National Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur was in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital on Sunday, March 17, 2013, for the South-South Special Zonal Executive Committee meeting as part of efforts to reconcile aggrieved members of the party.
Before coming to the South-South geo-political zone, Tukur and his entourage had made similar reconciliatory efforts in the South-West and South-East geo-political zones that ended with not too encouraging results.
An early sign that the reconciliation effort in the South-South zone would not achieve any meaningful result came when only three state governors –Governors Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers, Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom and Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta were present at the meeting.
Chairman of the South-South Governors’ Forum (SSGF) and Governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke, and his Bayelsa State counterpart, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson were conspicuously absent at the special meeting, which was held at the Alfred Diete Spiff Civic Centre, Port Harcourt.
Another sign that the efforts at mending the fractures in the workings of the ruling party would fail came when Amaechi, who is the host governor and his Delta State counterpart, Uduaghan walked out of the meeting while Akpabio was making his speech.
Both governors were alleged to have driven straight to Government House, Port Harcourt where they had some refreshments and spent quiet some time discussing before finally moving to the Port Harcourt International Airport, from where Uduaghan left for Asaba, the Delta State capital.
It is an open-secret that the relationship between Amaechi, who is the chairman of Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), and Akpabio went sour when the later was appointed as chairman of the newly formed PDP Governors Forum.
Akpabio, whose speech came after that of Uduaghan, had alluded to Delta State governor’s speech in which he called on the party in the region to go beyond provision of infrastructural facilities and give more attention to human capital development.
But when the Akwa Ibom State governor came up he said he heard that the people, the members of the party were hungry, saying; “I hear you are all hungry so I am going to give each state chairman N1 million for Mr Biggs.”
Uduaghan, had in his speech, called on the party to ensure that more is done for the people than just social infrastructure, knocking on the fact to ensure they are financially empowered.
He said; “Governors of the South-South are committed to ensuring that the PDP continues to maintain a stronghold in the South-south. There is no doubt that if the PDP is strong here in the South-South and not strong in other parts of the country, there will be a problem. So, I want to join others in urging you that whatever problems there are, either at the state, zonal or national levels, let us resolve them quickly so that we can move forward as a party.
“Mr Chairman, there is also an issue I want to raise; I know I am a governor but it also concerns me and others who hold positions in the party. I was with my predecessor one day when an elder came. I was telling my predecessor that if you tar all the roads, even if you air-condition the entire environment, and the stomachs of the people, of members of the party are empty, they will not appreciate what you have done. So I want to join them to tell us to ensure that their stomachs are filled so that they will appreciate what we have done.”
In his explanation of Uduaghan’s speech, and before calling on the leadership of the party at the centre to do more about reconciliation, Akpabio offered to dole out N6 million to the six state chapters of the party for Mr Biggs.
He said; “Well, my brother governor, Uduaghan said you are hungry. So I will give the state chairmen from the six states N1 million per state for Mr. Biggs right now. All the state chairmen should see me immediately after my remarks so that at least I drop N1 million each for Mr. Biggs so that PDP can chart the course for empowerment.”
Apparently referring to 2015, Akpabio called on all PDP members to support their son and brother, president Goodluck Jonathan, advising them to see the success of the President as the success of the South-South geo-political zone.
The governor stated that if the President does well this time, it will open the doors for more south-south sons and daughters to become president of Nigeria in future.
He declared; “There is a hand of God in every position of leadership. Bayelsa is, perhaps the smallest state in Nigeria but God decided to choose Goodluck Ebele Jonathan from Bayelsa Sstate to become the president of Nigeria. We must all support our brother to succeed. For us, we shall not fail and we will never fail.”
Akpabio called on the national chairman of the party to ensure that reconciliation meetings were held at least twice in a year so that issues can be resolved on time, saying; “If we do this, I can assure you that PDP will win thirty states in the next election. We must compensate the disciples in each state. If you are not a good follower, you cannot be a good leader.”
The PDP national chairman made his speech after Amaechi and Uduaghan had walked out of the venue of the meeting but explanation that the Rivers State governor had gone to see off his Delta State counterpart who had to catch a flight, was seen as a cover up because Amaechi did not return to the venue of the meeting there-after.
However, in his reconciliation speech, which was meant to be at the heart of the meeting, nonetheless, Tukur promised to ensure the resolution of differences in the party and to give the party back to the people.
He said; “Nigerians own the PDP and we promise to ensure that the PDP is given back to the people. There will be no imposition of candidates. Everybody has one vote and it is the person we collectively agree to lead us that we will all give our support.
“You (members) are the owners of PDP. We will ensure that the party is brought back to the owners of the party. Yes, there is disagreement, but we can reconcile our differences and still deliver our party in 2015.”
Both Uduaghan and Amaechi are insisting that they did not walk out of the national chairman of the ruling party and chairman of the PDP Governors Forum during the special zonal executive committee meeting.
Uduaghan, who reacted through the Delta State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Chike Ogeah said he had to leave the meeting earlier to beat the 5.00 pm closing time of the Asaba Airport as well as attend to ‘other pressing state matters’.
In a statement made available to newsmen, the governor dismissed the insinuations that a disagreement had ensued during the meeting saying; “at no time was there any disagreement to elicit a walk out by anybody.”
The statement partly reads; “The attention of the Delta State Government has been drawn to reports in sections of the press on the outcome of the South-South Special Zonal Executive Committee Meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held on Sunday, March 17, 2013 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State and presided over by the national chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.
“Some newspapers, notably The Punch, Daily Champion, People’s Daily, and Daily Newswatch reported that the Governor of Delta State, Dr Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan, CON, walked out of the meeting alongside the host governor, Mr Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. This is absolutely untrue.
“On arrival in Port Harcourt, Dr Uduaghan had informed Alhaji Tukur of his desire to return to Asaba same day. Given that Asaba Airport closes to air traffic by 5pm, the Governor had sought the permission of the chairman to exit the meeting whenever it gets to the threshold of arriving Asaba Airport ahead of its closure to air traffic.
“Alhaji Tukur had graciously agreed to let Governor Uduaghan leave to enable him return to Asaba on time. When eventually it was time to leave for the return flight to Asaba, Dr Uduaghan again notified the chairman who wished him a safe flight.
“The Governor of Delta State is a loyal member of the PDP and holds the office and person of the national chairman of the party, Alhaji Tukur in high esteem. We want to assume that the journalists who misrepresented the events may have genuinely misunderstood the early departure of Governor Uduaghan who was accompanied to the airport by Governor Amaechi.
“However, to have reached a serious conclusion as their reports did in stating that the two governors walked out of the meeting required more diligence. It is obvious that no official from any state could have suggested such interpretation to the press as no such thing happened.
“In effect, it is important that arm chair interpretations must be eschewed by the press in reporting events of national significance. As every other political group, the PDP also has challenges to contend with. But as has been the hallmark of the party, every issue is always resolved amicably”.
Defending Amaechi immediately after the walk-out, the Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Seminatari insisted that the governor left the hall to see one of his guests, Uduaghan, who was leaving the event off.
Source: Brimtime