Posted by By ISMAIL OMIPIDAN, Abuja on
President Olusegun Obasanjo on Sunday told the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the Senate led by its President, Ken Nnamani, that some of its members would still lose their tickets.
…As senators react to plans to change hand-over date
President Olusegun Obasanjo on Sunday told the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the Senate led by its President, Ken Nnamani, that some of its members would still lose their tickets.
Specifically, Obasanjo was said to have told the PDP senators that some of them who did not win the primaries but were given tickets should be prepared to surrender them, as the party would do everything within its means to retrieve the tickets.
The Senate President had led a delegation of the PDP Senate caucus to meet with President Obasanjo on the need to re-consider some of its colleagues who lost out at both the senatorial and governorship primaries of the party.
The four-hour meeting was, however, said to have ended without 'any concrete result," a situation that forced the senators to delegate one of them to see him (Obasanjo) again on their behalf on Monday night.
Sources close to the meeting, however, hinted that the President was not favourably disposed to the request of the senators, especially when the issues of Senators Ifeanyi Ararume and Jonathan Zwingina were raised. He was said to have told them that the National Chairman of the party would handle the issue.
'You know, at first Baba was taking the request softly but he became angry when the issue of Senators Ararume and Zwingina was raised (Senator Ifeanyi Ararume was initially declared winner of the Imo primaries before it was snatched from him, while Senator Jonathan Zwingina did not even participate in the Adamawa governorship primaries).
'At that point Baba just began to dribble them (senators) here and there. Later he stood up to say he was tired and that he was feeling sleepy. That was how he stood up and left, saying that Amadu Ali, the national chairman, was the judge and so he would ask him to handle the issue. My brother, that was how the meeting ended," the source, said.
Meanwhile, one of the PDP Senators from the North- Central zone is expected to see President Obasanjo Monday night on behalf of the caucus to rap up discussions with him on who among the Senators would regain their tickets, and who would not.
Daily Sun further learnt that the decision to send the Senator who is seen as Obasanjo's ‘right-hand-man' was reached following the outcome of the four hours meeting between the President and the Senate delegation which did not yield any result.
In a related development, Senators have started reacting to the purported moves by some persons to get the hand-over date extended from May 29, 2007 to October 1, 2007.
Already members of the House Representatives are said to have started collecting signatures in support of the move.
But most Senators who spoke with Daily Sun said that they are yet to set their eyes on such a letter, even as one of them described the collection of signatures in the lower House as an exercise in futility.
According to the former Senate Minority leader, Senator Lawali Shuaibu 'what they want to do can only be possible with the amendment of the constitution. But you and I know that is not possible now."
When asked if one requires constitution amendment to change hand-over date from May 29 to October 1, 2007, the Zamfara State Senator said 'well you are aware that the constitution stipulates that the holder of the office will be there for a period not exceeding four years. So by May 29, 2007, it will be four years. To that extent the signatures they are currently collecting is null and void."