Mass defection looms after tribunal verdict – TheNigerialawyer

* Atiku, BoT to hold crisis meeting in Dubai

There is trouble in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party
following former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s loss at the
Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal on Wednesday, SUNDAY PUNCH
reports.

The development, it was gathered, has made some members of Board
of Trustees of the PDP to travel to Dubai in the United Arab
Emirates on Saturday (today) to engage in what one of our
correspondents gathered was tagged ‘‘strategic consultation’’ with
Atiku.

The meeting, it was learnt, was necessitated as a result of
wrangling among senior members of the party.

Investigations also showed that the allegation by the Governor
of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, that some governors of the party were
visiting President Muhammadu Buhari at night was also causing
ripples among its senior members.

Wike had also alleged that members of the committee set up by
the BoT to investigate the emergence of Ndudi Elumelu as the
Minority Leader of the House of Representatives were corrupt.

While the PDP and Atiku rejected the tribunal’s judgment and had
signified their intention to approach the Supreme Court, Wike had
congratulated Buhari.

Already, it was learnt that some members of the party had been
strategising on how to defect from the PDP to the ruling All
Progressives Congress.

Atiku is said to have been residing in the UAE for some time
now.

The Chairman, PDP BoT, Senator Walid Jibrin, confirmed the trip
to one of our correspondents in a telephone interview.

Walid said, “Yes. The PDP BoT members will travel on Saturday to
Dubai to see our presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar as part of
our strategic consultation. The consultation is going to be
nation-wide. He is the first person we will meet for the
consultation.”

It could not be confirmed how many members of the PDP BoT were
on the trip. It was, however, confirmed that Walid and the
Secretary of the board, Senator Adolphus Wabara, made the trip.

According to him, the BoT will meet on Thursday to deliberate
and decide on Ayu’s committee report.

The committee was set up by the BoT to investigate the emergence
of Elumelu as the Minority Leader in the House of
Representatives.

Wike accused the Iyorcha Ayu committee of being corrupt when a
member of the committee, Austin Okpara visited him to inform him
that he had resigned his membership.

Walid said he did not know why Austin Opara left the
committee.

He said, “We have three other committees and the outcome of the
Ayu committee will not be in isolation of other committees like the
Tom Ikimi Disciplinary Committee and the Senator Adolphus Wabara
committee. It is true that the committee has submitted its report
but the BoT will meet on Thursday next week to discuss and make a
decision on the recommendations.

“I don’t know why he left. It was when the report of the
committee was submitted that I noticed that he did not sign and his
column for signature was not signed.

‘‘I am not a member of the committee. Since the inauguration of
the committee, I have not spoken to them, I have not visited or
interfered with their work or given any input in the course of
their work.

“He did not write or tell me why he left or did not sign after
the submission of their work. As far as I’m concerned, I will leave
that for discussion next Thursday when the BoT will meet.”

It was also learnt that the mass defection is said to have
further been fuelled by the outcome of the party’s governorship
primaries in both Bayelsa and Kogi states.

The outcome of the primaries had been rejected by some
aspirants, who accused the party of being biased.

For example, a former Presidential Adviser on Niger Delta
Affairs, Mr Timi Alaibe, is believed to be planning to ditch the
PDP following the outcome of the Bayelsa State governorship
primary.

Senator Douye Diri, an ally of the outgoing governor of the
state, Seriake Dickson, was declared the winner of the primary.

Diri, who represents Bayelsa Central at the National Assembly,
defeated 19 other aspirants to emerge as the PDP candidate for the
November 16 governorship election in the state.

He polled a total of 561 votes to win the governorship ticket
while Alaibe came second with 365 votes. Both Diri and Alaibe are
from the same Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area.

Alaibe had complained about the number of delegates accredited
for the primary, saying the newly-elected local government chairmen
in the state were not expected to be allowed to vote.

He based his complaint on the non-compliance with the party’s
constitution which gives a specific number of months occupiers of
such offices are to spend before they could qualify as
delegates.

‘‘But in total disregard for norms and laid down procedure, the
party neglected that and allowed the impunity to reign. We will
know how far that can take them,’’ a source close to the aspirant
told one of our correspondents.

It was learnt that Alaibe was under pressure to dump the PDP and
pick the ticket of another political party.

A loyalist of Alaibe, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said
he and others were waiting for the former presidential aide to take
a decision on what to do.

‘‘We are waiting for him to return. Though his name is not yet
with the Independent National Electoral Commission, there is a
window for substitution of names,’’ the source added.

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