Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar
has called for the restoration of his
rights as a senior member of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Atiku, a founding member of the PDP,
left the party after his disagreement
with former President Olusegun
Obasanjo as a result of which he was
forced out of reckoning.
He left to contest the 2007 presidential
election on the ticket of the Action
Congress (AC).
Atiku retuned to the PDP in 2010 and
got a waiver approved at the PDP
National Executive Council (NEC)
meeting on September 15, 2010.
He subsequently contested the
presidential ticket of the party with
President Jonathan. He lost.
But Atiku has not been participating in
PDP’s activities. He has not been
getting invitations, according to his
associates.
“He is being tactfully de-registered, yet
again so that he does not realise his
full right as a member of the party,”
the associates said.
Atiku was not invited to the last
National Economic Council (NEC)
meeting in Abuja. He is also not
invited to meetings of the Board of
Trustees (BoT), led by Chief Tony
Anenih.
The latest exclusion of the former VP
from the party’s activities is the
dropping of his name from the
delegates’ list to the mini-convention,
which will hold later this month.
Atike last month wrote to PDP National
Chairman Bamanga Tukur about his
exclusion from the list. He is yet to get
a reply to the letter. Atiku hails from
Adamawa State. Tukur is also from
Adamwa.
In his letter, Atiku described his
exclusion as “curious”, saying it
amounted to the withdrawal of his
privileges as a former number two
citizen, founding father of the ruling
party and member of the Board of
Trustees (BoT).
Atiku, who claimed that his enquiries
at the PDP National Secretariat
confirmed the omission, urged the
PDP National Chairman to make a
public statement on the matter as a
prelude to the correction of the
anomaly and restoration of his right
as a party leader.
The former Vice President recalled that
he had been prevented from re-
registering at his ward in the past by
those who hijacked the party from the
legitimate founding fathers.
He said the omission of his name
contradicted the PDP Constitution. He
recalled that he applied for and
obtained a waiver along with other
returnees to the party to participate in
the last presidential primaries. He
alleged that the amended constitution
of the party was being implemented
proactively to shove him aside from
the party.
Atiku said: “Section 8, Sub-section
8(b) of the Constitution of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) 2012, as
amended, states that “a person who
desires to rejoin the party after leaving
it, unless given a waiver by the
National Executive Committee of our
party, be placed on probation for a
period of less than one year.
“The 53th meeting of the National
Executive Committee (NEC) of our
party, which held on Wednesday,
September 15, 2010 at the PDP
Secretariat, approved the application
of the Adamawa State Executive
Committee for my waiver alongside
similar applications from Imo, Abia,
Anambra and Kogi states. as a result
of that waiver, I proceeded to
participate in the presidential
primaries of our great party as well as
other activities of the party. So, my
membership or return to the party
predated the 2012 constitution
amendment”.
Abubakar maintained that the
omission of his name contradicted
the Section 32, Sub-section 1(a) of the
PDP Constitution, which states that the
Board of Trustees members shall
consist of “all past and serving
Presidents and Vice Presidents, who
held or hold the respective posts as
the members of the party and who
are still members of the party”.
He added: “As a member of our party,
I look forward to the respect and
privileges conferred on the office of
the Vice President and founding
fathers of the party by our party
constitution. I therefore, request for a
correction and restitution of my right
to attend the forth-coming special
national convention of our great party
and also membership of the Board of
Trustees”.


http://thenationonlineng.net/new/atiku-to-pdp-restore-my-rights/

Was it taken? Oya take it back by force.

Haba! This man should leave politics now.

Clear my throat...in Obasanjo voice "I dey laugh"