INDICATIONS are that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is in big trouble, as shown in its last Wednesday night’s meeting at the Villa, in Abuja.
President Yar’Adua and Vice President Goodluck Jonathan as well as the party governors were in attendance. So were principal officials such as outgoing party chairman and ambassador-designate, Ahmadu Ali and deputy national chairman, Chief Olabode George.
Also in attendance were the Senate President, David Mark, embattled Speaker of the House of Representatives, Patricia Etteh and others.
While observers expected the raging controversy of the renovation contract for the Speaker and her deputy, Babangida Nguroje’s official homes to top the agenda of the meeting, the “rampage” going on at the election tribunals took the centre stage.
Interestingly, the parley held on the eve of the Supreme Court verdict on the appeal filed by the former Speaker of the Rivers State Assembly, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi against his substitution at the April 21 polls.
The apex court had ruled against a similar substitution of the party of its governorship candidate in Imo State, Senator Ifeanyi Araraume. Hence, by precedent, the party was apparently apprehensive.
Indeed, as revealed by a source at the Villa meeting, while the House of Representatives contract scam is an irritant to the PDP, the sudden “assault” of the election tribunals on the states the party controls “was more worrisome for the party leadership.”
Although the source declined to give details of the meeting, it, nonetheless, said it was convened to take stock of situations in the party, “especially the obvious threat to its control of majority of the states of the federation.”
At the last count, the PDP has lost three states – Anambra, Kebbi and Kogi – via pronouncements of the courts. And many more are being threatened at the tribunals.
As for the presidential polls, the picture coming out of Rivers at the Presidential Elections Tribunal (Appeal Court), specifically from the voter register, for example, is interesting.
The ANPP presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, brought the Rivers register up last week at the tribunal.
His lawyers sought to discredit the election by contending that only about 30,000 voters were ticked on the register as having participated in the election whereas the PDP alone scored about 2.7 million votes, the highest in the country.
Similar revelations, such as pre-dated and even post-dated electoral results in several states are reportedly in the depositions of Buhari and the Action Congress candidate and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar.
Oct282007