FOREMOST Ijaw leader and elder of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Edwin Clark, on Thursday, warned former governor of Lagos State and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu, to stay clear of PDP internal issues.
This was just as he condemned the move by the leaders of APC in lobbying governors from the PDP to join the party.
Clark also advised the the national chairman of PDP and the National Working Committee (NWC) to accept the reinstated national secretary of the party, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, back into the party if he (Oyinlola) feels remorseful for all the wrong he had done.
Chief Clark, who stated these during a press conference in Abuja, also said men of the police force were right when they stopped the meeting of the G7 governors, adding that the group had become illegal, based on the judgment of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, which recognised the Bamanga Tukur-led NWC as the authentic faction of the party.
The elder statesman noted that the acclaimed new PDP was an illegal group as far as the law of the land was concerned.
He also called on the national chairman of the party to extend his reconciliatory moves to the G7 governors, adding that if they were not willing, they should be made to face the disciplinary committee of the party.
According to him, “I wish to condemn the activities of the 11 governors of APC and their leaders in their open and offensive lobbying of the G7 to join them without decency. Their action may create crisis leading to insecurity in the country.
“Take for instance, the recent show of shame by the APC leaders, including General Muhammadu Buhari, Chief Bisi Akande, Tinubu, Honourable Bello Massari, Chief Tony Momoh, Chief Tom Ikimi and others, when they visited Rivers State to beg Governor Rotimi Amaechi to join them.
“According to the police and the airport authorities, Amaechi and his supporters invaded the tarmac of the airport, a no-go area for non-passengers, while planes that were to land in Port Harcourt have to be diverted to other airports.
“Having listened to Governor Amaechi, it was difficult to understand whether he was intoxicated with power or something was wrong with him when he made sarcastic, irresponsible and senseless remarks that he will consult the president before responding to APC’s request to join them and that day, the new stadium, which will take 40,000 people, will be filled to capacity.
“One may wish to ask the former governor of Lagos State, Tinubu, if he would like the leadership of PDP to invade the Government House in Lagos to beg or plead openly to Governor Babatunde Fashola to join PDP, because of his brilliance performance in Lagos State.
“Governor Amaechi knows fully well that his case, as he confessed, is special, hence his six fellow governors are using him to destabilise his brother’s government.”
He called on Tukur to prevent the distraction and tension being created by the “errant” governors.
On the possibility of the G7 governors to defect to APC, Chief Clark said nobody was asking them to go, adding that if they, however, did, it could never affect the party. Any errant member of the Party must be brought to book”
“Everybody is ambitious, they want to be this or that, and there is no law and order. There is no respect for the party. Nobody controls them. Everyone of them make speeches. There must be discipline.
Governor Amaechi in particular, has no regard for the PDP. He has become supreme. He no longer has regard for his party. That’s indiscipline. Either he gets out of the party, or he toes the party line. That arrogance must be stopped and his open romance with the opposition must also stop. His financial contribution to the opposition must also stop”
“Governors Lamido, Aliyu, Wamako, Kwankwaso and Nyako “are trying to make this country ungovernable for Mr. President, in the name of ‘gang of seven’. I think if they are loyal party members and they are dissatisfied with the party’s administration, their consultation should be limited to the party hierarchy and, of course, there is a Party Reconciliation Committee headed by the Governor of Bayelsa State, Hon. Seriake Dickson.
“They are not faithful to the party and they have their secret agenda. It is amazing to see these seven governors parading themselves as saints when, in fact, most of them breached the party’s constitution to be installed as governors of their states by the former President in 2007. Most of them were not elected in the primaries. “Curiously, these gang of 7” governors should focus their attention on the security crisis facing their states.
“They do not even care for the welfare of the victims of Boko Haram in their states. Instead of staying in their states, they are moving from state to state causing confusion and tension. I think they should be ashamed of themselves for a mission unaccomplished. They should be suspended immediately and referred to the disciplinary committee. Nobody is greater than the party, Even the President is not.”
Source: Tribune
