Nigeria’s President,
Muhammadu Buhari said he is not ready to meet members of the Peoples Democratic
Party (nPDP) bloc within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The
president made his position known at a meeting with APC governors in the Aso
Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja last week, Daily Trust learnt last night.
Members of
the nPDP, who defected from the People’s Democratic Party before the 2015
general elections, had recently protested, among other things, what they called
their marginalisation in the ruling APC.
Sources at
last week’s meeting revealed that President Buhari insisted that the nPDP
members’ grievances were for the party to settle and that he would not
interfere.
The
president was however said to have told the governors that the fence-mending
move initiated by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo should continue.
One of the
sources at the meeting said while some of the governors urged Buhari to ignore the
nPDP members, others canvassed that Osinbajo should continue to discuss with
them.
The
president, the sources added, also asked the governors, as party leaders in
their own right, to handle the issues and that if need be, the leadership of
the party could wade in.
Buhari was
quoted as telling the governors: “It is a party matter. I am not ready to sit
down with any faction. If they have problems, they should go to the party.
“I will not
interfere. Governors as party leaders in the states should deal with all
issues. Where there is need, the party leadership can come in. I will not get
involved.”
The nPDP
members, led by Kawu Baraje, had on May 29 met behind closed doors with
Osinbajo at the latter’s official residence, Akinola Aguda House, in the Presidential
Villa, Abuja.
After that
meeting, Baraje had told journalists that it was too early for his group to
talk about leaving the APC.
Those
present at the meeting included Senate President Bukola Saraki; Speaker of the
House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara; Leader of the nPDP Baraje; Senator
Rabiu Kwankwaso; former Governor of Adamawa State Murtala Nyako; a former
leader of the PDP, Senator Barnabas Gemade; and former Governor of Gombe State
Senator Danjuma Goje, among others.
But a
fortnight ago, the nPDP had halted further talks with the Presidency which,
they alleged, was not interested in the talks and might have been negotiating
in bad faith.
The group
alleged, among other things, that Senate President Bukola Saraki was being
persecuted.
The nPDP
also faulted by the decision of the APC leadership to ratify all the congresses
from wards, local governments, states and zones where many of its members had
complaints.
The group,
in a statement by Baraje, had said the prevailing political environment in
Nigeria was “fouled and toxic”.
The
statement had partly read: “The public may recall that there have been ongoing
talks between members of the former nPDP, the APC and the Presidency in recent
days.
“Nigerians
may further recall that a team from the former nPDP led by Speaker of the House
of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and four others, were to meet with the Vice
President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo today.
“However,
while we are truly and earnestly committed to achieving reconciliation,
harmony, truce and cohesion in the APC as we approach the 2019 general
elections, it appears that the
Presidency is not interested in the talks and that they may have been
negotiating in bad faith.
“We were
alarmed that immediately after our meeting with the Vice President last week,
the Presidency misrepresented what transpired at the meeting by trying to
blackmail some of the principal actors involved in the discussions in a
national daily.
“Similarly,
the leadership of the party (APC) went ahead to ratify all the Congresses from
ward, local governments, states and zonal where many of our members have
complaints, effectively presenting us with a fait accompli.”
In the
statement, the nPDP had also picked holes in implication of the Senate
President and Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed in the April bank robbery
in Offa.
“The
persecution of our members, using state security apparatus, have continued
unabated.
“We
recognise the powers of the police to conduct criminal investigations but by
rushing to the public with the issue even when they have unfettered access to
the leadership of the National Assembly suggests an attempt to undermine,
caricature and humiliate the institution of the legislature.”
Sources had
earlier informed Daily Trust that the nPDP members may collectively dump the
APC on June 23 - the day of its national convention - to make a big impact. The
nPDP leader Baraje however said the group had not issued any official statement
concerning that (quitting the APC).
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