Jonathan meets Bode George, Lagos, Ogun PDP over crises

Indications that the Peoples Democratic Party is serious to take over Lagos State in the coming elections emerged on Sunday as President Goodluck Jonathan held a crucial meeting with former National Deputy Chairman of the PDP in the South West, Chief Olabode George and some party leaders in the state. Though, details of the meeting, which started around 9p.m could not be ascertained as at press time, it was believed that the meeting with George, who was recently released from prison after serving two years in prison on account of contract splitting and inflation, was aimed resolving the crisis in the PDP in Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states. It was also gathered that the meeting, held at Dodan Barracks, Lagos, was attended by the Ogun State Governor, Otunba gbenga Daniel; PDP governorship candidate in Lagos, Dr. Ade Dosunmu; Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Mike Oghiadomhe, and other party leaders. A reliable source, who craved anonymity, said the meeting was informed by the concern of Jonathan that the PDP would be roundly defeated if the intra party crisis in Ogun, Oyo and Lagos were not resolved before the April elections. It was also learnt that the President, which had earlier met with some party leaders in Ogudu GRA, Lagos, would spend about three days in Lagos in order to have enough time to meet with all aggrieved PDP factions in the three states. PDP leaders had, during the Presidential campaign rally in Lagos recently, restated the resolve of the party to wrest power from the Action Congress of Nigeria, which had been in power in the state since 1999. It was learnt that the meeting, apart from using it to resolve the intra party crisis in the party in the states, would also be used to fashion out strategies that would be employed to win the close to seven million votes in Lagos. The source said, “The President in worried about the crises in Ogun, Oyo and Lagos. His concern stems from the fact that in the three states, different factions of the party are fighting themselves. This has put the chances of the PDP at risk. So he has to do something about it. “With this meeting, there would be opportunity for all the factions in the three states to state their cases and the crises with will resolved. Don’t forget that Lagos alone has about seven million voters.”