This is not the best of times for the trio of
former dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida; former vice-president, Alhaji
Atiku Abubakar; and former National Security Adviser, Gen. Aliyu Gusau,
as the three of them may soon be punished by the Peoples Democratic
Party for alleged anti-party activities.
Also included for punishment was a former Minister of Finance, Mallam Adamu Ciroma.
Three of them were among the presidential aspirants who fought for the party’s ticket, which was won by President Goodluck Jonathan last January.
Jonathan won the presidential election with his running mate, Alhaji Namadi Sambo.
The President had defeated Abubakar at the party’s presidential primaries. Before then, the former VP had emerged as the consensus candidate of the North, having defeated Babangida and Gusau in a shadow election conducted by the Ciroma-led Northern Leaders Political Forum.
However, the four of them, who are still members of the ruling PDP, were said to have been involved in the botched alliance talk between the Action Congress of Nigeria and the Congress for Progressive Change.
The alliance, if it had worked, would have allowed the ACN and CPC to produce a single presidential candidate, who would have confronted President Jonathan in last Saturday’s presidential poll.
The thinking within the leadership of the party at its headquarters in Wadata Plaza, Abuja, is that the aim of the four prominent members of the party was that the opposition should design a means of defeating Jonathan at the poll.
However, the deal did not work as neither the presidential candidate of the ACN, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, nor that of the CPC, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), was ready to step down for the other.
But rather than deny their involvement in the alliance talk, which is being considered as an anti-party activity by the PDP, Babangida, Atiku and Gusau claimed through a source that the alliance talk did not fail because of their involvement.
Their source claimed that they got involved in the deal because they “were approached by the CPC and ACN leaders to negotiate the alliance deal.”
They added that their intervention was at the instance of the ACN and CPC leaders, adding that if the talks ultimately collapsed, it had nothing to do with their involvement.
But at the meeting of the members of the National Working Committee of the PDP on Wednesday, the case came up and members agreed that Babangida, Atiku, Gusau and Ciroma had engaged in anti-party activities with their conduct and involvement with the opposition.
The members, one after the other, were said to have said that all of them, with their conduct, had shown that they did not work for the success of the party in the National Assembly and presidential elections.
A member of the NWC, who spoke with our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said that “members were of the opinion that these men be punished.
“We believe that they are not bigger than the party, and if a minister could be suspended based on anti-party activities, there is nothing stopping us from also dealing with these individuals.”
Asked about the decision that was arrived at the meeting, he said the issue was put aside for further discussion “because some of our members felt that we should approach it with caution.”
By Olusola Fabiyi, Abuja Courtesy Of: Punch
Also included for punishment was a former Minister of Finance, Mallam Adamu Ciroma.
Three of them were among the presidential aspirants who fought for the party’s ticket, which was won by President Goodluck Jonathan last January.
Jonathan won the presidential election with his running mate, Alhaji Namadi Sambo.
The President had defeated Abubakar at the party’s presidential primaries. Before then, the former VP had emerged as the consensus candidate of the North, having defeated Babangida and Gusau in a shadow election conducted by the Ciroma-led Northern Leaders Political Forum.
However, the four of them, who are still members of the ruling PDP, were said to have been involved in the botched alliance talk between the Action Congress of Nigeria and the Congress for Progressive Change.
The alliance, if it had worked, would have allowed the ACN and CPC to produce a single presidential candidate, who would have confronted President Jonathan in last Saturday’s presidential poll.
The thinking within the leadership of the party at its headquarters in Wadata Plaza, Abuja, is that the aim of the four prominent members of the party was that the opposition should design a means of defeating Jonathan at the poll.
However, the deal did not work as neither the presidential candidate of the ACN, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, nor that of the CPC, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), was ready to step down for the other.
But rather than deny their involvement in the alliance talk, which is being considered as an anti-party activity by the PDP, Babangida, Atiku and Gusau claimed through a source that the alliance talk did not fail because of their involvement.
Their source claimed that they got involved in the deal because they “were approached by the CPC and ACN leaders to negotiate the alliance deal.”
They added that their intervention was at the instance of the ACN and CPC leaders, adding that if the talks ultimately collapsed, it had nothing to do with their involvement.
But at the meeting of the members of the National Working Committee of the PDP on Wednesday, the case came up and members agreed that Babangida, Atiku, Gusau and Ciroma had engaged in anti-party activities with their conduct and involvement with the opposition.
The members, one after the other, were said to have said that all of them, with their conduct, had shown that they did not work for the success of the party in the National Assembly and presidential elections.
A member of the NWC, who spoke with our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said that “members were of the opinion that these men be punished.
“We believe that they are not bigger than the party, and if a minister could be suspended based on anti-party activities, there is nothing stopping us from also dealing with these individuals.”
Asked about the decision that was arrived at the meeting, he said the issue was put aside for further discussion “because some of our members felt that we should approach it with caution.”
By Olusola Fabiyi, Abuja Courtesy Of: Punch
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