A series of meetings to put an end to the attack on President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by Vice President Atiku Abubakar were held yesterday by the party’s leadership at the zonal and national levels. The PDP leaders resolved to put machinery in motion to expel Atiku from the party. Atiku’s fate, The Guardian learnt would be determined on Thursday next week.
But in a swift reaction to the threat, a strong supporter of the Vice President declared it a non-issue. He said that Atiku was working ahead of the PDP and declared that those behind the plot were preparing the obituary of the PDP
At a meeting convened by some members of the National Assembly last Wednesday, Atiku accused the party’s leadership of hijacking it to ensure the successful implementation of the third term agenda of President Olusegun Obasanjo.
A.N.D. learnt that the leadership of the party was incensed by the Vice President’s statement and decided that “enough is enough for him.”
The PDP National Executive Council (NEC) allegedly accused Atiku of having a penchant for disloyalty to the President and the party itself. It was further learnt that the party leadership met on Thursday and worked out the plan for Atiku’s expulsion from their fold.
The plan, according to sources would be executed in phases. The first phase will be to get the Northeast zone of the PDP from where Atiku hails to address a press conference condemning his action and disowning him. The zonal leaders will later go back to the state to get his ward, local council and the state chapters of the party to proclaim Atiku’s expulsion while the zonal chapter will endorse and refer the decision to the PDP National Working Committee
(NWC). Upon receipt of the decision, the NWC will take the matter to the NEC for final approval next week.
The first stage of the alleged expulsion plot may have commenced yesterday as the National Vice- Chairman of the party in the Northeast, Senator Paul Wampana addressed a press conference alongside other senior members of the party in the zone. The conference was attended by the former Military Administrator of Lagos State, Brig-Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa. The leaders condemned Atiku’s action and threatened to “deal with him decisively.”
“We, PDP leaders and stakeholders from the Northeast geo-political zone of the Federal Republic received with utmost shock utterances credited to our brother, Vice President Atiku Abubakar (Turaki Adamawa) that PDP has been hijacked for a particular agenda. He even went further to say there were no elections. It was hijacked so that a particular agenda of the party could be used to achieve another agenda. This was an obvious incitement of party faithful against party leadership at all levels with the sole objective of undermining the credibility of the party and even its survival,” they said.
They lamented that Atiku took his attack on the PDP leadership to a meeting of opponents of the present administration.
They added: “Enough is enough. We are all collectively tired of the Vice President’s penchant for mischief-making, treachery and disloyalty to Mr. President and the party to which he belongs.
“Nothing in the hallowed tradition and the culture of the proud people of a zone that has often provided quality leadership for the Federal Republic supports such brazen display of treachery, bad faith and cowardice, which has continued to mark the public outings of the Vice President, the climax of which occurred last Wednesday,” they said.
The leaders argued that Atiku’s action was in bad faith because the PDP was yet to take a position on the issue of amendment of the constitution.
When reminded that the PDP National Chairman, Col. Ahmadu Ali had met with the caucuses of the party in both chambers of the National Assembly and asked them to support the third term project because it is the party’s agenda, Wampana said: “If the national chairman said that, it must be his personal opinion and not that of the party because the party has not taken any position on the matter yet.”
He continued: “We condemn in very clear terms the position of the Vice President. His conduct is very embarrassing and unbecoming and totally unacceptable. He can not and should not decide for the collective and should not persistently insult our sense of decency and unity.”
Indicating the intention of the zone to deal with Atiku, they said: “We have the capacity and the will to deal decisively with this issue and so shall we do until it becomes abundantly clear to all our people that he has no space in the party and even less in our political life and obviously not a worthy representative of our highly disciplined people. Were he to be the man of honour, principle and courage which he projects to the nation, he should simply have resigned.”
The NWC of the party met yesterday, according to sources, and discussed the issue. The Guardian learnt that it was resolved that the issue be tabled before the NEC of the party and settled immediately. It was also gathered that the members of the NWC expressed bitterness that the Atiku had caused enough nightmares for the party and it was time the matter was dealt with finally.
Consequently, a meeting of the NEC has been fixed for Thursday next week for the issue to be laid to rest. As at press time, the meeting of the NWC was still in progess and the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr. John Odey could not be reached but a chieftain of the party confirmed that “the issue has been discussed and will be laid to rest next week by the NEC.”
But a source close to the vice president yesterday said that he had moved far ahead of the PDP threat and had stopped to recognise it as a serious party. The source said Atiku was in his office yesterday unruffled but described the atmosphere in Aso Rock as ‘uneasy calm.”
The VP loyalist further said Atiku believed that he had not done anything wrong since he did not criticise the government or its policies but was resolute in condemning third term bid and would do anything democratic to stop it.
He said Atiku was determined to contest for the presidency in 2007 and those speaking for the PDP now knew very little about the party.
Said he: “That the PDP wants to expel VP is not an issue. The real issue is that the party is dead and what they are doing is to announce its obituary.”
During the briefing, Marwa made a dramatic change about his presidential ambition, saying the party was yet to come out with the guidelines.
Marwa hinged his ambition on the guidelines of the party, stressing that he had never announced to anybody that he would contest the presidential election in 2007. “On the question of presidency, if I say bring out the particular station or television or on the radio or newspapers or any interview where I stood up and said I will run for presidency you will not find it. My position has always been that until the party releases the guidelines and approves of those to run, of candidates to run, none of the candidates will come out and as far as I know, the ban on campaign has not been lifted,” he said.
He, however, put his fate in destiny, saying that if he was destined to be president, nothing would stop it, but if he was not, nothing would make him.