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President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to declare his intention to contest the 2015 presidential election next Thursday.
The president is to formally table his ambition before the National Executive Council, NEC, of the party.
The party will also pass a vote of confidence on the embattled National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.
The decisions, which come as a surprise to bookmaker will ensure that Tukur at least oversees the commencement of President Jonathan’s campaign.
Though, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh yesterday confirmed the summoning of a NEC meeting for Thursday next week, he refused to give details of the agenda.
But a member of the National Working Committee, NWC of the party, who did not want his name mentioned, told our correspondent that the NEC will be formally briefed about the intention of President Jonathan to face the electorate once again in 2015.
He said: “President Jonathan will formally table his reelection bid and will seek the endorsement of the NEC to be given the opportunity to fly the flag of the party once again.
“The President has personally requested for this NEC as he intends to use the opportunity to clear the ground concerning the crisis in the party, the leadership of Tukur and his ambition to remain in power till 2019.
“Most Nigerians are aware that the President has the intention of remaining in power as far as the constitution permits and he has resolved after due consultations with his immediate family to also seek the permission of the party leaders to continue the good works he is doing.
“He will put the records straight and will ignore the opposition mounted by a segment of the elite who are bent on intimidating him out of power.”
A Presidency source also told our correspondent in confidence that Tukur has the tacit approval of President Jonathan to remain in office and that he is confident that the National Chairman will navigate the party through the current crisis.
“The NEC will pass a vote of confidence on Tukur, and he will be mandated to continue with the reforms in the party and to also ensure that discipline is instilled in all cadres of the party.
“Though, the consequences are there to see but the party is determined to weed off members who are larger than the party,” the source said.
Our correspondent also gathered that the meetings of the National Caucus of the party and the Board of Trustees (BoT) scheduled to take place on January 6 and 7 respectively, are expected to pass the confidence vote and also endorse the President’s re-election bid.
The confidence vote notwithstanding however, the party leaders would take a critical look at the crisis rocking the party and how to resolve it so as to move the party forward.
Governors elected on the platform of the party have variously accused the embattled national chairman of highhandedness and running the PDP as a personal estate, and have pushed for his ouster as prerequisite for peace.
A governor from the North, who is a strong supporter of Jonathan government however said, “The NEC meeting will decide the fate of Bamanga Tukur and other crises affecting the party, especially the discord that led to the defection of five governors and 37 members of the House of Representatives to the All Progressives Congress, APC.
“The meeting is further expected to discuss the grievances of 22 members of the senate who are threatening to defect to the APC.
“The meeting is seen as crucial because PDP used to have 28 governors before the 2011 general election, the number was reduced to 23 governors after the election, but with the defection of the five governors, PDP now has 18 governors and there are two others that are sitting on the sidelines.
“We have a crisis in our hands because out of the present 18 governors of the party, only four – those of Gombe, Kaduna, Kogi and Bayelsa – are first term governors and will be seeking a second term in office. The rest are governors that are completing their second terms.
“So the earlier the party starts addressing its problems, the better it would be for the PDP.”
He said President Jonathan, who is the leader of the party, would prefer that the fate of Tukur is not in the governors hands and “as such, the NEC, Board of Trustees and the National Caucus meetings are crucial because the elders of the party will decide whether Tukur is the problem or there is something else that is wrong with the party.”
The meeting, it was further learnt would also discuss the position of the PDP governors; the lifting of the suspension slammed on Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, who has defected to APC, while a request that the party structures in Adamawa State should be given back to Governor Murtala Nyako, who has also defected to APC.
The source said though Amaechi and Nyako have defected, if the critical stakeholders of the party agree, the principal organs could review their defection and use it to lure them back, saying, “after all, this is politics and there is no sworn enemy but common interests.”
The automatic ticket allegedly offered to national lawmakers by Tukur will also be reviewed for a possible endorsement.
Source: National Daily
