rose to his feet and gave a pledge that President Jonathan would serve for just one term of four years.
But when asked to which zone President Jonathan would hand over, both the President and Anenih kept mute, again giving rise to further suspicion about the president’s game plan.
Meanwhile, the PDP members in the House of Representatives have assured former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of level playing ground in the January 13, 2011 presidential primary election of the party.
They made the pledge when Abubakar met with them at the residence of Speaker Dimeji Bankole to seek their support for his presidential ambition in the 2011 general election.
The meeting, which was held behind closed doors, presented an opportunity for Abubakar to provide explanations on key issues his administration would accord priority if elected into office.
Sources at the meeting said the former vice president promised to promote good legislature-executive relationship, among others.
It was learnt that a member of the House, Ogbuefi Ora Ozombachi (PDP, Enugu State) who was mandated to speak on behalf of others, declared that the caucus would ensure a level playing ground for all the PDP presidential aspirants at the primaries.
The lawmakers reportedly demanded that all aspirants should conduct their campaigns in a manner that would not throw the party into crisis.
President Goodluck Jonathan was the first to meet the PDP Caucus in the House to sell his presidential bid to it two weeks ago.
And, at this critical time of Nigeria’s national history, what the nation needs is peaceful political transition and not violent takeover of power and disruption of the peaceful existence of the various nationalities as being advocated by some politicians, the Media for Ethnic Equality (MEE), has warned.
The group, in a statement yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Iyiola Johnson, in apparent response to remarks made by two presidential aspirants on the platform of the PDP, Abubakar and former military President Ibrahim Babangida, cautioned politicians against fuelling ethnic tension in the country.
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When will all these tabloid-peppersoup politics end?
See what GEJ has reduced politics to in Nigeria?
Atiku should watch his utterances, but GEJ should not do the same?

The Deep-Throats within the PDP have started squealing.

A member of the PDP NEC who pleaded anonymity disclosed to The Guardian that the meeting was highly charged as President Jonathan allegedly warned the governors of the consequences for all stakeholders, if they dared to abandon him.

[size=16pt]The threat prompted some of the governors to hurriedly organise a gathering to endorse the president.[/size]

The NEC member quoted President Jonathan as having told the governors at the meeting:

“You have given me assurances of support but some of you are secretly campaigning for another candidate. I can’t stand here and be humiliated by you. Everything I have asked for, you have refused to give me. No president anywhere has been treated by his party the way you are treating me.”

Just imagine the konkonbility!

Interesting!


Eniyan bi aparo lomo araye nfe!

I doubt the veracity of this story. Especially the Saraki and Babangida Aliyu's part.

^^^^

It is actually true!

This just to show how u cannot trust politicians! If "saint" GEJ could not answer directly simple questions of whether he will do one term or which part will he handover to until somebody like Anenih who lacks any moral stand. Then I'm sure GEJ is not sincere in all his Facebook campaigns and he will definitely be worst than Atiku if voted into power. I'm sure his first mission would be to get back at the Governors and there will be supremacy battle just for him to continue after four years. He will not focus on any policy or poroject that will bring development. Be wise let's get pdp out my fellow country men!

GEJ has done nothing wrong here

Leave them to play their games

A game of bribing, intimidation, a president mortgaging the will of the electorates by awarding all of the PDP governors automatic tickets - our voting may just be another formality www.

GEJ= failure, Some of us who prayed for his emergence are seriously disappointed on his performance so far. His campaign is not supposed to be bore out of desperation but the score board of his achievement while in office , If he faced the needs of the masses and generality of nigerians like electricity,good roads and employment, I don't think anybody be it Atiku,IBB,Ciroma and co cannot have any impact. People including northern folks in nigeria would be the ones begging him to continue. His era will be remembered in history as the time with high level of criminality,moral decay and institutional failure.

The govs will drop him after the governorship primaries. They are just delaying GEJ's judgment day.

Which shld we take? Yesterday it was said that gej nearly cried b4 the gov'nors endorsed him xcept saraki due to his nplf insider. Today it is gej warned them of the consequences. ONE FUNNY THING ON THIS FORUM IS THAT N.landers MAY WRITE ON THEIR WEBSITE AND COPY IT OVER HERE FOR DISTRACTION

He begged. He was close tears until Anenih struck an inconsequential deal.

How could he have "warned" them when they succeeded in arm twisting into changing the order or primaries?

It was at that point, according to our source, that the former Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman of the party, Chief Tony Anenih came to the president’s rescue by rising to his feet and pledged that Jonathan would serve for just one term of four years.  [b]But when the question of which zone would Jonathan hand over power to after he must have served the said four year single term, both the President and Anenih kept quiet, again raising further suspicious about the president’s real motives.[/b]http://www.weekly.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4891:how-jonathan-blackmailed-govs-to-get-endorsement&catid=40:cover-stories&Itemid=26

The issue of zoning in the PDP will continue to haunt GEJ n co like the ghost of Dele Giwa dey haunt some mother f**Kers!

This untrue, reproduced news from the guardian, since u have published it THIS IS THE VIOLENT CHANGE WE NEED not carrying arms

Nsiman:

This untrue, reproduced news from the guardian, since u have published it THIS IS THE VIOLENT CHANGE WE NEED not carrying arms

Once the true colours of GEJ comes out, you will say its not true. I have said this before that GEJ is his own problems. Had he conducted the primaries shortly after he declared - he did be better - but he panicked.

We don't believe the mainstream media when the news is negative about Johnathan. But anything negative about Turai and Yaradua is believed even if it is from saharareporters or some faceless newsite. anyway this is punch version of it.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20101218501598

Yesterday i read it in the nation newspaper and today i ve read it from daily trust and they are the same, why different in the guardian? That is what i mean

Nsiman:

Yesterday i read it in the nation newspaper and today i ve read it from daily trust and they are the same, why different in the guardian? That is what i mean

Keep asking. I hope you will also ask when the reputation of other politician is at stake.

Nsiman:

Yesterday i read it in the nation newspaper and today i ve read it from daily trust and they are the same, why different in the guardian? That is what i mean

Daily trust in my opinion seems to be the most consistent amongst the various news media. Daily trust's reports have oftentimes turned out to be the most accurate of reports as they hardly garnish their content with half-truths like most other big news outlets do.

^^^

Very true. If you read the articles on the NEC meetings in The Punch, Vanguard and This Day you will see that they are almost identical (word for word). The papers were given a leaked version of events from the president's office in an attempt to put a positive spin on the event and the stupid journalist just published the press realise verbatim.

This press in this country is useless; the stories are literally not worth the paper they are printed on - it's all propaganda.