All is not well with the defunct new Peoples Democratic Party, nPDP, bloc in the All Progressives Congress, APC, as some high profile members of the bloc have dismissed as pure baloney claims of marginalization by a faction led by Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje.
The group led by former governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Abdullahi Adamu was at the national secretariat of the ruling party Monday to submit a letter detailing the fortunes of the nPDP bloc under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Other members of the group are a former member of the House of Representatives from Kwara State, Moshood Mustapha, Abdulmumuni Jibrin from Kano, Chief Theodore Georgewill from Rivers, Abdullahi Mahmood from Kano, Ahmed Wadada Aliyu from Nasarawa and Sen. Ahmed Abubakar from Adamawa.
The group also alleged that Baraje was only playing the script of his paymasters who were simply out to destroy the APC at this crucial time.
“We know the voice. We know who he (Baraje) represents. We know where he is coming from,” Abdullahi said after submitting the letter dated May 14, 2018 and addressed to the national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.
Continuing, he said, “We received with great shock and embarrassment the news that a former acting chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, led four others to deliver a letter they claimed on behalf of the nPDP which is defunct and has long dissolved into the APC during the 2013 merger.
”In the letter, Baraje stated that we members of the then nPDP group are being marginalized, maltreated and witch-hunted in the APC and requested an urgent meeting with the party and Mr President within one week.”
The letter which was entitled, ”Unfounded and Unjustified Grounds for Confrontation with our Party the APC and Government by some Members of the defunct nPDP”, had other signatories as Chief Theodore Georgewill and Abdulmumin Jibrin.
It was copied to the President as well as a national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
It said: “As members of the then nPDP, we are aware that the last meeting that was held by the group was in 2014. Since then, no meeting has been called. Where did Alhaji Baraje and Col Olagunsoye Oyinlola obtain the alleged resolution to write the said letter? When and where was the meeting held? Who were those that attended the meeting?
“We ordinarily would have ignored such a joke but it is a dangerous joke taking too far. How can you explain that one of the two signatories to the letter, Col Olagunsoye Oyinlola retd, has since left the APC for the African Democratic Party, ADP, after going on AWOL to the Obasanjo Coalition for Nigeria.
”Yet, same person is asking to meet the APC leadership to address grievances? This clearly shows the sinister motive behind the letter which is not far from destabilizing the party at this most critical time”.
Describing Baraje’s petition as full of contradictions, the Abdullahi Adamu group expressed its desire to be part of any meeting that the President may want to have with the Baraje group.
The letter read: “In any case, the letter is full of contradictions, false assertions, misrepresentations, distortion of history and facts and in many instances outright lies.
”We as initiators and founding members of the defunct nPDP therefore wish to condemn and disassociate ourselves from the letter and apologise for the obvious embarrassment the letter has caused our party and government.
”We wish to reaffirm our support and confidence in the party and Mr President and we do not in any way feel marginalized or maltreated as we are clearly in the league of the biggest beneficiaries of the party.
“Mr. chairman for the purpose of correcting the misleading contents of the letter and setting the records straight it is pertinent that we provide some facts on some of the issues raised in the letter
“Government at the federal level is not only the executive branch in isolation. It includes the legislature as well. The APC government deliberately or not has a balance of power among the various parties and groups that merged to form the APC at the federal level.
“While the Muhammadu Buhari led CPC got the president, the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu led ACN got the Vice President. We the nPDP as we then were eventually got the combination of Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives though under somewhat questionable circumstances.
“All of these offices control enormous amount of patronage and instruments of reward. It is strange that we did not see any qualms when the Senate President and speaker dispensed with about 200 appointments including committee chairmen without asking for nomination from Mr President, Vice President, the APC as a party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as party leader, Baba Akande pioneer national chairman and a host of others.
“Is that not marginalisation? If we the nPDP did not view that as marginalisation then we do not have the moral justification to accuse the President if he appoints his ministers without seeking for our nominees.
“All the key stakeholders of the nPDP were accommodated as follows: Senator Bukola Saraki as senator and Senate President; Yakubu Dogara, member of House and speaker, House of Representatives; Senator Abdullahi Adamu- Senator and Chairman Senate committee on Agriculture; Senator Adamu Aliero- Senator and Chairman Senate Committee on Customs; Senator Magatakarda Wamako- Senator and Chairman senate committee on education; Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso- Senator and Chairman senate committee on national planning.
“Others are Senator Danjuma Goje- Senator and Chairman Senate committee on Appropriation; Senator Abdulaziz Nyako- Senator and chairman senate committee on special duties; Senator Uchendu- Senator and vice chairman; Governor Aminu Tambuwal- Governor Sokoto State; Governor Abdullahi Ganduje- Governor Kano state; Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed – Governor Kwara State; Senator Jibrilla Bindow- Governor Adamawa state; Senator A Bagudu- Governor Kebbi state; Alhaji Kawu Baraje- Board chairman and many others that became senators, members of the House of Representatives and many positions too numerous to mention.
“The only key members that were left with nothing were Governor Rotimi Amaechi and Dakuku Peterside who lost the Rivers State gubernatorial election and were promptly accommodate by Mr President. While Rotimi Amaechi was appointed Minister of Transport, Peterside became the DG NIMASA.
”It will be most uncharitable to down play the significant contribution and rare courage of our group in the South South, led by Governor Amaechi who is from the same zone with the then incumbent President, Goodluck Jonathan.
“We can not hold any of the above mentioned positions whether elected and appointed or a combination of both and yet complain of marginalization. The cummulation of these positions is enough to cater for the nPDP family within the APC in the spirit of fairness and justice if each of the beneficiaries of these offices extends same spirit of patronage to the members of the defunct nPDP and the APC at large.”
However, in a swift reaction, the Baraje group alleged that Sen. Adamu and his group have been compromised, saying they were never part of the nPDP an initio.
Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Comrade Timi Frank in a telephone interview with Vanguard said “Anyway, to some of us, we can tell you clearly that we stand by the letter written by Kawu Baraje. Of course, we know that some of our members have been compromised and we did not include some certain members in what we are doing.
“So, yes, if Abdullahi Adamu said he is not part of it, yes he is not part of it because we never even included him in the first place. We know some of them that are not with us today. You know somebody like the Minister of Transportation and a handful of them but I can tell you over 95 percent of the nPDP are still intact and we are fully behind the letter; we are fully behind Kawu Baraje’s letter because it was endorsed by everyone of us.”
On whether the national leadership of the APC has contacted the Baraje group since it issued the 7-day ultimatum, Frank said; “The APC leadership has not contacted us since we gave the ultimatum. No communication so far.”
