Fresh facts have emerged on why the New Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has chosen to stay back within the main PDP, despite the refusal of President Goodluck Jonathan to yield to any of their seven demands.
Credible insiders confirmed to Sunday Tribune that the G7 governors stayed back in the PDP when negotiations on their joining the opposition coalition became deadlocked, due to the conditions they presented.
It was gathered that few weeks ago, one of the G7 governors from the North-Western zone approached the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on behalf of his colleagues and submitted request of the Kawu Baraje-led faction to join the opposition so as to defeat the main PDP in 2015.
The leadership of APC was said to have welcomed the idea and went ahead to propose that the G7 meet the eleven governors of the APC. The meeting was held in Abuja and Nasarawa State, according to our source, but it was the last between the two groups.
The source confided in our reporter that: “The G7 governors’ main condition was that the APC structures in Rivers, Kwara, Niger, Sokoto, Kano, Adamawa and Jiagawa be handed over to them, if they were to join the opposition. This was what they called the first condition upon which they would publicly declare for the APC.
“The APC team at the meeting rejected the condition as the APC itself is made up of three parties just trying to fuse together. They were told they can only join as ordinary members and without preconditions.”
It was learnt that many APC leaders, especially those from the North-West, kicked against the idea on the grounds that most members of the G7 from the zone are political rivals to leaders of the APC in their respective states.
According to our source, the APC in Sokoto, led by former Governor Attahiru Bafarawa, rejected any possibility of the party structure being handed over to Governor Aliyu Wamakko, his old rival in Sokoto politics.
The same situation was said to have played out in Kano State where former Governor Ibrahim Shekarau was said to have rejected such condition on the ground that the opposition in the state is well grounded even without Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso.
Sunday Tribune was told that the national leadership of the APC also believed the G7, if admitted, might create another round of political rancor within the new party. According to an APC chief from Kano State, “we actually rejected the New PDP when they wanted to join us.
“They want to take over what they don’t know how we built. We in Kano said we don’t want Kwankwaso. Bafarawa people also said they don’t want Wamakko. Since the last talk, the G7 has not approached us again.”
Source: Pointblank News
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