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| Adamu Mu’azu |
A B0T member and a former Deputy
National Chairman of the PDP, Olabode George, who made this known to The
PUNCH on Tuesday, said the meeting would hold in Abuja on Wednesday.
It was gathered that two leaders were
invited from each of the six geo-political zones to attend the meeting.
A top member of the party from the
South-West, however, told one of our correspondents that the meeting was
summoned by the BoT Chairman, Tony Anenih.
George said, “I have no
idea how we were picked for the meeting. If a person has a serious ailment, he
will require a serious surgery and that is what we want to do. The party must
hold a closed-door meeting. We cannot deceive ourselves and we must be factual
to ourselves. It is at that meeting that we will reason together.
“The meeting is critical because time
is going. If we leave issues until after May 29, nobody will show up for any
meeting. It is not a matter of a witch-hunt . The important thing is to
reposition the party. If there are strong arguments to sustain and retain
anybody, we will accept.
“But they cannot say we should not
meet. This will be the first meeting since the elections. Mu’azu is the one
that should have convened the meeting but he is not around. We are just hearing
all sorts of things.”
But a top PDP chief alleged that
invitations were sent only to the BoT board members backing the
calls for the resignation of the National Chairman of the party,
Adamu Mu’azu.
He said, “I learnt that Chief Anenih
secretly called an emergency meeting of some selected BoT members. I don’t know
why it was George and Adeojo that were chosen from the South-West.
I hope they are not planning to destroy our party.
“If they want to remove Mu’azu, is this
the way to go about it? I know that those that were invited are desperate to
have our national chairman out of the way. But I can assure you that their
decisions will not be binding on us as members of the BoT.”
The PUNCH learnt that the meeting would
review the party’s defeat at the general elections and deliberate on how to
reposition it ahead of future elections.
Meanwhile, Mu’azu has appealed to
aggrieved members of the party to sheathe their swords and work towards the
party’s revival.
He urged party stakeholders
to put behind them the disappointment of defeat, rest all misunderstandings and
put the survival and stability of the party ahead of all other considerations.
Mu’azu, in a statement on
Tuesday, also barred his aides from speaking to
journalists on any party issue.
He said although the
party’s loss was painful, members should key into the intervention
by President Goodluck Jonathan and not allow the situation to further divide
the party.
The statement read, “The national
leadership of the PDP has noted the various reactions that trailed the
unfortunate loss of our great party in the last general elections.
“In the last few weeks, the media has
been fishing on these reactions with a section even blowing it out of
proportion to a level that has become a threat to our oneness as a family.
“As the national chairman and a key
stakeholder in this party in the last 16 years, I quite understand and
appreciate the concern, pain and frustrations of our members regarding our
defeat.
“I am also deeply worried about the
division the development has generated within the PDP family, especially regarding
whether or not the national leadership should be dissolved as a direct
consequence of our collective challenge.
“In the course of events, there have
been reactions and counter-reactions among party members; mistakes have been
made, some of them avoidable, but this is the time to put all of them behind us
and move ahead as our party and its interest remain paramount and overriding.”
Mu’azu accused the media of
contributing “immensely to the misunderstanding we are facing in our fold.”
Mu’azu also extended an olive branch to
his most ardent critic and Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose, whom he
praised for strengthening the PDP with his victory in the once All Progressives
Congress-led state.
He said, “Having been a state governor
on the platform of this party for eight years and having the grace of being a
committed member for the past 16 years, I very much appreciate the reactions of
some of our members like Governor Fayose, whose victory in Ekiti in
June last year helped to strengthen our party, particularly in the South-West
region.
“Nevertheless, in the larger interest
of our party, we all must resolve to bury the hatchet, pick our pieces and move
on to rebuild our party and return to our winning ways.”
He enjoined the party faithful to
cooperate with the leadership which had set the machinery in motion by the
constitution and inauguration of the Post-Election Assessment Committee headed
by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.
Mu’azu also used the opportunity to
dispel insinuations that he fled the country. He explained that he left the
country to seek medical attention on the advice of his doctors.
He said, “My absence from the country
lately has led to some apprehensions within the party resulting in various
public interpretations, but the fact is, following the rigorous campaigns and
its attendant toll on my health, I had to yield to the advice of my doctor to
take a two weeks bed rest for proper checks and recuperation.
“I am happy to inform all our members
that I have been responding to care and will soon return to the country.”
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