Senator Jubril Martins-Kuye
• New PDP emerges in Ondo
James Sowole and Sheriff Balogun
A former Minister of State for Finance, Senator Jubril Martins-Kuye, has refuted insinuations in some quarters that the ongoing crisis rocking Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is being fuelled by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
According to him, Obasanjo was trying to forge unity in the party and bring all the factions together.
Martins-Kuye who spoke in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State during the 10th annual ancestral memorial prayers of Fushengbuwa family, stated that the former president could not be the cause of the brouhaha.
He added that it was unfortunate that the party was going through crisis, saying "its a stump in a tea cup, so it would be resolved."
He said: "Before you can get infected, there must be a cause. The allegation has no proof, if anybody can prove that he is the cause, all that I have seen him doing is to bring all the parties in the dispute together with the view to forging one common unity within PDP."
The former minister, therefore, said the crisis was a process towards 2015 elections in the country, which he said the leaders of the party erere trying to resolve.
He added that Obasanjo was somebody who is troubleshooting and trying to resolve peace within PDP, noting that it will be resolved before it dangerously affects the fortune of the party.
He added that Obasanjo was somebody who is troubleshooting and trying to resolve peace within PDP, noting that it will be resolved before it dangerously affects the fortune of the party.
"Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is putting the stakeholders together, so that we can put our house in order and face the challenge posed by the APC," he added.
However, the Olori ebi of the family, Mr. Adebayo Owoyemi, who spoke with journalists shortly after the prayer session, prayed for the unity of the family, saying: "I prayed that everybody would come together and become part of the big successful ruling house, it would happen by the grace of almighty Allah."
Meanwhile, the crisis rocking the PDP, which resulted in the emergence of a faction, known as the ‘New PDP,’ gradually spread to the South-west, at the weekend, with the meeting in Akure, the Ondo State capital by some former House of Assembly members, expressing displeasure on happenings in the party.
The meeting, which was said to be a gathering of South-west delegates, also had in attendance groups from a former governor of Oyo State and some persons said to be members and leaders of the Accord Party (AP).
A source, which pleaded anonymity but attended the meeting, said to have been held at a popular hotel in Ijapo area of the state capital, said two key members of the past executive members of Ekiti State, under the administration of Chief Segun Oni, also attended the meeting.
The source also disclosed that two delegates from the State Working Committee (SWC) and members loyal to a major aspirant for the forthcoming governorship election in Osun State attended the meeting.
However, the source, which said seven key positions had been reserved for the South-west in the new national executive of the party, said there were no delegates from Ogun State at the meeting.
However, the source, which said seven key positions had been reserved for the South-west in the new national executive of the party, said there were no delegates from Ogun State at the meeting.
Specifically, from Ondo State, the source said, movers of the state branch of the new party comprised the legislative caucus including some serving and former members of the state and National Assembly, excluding Senator Bode Olajumoke.
He said key members of the SWC were made up of the 12 local government executive council members, 132 ward chairmen and 80 per cent former councillors in the state during the PDP administration.
According to the source, six former members of the National Assembly, nine former members of the state House of Assembly and nine leaders of the party spread across the three senatorial districts of the state were also said to be in support of the new PDP.
The source, however, disclosed that a former long standing principal officer of the state House of Assembly was the rallying point of the group.
The group said they were not happy with happenings in the party over time, blaming the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and President Goodluck Jonathan for the nose diving fortune of the party in the state.
The group also frowned at alleged anti-party posture of the president and the National Working Committee (NWC) during the last election and court cases, the alleged lethargy of the NWC to the plight of the party during its travails and sidelining of the election-wining mainstream leadership of the party in the state for the opposition.
Other allegations levelled against the leadership of the PDP and the president were the alleged encouragement of internal betrayers and ruling opposition against key interests of the majority in the party, mentioning appointments into federal offices and national offices of the party at the national convention.
The group alleged that they had concrete evidence that the presidency and the national leadership collaborated with the Labour Party (LP) against the state PDP.
It also stated that the national leadership of the party was engaging in open scheme to manipulate the party towards the aggrandisement of a particular candidate for 2015 elections.
The group said it was in consultation with the national leadership of the new PDP.
The group said it was in consultation with the national leadership of the new PDP.
most critical aspects of elections together provoke confusion, and does not give chance for political parties and candidates to thoroughly monitor the voter registration exercise.”
Comments
Post a Comment