PDP governors plot against Ribadu

SOME governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party have commenced making pergrinates to stop a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, from emerging as the party’s governorship candidate in Adamawa State.

The governors, who were a component of a meeting in the Akwa Ibom State Governor’s Lodge   in Abuja on Monday night, believed that it would be hazardous to sanction Ribadu to get near the Presidency and the PDP.

The former EFCC chairman defected   from the All Progressives Congress to the ruling party on August 16 and a few days after, he   picked the PDP nomination form for Adamawa State governorship election scheduled for October 12.

He thereafter applied for a waiver     to enable him take part in the primaries which will hold on September 6.

It was additionally accumulated that the governors utilized the opportunity of their meeting to discuss others issues, including   President Goodluck Jonathan’s chances in 2015.

One of the governors, who was at the meeting but asked not to be denominated, told two journalists, including our correspondent, that some of them withal concurred that it   would be perilous for the PDP to field Ribadu as the party’s governorship candidate for the   Adamawa State election .

He verbalized they   were withal not sure if Ribadu, who was the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria presidential candidate in 2011, was not being planted in the ruling party with the aim of spying on the Federal Regime.

‘‘He can be uncontrollable and can explode anytime,” the governor   verbalized, integrating that some of his colleagues were of the opinion that it was erroneous for Jonathan’s Principal Secretary, Alhaji Hassan Tukur, to impose Ribadu on the   party and the people of the state.

Tukur and a woman minister in charge of one of the key ministries are believed to be instrumental in the former EFCC chairman’s decision to dump the APC for the PDP.

The PDP governors were verbalized to have insisted that if Tukur was ardent about Adamawa State, he could as well obtain a nomination form to contest the position either now or in 2015.

Our source vowed   on Monday that he and some of his colleagues had resolved not to fortify Ribadu for the position.

He verbally expressed they believed that it would be arduous for Ribadu to be sanctioned to come more proximate to the seat of potency because of his antecedents.

Asked if it would be more preponderant for him to be given a ministerial position since he has joined the ruling party, the governor answered in the negative.

He verbally expressed, “It is not ideal for the man (Ribadu) to come proximate to us at all. We still don’t ken why Hassan Tukur is insisting on the man.

“We can’t trust him for anything. Look at the auditing job given to him concerning the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation? Do you ken the quandary that report caused this regime?

“Before Ribadu submitted the report, he had leaked it to all the embassies in the country. Will it therefore not be erroneous to have such a man proximate to the regime he had denounced and condemned in the past?”

He verbally expressed the position of the governors was capable of affecting the waiver that Ribadu was seeking from the leadership of the PDP to enable him to take part in the   governorship primaries in his state.

Under the constitution of the party, incipient members and returnees are not eligible to seek elective positions until after two years ─ except they get a waiver.

Section 50 (9) of the PDP constitution verbally expresses, “There shall be a minimum of two year membership span for a member to be eligible to stand for election into any public office, unless the felicitous executive committee gives a waiver or rules to the contrary.”

Our correspondent amassed that the members of the National Working Committee of the PDP were sharply divided on whether to grant him waiver or not.

While some NWC members were verbalized to have favoured that he (Ribadu), Buba Marwa and Marcus Gundiri be granted   waivers, others were verbalized to have abnegated the move.

But the PDP verbally expressed it had not foreclosed the issue of waiver for Ribadu and others.

The members of the NWC are expected to meet in Abuja on Wednesday (today) and there were notional theorizations that the matter would come up.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, who verbalized with our correspondent on   Tuesday, verbally expressed , “The issue of waiver is not a quandary.

“We the members of the NWC are meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) and if the matter comes up as a component of the agenda, we will discuss it.

“Waiver is not a quandary at all. So, wait until after the meeting on Wednesday. Like I verbally expressed, if it comes up, we will discuss it.”

However, a source proximate to the former EFCC chairman verbally expressed he might utilize his contacts among some of the governors to reach out to others.

He verbalized Ribadu was a close friend of at least three of the PDP governors

He listed the governors as Ibrahim Shema(Katsina), Seriake   Dickson (Bayelsa) and Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom). Ironically, Akpabio is the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum.

“These are his friends among the PDP governors and they will definitely endeavor to verbalize for him,” the source integrated.

Meanwhile, a bellwether of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Bola Tinubu, has verbalized he does not bear any grudge against Ribadu for defecting to PDP.

He twitted, “Ribadu remains a friend and brother. He is mature. He remains one who believes in liberty, equity and accommodation. I optate him fortuity with GOODLUCK.’’