Zoning: We’re Yet To Decide On 2015 Presidency – Anenih

The chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih, has said that the party is yet to open discussion on zoning  of its 2015 presidential candidate to any region in the country, saying that the party has not reached any definite decision on the matter. Anenih stated this in Minna, Niger State capital,  when he led a powerful delegation of the PDP chieftains  to visit Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu.
The development came just as the Governor Aliyu said he would not leave the party except he was pushed out of the party.
But Anenih responded that he would not be pushed out.
The visit may have been an attempt to extend an olive branch to pacify the governor over his recent stance that President Goodluck Jonathan had signed a one-term pact to serve for only one term.
Anenih made this disclosure while reacting to the question by the Niger State Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Ahmed Matane, on why the PDP  BoT Secretary, Senator Jibril Wali , was not clear on the issue of the zoning of the 2015 presidency in a recent radio interview.
But Anenih, in a swift reaction to douse the likely applause the question received from the state executive council members,  stated that such decision was a strategic party issue which could be made open after due consultation.
The PDP BoT chairman said,  “We have to be very careful. The issue of 2015 candidate is not the one to be subjected to the market place. It is a strategic issue to be handled through consultation. Party leaders must take the decision; it is not for public consumption. Leaders know what to do when the time comes.
Anenih had led the powerful delegation, including most of the party’s former chairmen, like Ahmadu Ali, Senator Banabas Germade,  Dr. Haliru Bello, Abubakar Baraje as well as former Minister Jerry Gana, Senator Jim Nbodo,  Alhaji Shuabu Oyedokun and the PDP BoT Secretary,  Jibrin Walid  on the visit.
In his reaction  to Aliyu’s  disclosure that he would not leave the party unless the party pushed him out,  Anenih stated that the party had no intention of pushing him out, adding that the unity of the party would  always be fostered to overcome any challenge facing it.
Governor Aliyu had earlier noted that the state had been 100 per cent PDP from 1999 till date, saying that “no matter the noise,  the state will be a one-party state that will not be beaten in the nearest future”.
He further noted that the party should use the attack on it as a means of correcting some of its challenges and come out stronger to achieve the transformation agenda.
He said, “If intellectually it is good, other people should merge. To merge is to accept that you are second fiddle. Let them merge;  it gives good competition. We’ll take the abuse to correct ourselves.”
But the executive council meeting was later suspended by the governor while the parley was later held in a closed-door meeting with his visitors, as  Anenih insisted that some of the key issues that brought him must be discussed in private .
The closed-door meeting
The closed- door meeting centred on the way the party was being run.
Whereas the BOT delegation believed that the governors were trying to leave the party, Governor Aliyu reportedly allayed the delegation’s  fears,  disclosing that the governor were afraid that the party’s leadership was out to cut them away from the party.
The governor  lay emphasis on the way governors’ powers in the various state party were deliberately being reduced by the national leadership of the party . Another issue was that for almost a year, the party has not called the National Executive Council (NEC) meetings to discuss the challenges facing the party.
It was gathered also that Anenih said little at the meeting, but gave assurance that the BOT would look into the issues raised all by the governors.
He also said he would be going to other state governors to get their views. The meeting lasted two hours.
Why PDP is yet to hold NEC meeting – Tukur
But the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, has said that  there are no strings attached in holding the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, saying the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party is working towards having an eventful NEC meeting soon.
Speaking yesterday to journalists in Abuja against media reports suggesting that the non-holding of NEC was a major issue confronting the party’s leadership, Tukur  said the NEC meeting of the party would not be called for the fun of it, as the party was already putting its house together to be able to hold a rewarding NEC meeting that would encompass the party’s latest undertakings.
He said, “You don’t go to NEC just like that. I want to gather enough issues now so that when we eventually call NEC, which will be soon, we will have enough issues to articulate.”
On the alleged rift between him and governors under the party’s platform, Tukur denied that the leadership of the party and its state governors were working at cross purposes in the reconciliation agenda, saying ‘no PDP governor is averse to reconciliation.’
He said the next phase of the reconciliation agenda would soon commence with visits to individual states under the control of the party.
He said, “It is not true that PDP governors are working against our reconciliation efforts. PDP is one big family and the governors are all members of the same family so why will they not support our reconciliation efforts. I can tell you that PDP governors are not averse to reconciliation”.
Nigeria under attack by agents of darkness – Tukur
Tukur has also lamented that Nigeria is under attack by agents of darkness who are working hard for its disintegration.
Tukur, who made the observation while speaking to journalists at his country home in Jada local government of Adamawa State, said that Nigerians must rise against the trend before it plunges the country into total anarchy.
He said, “It is unfortunate we are witnessing unprovoked mass killing of innocent citizens. Surely our nation is under attack. The problem is no more the issue of PDP, because all of us as people are under attack; nowhere in this country is safe.”
Tukur, however, called on patriotic citizens to rally round the federal government in its war against the dreaded Boko Haram group which,  he claimed, was working for agents of darkness to destabilise the nation.
According to him, there is a need for collective synergy in the fight against the Boko Haram insurgency in the country.
“The federal government is doing its best to contain the insurgent group. The nation has lost many of its security personnel.
They attacked United Nations office; they attack motor parks; they attack churches and mosques; they spare nobody on the basis of religion; they are the devils who are out for destruction,” Tukur added.
He reiterated that PDP national leadership has resolved not to support persistent calls for the extension of amnesty to Boko Haram members because of their unrepentant attitude.
Tukur said the unity of the nation should be paramount in the mind of everybody as the nation is under threat that needs collective effort to address.
He however, appealed to opposition political parties to join the ruling PDP in the fight against terrorism and related international crime.
PDP defends Akpabio over election rigging video
Meanwhile, the PDP has come out in strong defence of one its governors, GodswillAkpabio, who confessed to rigging the party’s primary election in the north western senatorial district of Akwa Ibom  State in 2007, Premium Times reported.
The PDP spokesman, Olisa Metuh, said that the video clip in which the governor said he manipulated the primary election was doctored, adding that it was an attempt to ridicule the governor who he described as a great and loyal member of the party.
He said, “We have already raised the alarm that some people are targeting Governor Akpabio to put him to public ridicule.
This video, which, from all intents and purposes, is doctored evidence and proof of what we have said before.
“The video, I must say, however, is a poor attempt at ridiculing one of the giants of the party. We are happy with his performance in Akwa Ibom State and he is a great and loyal member of the PDP.”