Former
EFCC chairman, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, will no longer participate in the
governorship primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) slated for
Saturday. Seven other aspirants have also withdrawn, leaving only six to
battle for the ticket of the party.This was
the outcome of a crisis meeting held in Abuja on Thursday night with the
aspirants by Senate President David Mark and members of the national
working committee (NWC) of the party. Others who withdrew are Awwal
Tukur, Aliyu Idi Hong, Andrawus Sawa, James Barka, Aliyu Kama, Markus
Gundiri and Abubakar Girei.
Those
still in the race are Ahmed Gulak, Buba Marwa, Ahmed Modibbo, Umar Ardo,
acting Governor Umaru Fintiri and Jerry Kumdisi. However, it was
resolved that those who participate in Saturday’s primary ahead of the
October 11 poll will not take part in the 2015 poll. The
bye-election is to fill the vacancy created by the impeachments of
Governor Murtala Nyako and his deputy, Bala Ngilari. The new governor
will only serve for seven months to complete Nyako’s tenure, while
whoever is elected in February will take over from him in May 2015. The
crisis meeting, which lasted for four hours ─ starting 9pm on Thursday
and ending at 1am on Friday ─ was held at the Banquet Hall of the State
House.
There had
been fears among PDP members that the sheer number of aspirants and a
bitter contest for the governorship ticket could tear the party apart
ahead of the poll. The All Progressives Congress (APC), to which the
impeached governor belongs, is also a strong contender for the position,
with former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar getting a candidate ready to
upset the PDP. With the resolution at the crisis meeting, the party’s
ticket will now be zoned to Adamawa central district for the 2015
election. Ribadu is from Yola in the central district which has never
produced a governor in the state.
Speaking
with the media at the end of the meeting, chairman of the Adamawa
chapter of the party, Joel Madaki, said: “Fourteen aspirants contesting
for the position earlier has now reduced to six aspirants due to this
meeting. It is a very welcome idea. Nobody was forced to step them.
Those who stepped down did so voluntarily in order to wait to contest
for the position in 2015.” Gulak, former presidential adviser, hailed
the outcome of the meeting.
“The
outcome of the meeting was fantastic. We met as family members of PDP,
even before coming here all the aspirants in Adamawa have unanimously
resolved that after the primaries, in a free, fair primaries, anybody
that emerges will get our support,” he said. “Today, in this meeting,
the number of the aspirants have been drastically reduced to six, which
is manageable.
And we
have resolved to go into the primary without rancour, without acrimony
and to come out of it as peaceful co-existing members. “And at the end
of it all, anybody that emerges, we will all queue behind him. And if I
emerge as the candidate, they will all queue behind me. It is going to
be a family affair and there will be no losers.” Hong, who withdrew from
the primary, said: “Peace-building, negotiation, give-and-take,
everything went well.
We have
been given a caveat and one thing we have succeeded in extracting from
this meeting is that the meeting started with a preamble that whoever is
going to contest and if he happens to win as a governor, he will not
have the right to contest the 2015 election.” Nyako and his deputy were
impeached on July 15, 2014 on allegations of corruption and gross
misconduct, but they are still in court to upturn the sack.
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| MALLAM NUHU RIBADU |
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