"What We Want From You" - Northern Governors Meet President Jonathan
Five northern governors: Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano),
Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Muritala Nyako
(Adamawa), seriously oppose to President Goodluck Jonathan move for
re-election in 2015, met with him at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, on
Saturday.
The meeting, described by sources as private, lasted several hours. It was learnt that it was not unconnected with the crisis plaguing their party – the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
According to Vanguard, the five governors insisted on the removal of the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, as their condition to be at peace with the party and the Presidency.
The President and the governors held the crucial talks just as sources said the Presidency was banking on the seeming popularity of recently freed ex-Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, in his home region of the North to initiate subtle moves to recruit him into Jonathan’s re-election campaign.
The sources said case was being made for a role for the ex-CSO in the Jonathan government. The overture to Al-Mustapha by the pro-Jonathan elements was, however, causing a row among some northern leaders.
Appeasement
The Aso Rock meeting with the five northern governors was initiated by the President to enable him listen to their grievances with a view to appeasing them and preventing them from joining the opposition.
The crucial meeting, said to have started around noon, was held under closed doors and the outcome not made known to journalists. During the meeting, Jonathan was said to have pleaded with the governors to sheath their sword and promised to personally look into the sources of their anger.
The governors allegedly gave the President the condition under which they would support him and the PDP in the 2015 contest, which is that he must sack the PDP National Chairman, Tukur, with immediate effect.
The governors, according to the sources, said Tukur was their major headache and they did not see how they could continue to work with him. They allegedly insisted that they would never have anything to do with the PDP as long as Tukur continued to preside over it’s affairs.
One of the sources said, "The clear message delivered to the President was that the National Chairman of the PDP, Bamanga Tukur, must be sacked urgently.
"The governors made it clear to Mr. President that the leadership of Tukur has brought an era of dictatorship to the party and alienated the major stakeholders, leaving those who do not have the interest of the party to hold sway.
"It is either the President sacks him to appease the governors and others who are with them or keeps the Chairman and loses them [to the opposition]”.
The meeting, described by sources as private, lasted several hours. It was learnt that it was not unconnected with the crisis plaguing their party – the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
According to Vanguard, the five governors insisted on the removal of the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, as their condition to be at peace with the party and the Presidency.
The President and the governors held the crucial talks just as sources said the Presidency was banking on the seeming popularity of recently freed ex-Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, in his home region of the North to initiate subtle moves to recruit him into Jonathan’s re-election campaign.
The sources said case was being made for a role for the ex-CSO in the Jonathan government. The overture to Al-Mustapha by the pro-Jonathan elements was, however, causing a row among some northern leaders.
Appeasement
The Aso Rock meeting with the five northern governors was initiated by the President to enable him listen to their grievances with a view to appeasing them and preventing them from joining the opposition.
The crucial meeting, said to have started around noon, was held under closed doors and the outcome not made known to journalists. During the meeting, Jonathan was said to have pleaded with the governors to sheath their sword and promised to personally look into the sources of their anger.
The governors allegedly gave the President the condition under which they would support him and the PDP in the 2015 contest, which is that he must sack the PDP National Chairman, Tukur, with immediate effect.
The governors, according to the sources, said Tukur was their major headache and they did not see how they could continue to work with him. They allegedly insisted that they would never have anything to do with the PDP as long as Tukur continued to preside over it’s affairs.
One of the sources said, "The clear message delivered to the President was that the National Chairman of the PDP, Bamanga Tukur, must be sacked urgently.
"The governors made it clear to Mr. President that the leadership of Tukur has brought an era of dictatorship to the party and alienated the major stakeholders, leaving those who do not have the interest of the party to hold sway.
"It is either the President sacks him to appease the governors and others who are with them or keeps the Chairman and loses them [to the opposition]”.
