Posted by From John-Abba Ogbodo, Abuja on
A VISIT by his kinsmen and leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kogi State yesterday offered the party's National Chairman, Col. Ahmadu Ali (rtd), the opportunity to speak on the crisis rocking the ruling party....
A VISIT by his kinsmen and leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kogi State yesterday offered the party's National Chairman, Col. Ahmadu Ali (rtd), the opportunity to speak on the crisis rocking the ruling party.
Besides taking up some former key members of the PDP, who are contesting his leadership of the party in court, Ali warned that even governors that exhibit any form of disloyalty to the PDP leadership would be shown the way out of the PDP fold.
Ali read the riot act when Governor Idris Ibrahim led the Kogi State chapter of the party to pay him a solidarity visit at the national secretariat in Abuja yesterday. He described some former members of the PDP who recently claimed to be taking over the party as political adventurers who are stranded and wanted to cause confusion within its ranks.
He said the visit was a tonic to him that would ginger him to perform more in office. The PDP boss noted that the reform, which the party had embarked upon, like every other reform, inflicted pains, explaining that since the party had begun reform in the area of governance, it was only proper to reflect it in the activities of the party. "I feel elated and I am charged and poised for more action. I appreciate it . The party on its own decided to carry out our reform package, and like every other reform, it must be painful and the unexpected is expected to happen. The party has carried out reforms in governance and needs internal reform. We carried out review of the membership register so as to know the number of our members and that has led to problems here and there," he said.
Ali called on the members who felt aggrieved over the exercise to embrace peace and go back for registration because the exercise was still on. "Let peace reign. Bury your pride, your arrogance, go and register. If you are refused, let me know. Let us give peace a chance. I am begging you, bury the hatchet and smoke the pipe of peace. It should be me for all and all for me. What makes the party are people. Our party is growing from strength to strength," he sued.
Expressing concern over the activities of some former members of the party who recently announced their intention to quit, Ali described them as jokers and adventurers whose aim was to bring the party to its knees. He also debunked the claim of the faction led by Chief Solomon Lar that the present National Working Committee (NWC) members were not elected, saying they left the party because they lost out. "Don't be deceived by those jokers. They are not only confused but derailed. They are saying that we were not elected. If we did not , how did they lose their seats? They were not re-elected. Some took part in fraud and we showed them the way out. Their ambition was to split PDP and form "acid." If you embrace acid, you will know what will happen to you. ACD cannot fly. It is like a snake with a broken cord. It cannot act or bite," he said.
He continued: "They held a phony press conference and alleged that PDP has factions. PDP has no faction. What we have is a few disgruntled members. I have opened the gate and what they need to do is to abandon this adventure. We will not penalise them if they come back. In this particular case, I am giving them a waiver."
Ali, however, said that for former members such as one time governor of old Kano State, Alhaji Abubakar Rimi, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Umar Na'Abba and former PDP national chairman, Chief Audu Ogbeh and those who tendered their resignation letters, if they wanted to return to the party, they would lose their former status, adding that "these adventurers have their legs here and there."
"People like Shuaib Oyedokun denounced PDP and went to ACD. These are just adventurers. He has denounced us publicly. If they want to join, they will take their queue from behind," Ali said.
Further insinuating that such members would no longer have a place in the PDP, Ali went philosophical as he said that even himself had contested the chairmanship of the party and lost and he had to wait till the time was ripe for him to become chairman. "When God says it will be, it shall be. Whatever you are doing, you have to wait for your time to dance your oyigiyigi (victory dance). Everybody has got music beats. Wait until your music reaches your ears. So, listen to your oyigiyigi and don't be disenchanted by adventurers,' he said, adding: "The rug and the carpet have been removed off the feet of Na'Abba and Rimi."
"I stood for chairmanship in 2001 and was roundly defeated and I had to wait for my time and when the time came, I was sought after. I did not go for them. Our olive branch to the recalcitrant members is not a sign of weakness," he stated.
Reading the riot act to members, including the governors, the Ali said: "Whatever you are, be you governor, if you don't obey the rules, we will show you the way out. Discipline is the first order in heaven. If a troop is not disciplined, they cannot win a war."
The PDP chief used the occasion to give an inkling into what the congresses and national convention of the party would look like. He said for local council and state congresses, the PDP decided to open the political space by allowing 25 delegates from the ward alongside 15 members of the executive to participate in the primaries to elect state Houses of Assembly candidates, and candidates for the House of Representatives, Senate and governorship.
He said the national convention would not accommodate the 40 delegates from the ward level because of logistic problems.
Stressing that the party is growing in membership daily, the chairman said the leadership of the PDP would be in Jigawa , Kano and Borno states soon to receive new members, including Saminu Turaki, the Jigawa State governor into the party.
He commended the delegation, which included the former Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Isaac Alfa and asked them to go back and close ranks for the next election which the party hoped to win convincingly.
Governor Idris said the delegation came to show Ali that the entire state was solidly behind him and that Kogi was proud of his achievements so far as chairman of the PDP.
In a chat with journalists, Ibrahim said cracks existed in the state among political leaders based on interests but such was not enough to tear them apart.
He appealed to all the indigenes of the state who are interested in political offices to come home and take part in the forthcoming elections, stressing that the more the merrier.
The chairman of the state chapter of PDP, John Odanwu, urged Ali not to be distracted by the activities of the people he called enemies of progress.