ALI’S WIFE, OTHERS KICKED OUT OF PDP BOT

Wife of former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairman
Ahmadu Ali has been removed as member of the party’s board of trustees, a
source told Daily Trust yesterday.

A committee set up in January and headed by Professor Jerry
Gana deleted Dr. Marian Ali’s name from the register of BOT members saying her
membership is irregular.

A few others whose names could not be established yesterday
are also said to have been removed from the board because they are not up 50
years of age. The committee was set up to restructure the BOT and stipulate
guidelines for eligibility into the board as well as for electing its chairman.

Ali himself Monday night lost the contest for BOT
chairmanship to Chief Tony Anenih, a former minister of Works.

A source said the Gana committee found out that there was no
record of who recommended Mrs. Ali to be a member of the BOT or when her
membership was ratified by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC).

The source said the Jerry Gana committee went through all
the minutes of NEC meetings but could not trace anywhere her membership was
discussed and concluded that her name appearing on the list of members of the
BOT was irregular.

Others who will lose their membership of the BOT are elected
members of the board who have not attained the age of 50, as section 12.75 (c)
of the Constitution of the party stipulates that members of the board must not
be below 50, the source said. But statutory members, like former Speaker Dimeji
Bankole, are not affected by the age criteria.

The committee also suggested the retention of Constitutional
provisions that foundation members of the party be given automatic membership
of the BOT while the provisions for the election of five members from each
geo-political zone of the federation which shall include two women from each of
the zone be also retained.

Statutory members who left the party and returned must have
stayed for at least five years before they can be readmitted as BOT members.

But former vice president Atiku Abubakar may not be screened
out of because by next year when the recommendations would have come into
force, he would have attained five years since returning to the PDP.

Secretary of the BOT, Senator Walid Jibrin when contacted,
confirmed that the Gana committee had submitted its report but that the details
of their recommendations would come out later.