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Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
A faction of the defunct new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) has accused the Alhaji Kawu Barage group of planning to destabilise the All Progressives Congress (APC) with the claim of marginalisation and request for a meeting with the APC national leadership and President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Barage faction of the nPDP last week gave the ruling party leadership ultimatum to convene a meeting to address the obvious marginalisation, maltreatment and witch-hunting of the members of the faction that left the PDP in 2014 to join the APC.
However, the faction of the nPDP led by the former governor of Nasarawa State, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu and former Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, said that the letter from the Barage faction was full of contradictions, false assertions, misrepresentations, distortion of history and facts and in many instances outright lies.
In a petition dated May 14, 2018, signed by Senator Adamu, Chairman, Chief Theodore Geogewil, Deputy Chairman, Hon Abdulmumin Jibrin as Secretary and presented to the national leadership of the APC when they led a delegation to the national secretariat of the party yesterday, the faction disassociated themselves from the Barage faction accusing them of falsehood.
“We received with great shock and embarrassment the news that a former acting chairman of the PDP Alhaji Kawu Baraje lead four others to deliver a letter they claimed on behalf of the nPDP which is defunct and has long dissolved into the APC during the 2013 merger.
“In the letter, Baraje stated that we members of the then nPDP group are being marginalized, maltreated and witch hunted in the APC and requested for an urgent meeting with the party and Mr President within one week.
“As members of the then nPDP, we are aware that the last meeting that was held by the group was in 2014. Since then, no meeting has been called. Where did Alhaji Baraje and Col Olagunsoye Oyinlola obtained the alleged resolution to write the said letter? When and where was the meeting held? Who are those that attended the meeting?
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“We ordinarily would have ignore such a joke but it is a dangerous joke taking too far. How can you explain that one of the two signatories to the letter Col Olagunsoye Oyinlola retd has since left the APC for the African Democratic Party (ADP) after going on AWOL to the Obasanjo Coalition for Nigeria. Yet same person is asking to meet the APC leadership to Adress grievances? This clearly shows the sinister motive behind the letter which is not far from destabilizing the party at this most critical time.
“In any case, the letter is full of contradictions, false assertions, misrepresentations, distortion of history and facts and in many instances outright lies. We as initiators and founding members of the defunct nPDP there fore wish to condemn and disassociate ourselves from the letter and apologise for the obvious embarrassment the letter have caused to our party and government.
“We wish to reaffirm our support and confidence in the party and Mr. President and we do not in any way feel marginalized or maltreated as we are clearly in the league of the biggest beneficiaries of the party. For the purpose of correcting the misleading contents of the letter and setting the records straight it is pertinent that we provide some facts on some of the issues raised in the letter,” the petition read in part.
Chronicling the long list of nPDP beneficiaries in the present administration, the petitioners noted that: “all the key stakeholders of the nPDP were accommodated as follow; Senator Bukola Saraki – Senator and Senate President, Hon Yakubu Dogara – Member of House and Speaker House of Representatives, Senator Abdullahi Adamu- Senator and Chairman Senate committee on Agriculture, Senator Adamu Aliero- Senator and Chairman Senate Commitee on Customs, Senator Magatakarda Wamako- Senator and Chairman senate committee on education, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso- Senator and Chairman senate committee on national planning.
“Others include; Senator Danjuma Goje- Senator and Chairman Senate committee on Appropriation, Senator Abdulaziz Nyako- Senator and chairman senate committee on special duties, Senator Uchendu- Senator and vice chairman, Governor Aminu Tambuwal- Governor Sokoto State, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje- Governor Kano state, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed – Governor Kwara State, Senator Jibrilla Bindow- Governor Adamawa state, Senator A Bagudu- Governor Kebbi state and Alh Kawu Baraje- Board chairman,” the group added.
While warning the Barage faction, the petitioners said; “We believe that the nPDP has many leaders of high integrity but we must be careful not to use the group to cover up for any individual who fall foul of the law. We must support the anti corruption stance of the government and ensure that the law takes its cause in accordance to the laws of our land without minding whose ox is gored.
“We will resist any attempt to smear our government through posturing or using the platform of the defunct nPDP as shield against crimes that might have been committed against the state even before the merger of the defunct nPDP and the APC and beyond.
“We wish to state categorically clear that we recognize and concede the right of every member of our party the APC including members of the defunct nPDP to hold their opinion on what they desire government or the party to do for them but what they desire should only be justifiable but enforceable,” the group noted.
