Posted by From Abel Orih-Idoma in Yola and Yakubu Musa in Kano on
Vice President Atiku Abubakar yesterday revalidated his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the on-going registration exercise which the party commenced last week but could not be issued with membership card.
Vice President Atiku Abubakar yesterday revalidated his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the on-going registration exercise which the party commenced last week but could not be issued with membership card.
The registration cards in Kojoli A Unit, Yelli ward of Jada Local Government Area in Adamawa were said to have been exhausted when Atiku got there.
In Kano State, former Communications Minister, Alhaji Abubakar Rimi, former Speaker of the House of Respresentatives, Alhaji Umar Ghali Na'Abba and some other chieftains of the PDP have threathened to leave the party if their compliants over the registration exercise were not addressed.
Failure of the PDP officials in Yelli ward to provide the Vice President with a card attracted condemnation from his supporters who said the decision to revalidate Atiku's membership by only writing his name in the register was a ploy to edge him out of the party.
Atiku, however, pacified the angry supporters saying that there would be a remedy to the problems very soon. He said nobody can push him out of the party he had invested lots of resources to nurture to the present height.
Atiku said 'They said there is no card available here yet, so by time the cards arrive, I hope everybody who have registered without card would be given his/her card.
'Well, this is my political ward and I am number one on the register and I have come to make sure that my position remains the same.
'I think we have had logistic problems, and as you know, in this country logistic problems in registrations, in elections are not new things, we have had it even during general elections where either voters' cards or registers arrive late and so on and so forth.
'These are normal logistic problems associated with this kind of exercises, we have witnessed them before, and the only point I always keep on making is that it is high time we improved on our previous efforts.
On his hope to realise his presidential ambition on the PDP platform, the Vice President said: 'I am extremely hopeful that the future would be better and I will work hard together with other Nigerians to make sure that the future is better for this country and for all of us".
Asked of his inability to get a card was not part of the move to stop his presidential ambition, he said, 'I really do not see how it can be targeted on working against my aspirations, I really don't see how such could happen. If you read the constitution of the PDP very carefully and know what it contains, I don't see how anybody can work against my aspirations".
Atiku was accompanied on the registration exercise by the deputy governor of Adamawa State, Alhaji Bello Tukur among other top PDP members, supporters and his personal aides.
Speaking earlier in an interview with THISDAY, the Supervisor from the national secretariat of the PDP for Jada Local Government, Alhaji Bello Abdullahi (Wazirin Kanam) from Jos, Plateau State, said he was merely following directive from the national secretariat not to issue any membership card to the Vice President. A day before Atiku's arrival, another strong stalwart of the party, Alhaji Kwairanga Jada, from the same local government area with the Vice President was issued with his membership card immediately he got registered.
Sources close to the party in Adamawa told THISDAY that the Vice President was actually supposed to register in Jada ward of Jada Local Government. The source said a membership card had been prepared for him in Jada ward.
The source noted that Atiku simply decided he would not register in Jada ward but in Jelli. 'It is the change of wards which disrupted the entire exercise and now made it appear like it was deliberate to deny the Vice President registration card. The party will redress the situation very soon," he said.
In Kano, Rimi, Na'Abba and former labour minister, Alh. Musa Gwadabe, who were aggrieved by the conduct of the registration exercise ordered their followers to start opening new offices of a faction of the PDP in the state.
Addressing a large crowd of supporters at a rally in Sani Abacha Stadium weekend, Rimi pointed out that, if the injustice within the PDP persists, 'We are going to have our next rally under the banner of a new party".
He said the party is now in crisis all over the federation because of the selfish interest of a few individuals.
'What is happening now is totally unacceptable. However, if you refuse to heed this warning we are bound to see a situation that will not augur well for the party.
'Go and start opening offices at every ward for our own PDP faction, and write boldly the PDP for the people and there is PDP for Abuja and if they refuse to effect changes especially on the issue of party's registration we are ready to move to a new party," he said.
Earlier, Na Abba had in his speech at the rally, chided President Olusegun Obasanjo for plunging the nation into serious hardship.
'You can all see the new agenda in PDP, an agenda of humiliating and persecuting members. But it is not only PDP entire Nigerians are now bearing the brunt of Obasanjo's wicked style of governance. Unfortunately, he is being aided by people like Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who don't have the interest of the nation at heart," he said and was applauded by the crowd.