ByHENRY UMORU, Johnbosco Agbakwuru & Gabriel Ewepu
…Jonathan, PDP govs tackle the merger challenge
One time National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and chieftain of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Chief Audu Ogbeh, and the former governor of Ogun State, Aremo Segun Osoba, have been appointed by the All Progressives Party, APC, to head the drafting of manifesto and constitution of the mega party.
Chief Tom Ikimi, who read the names and terms of reference of some committees after a meeting in Abuja, yesterday, said that chairmen of the four political parties that are merging agreed and arrived at the names of the committee members.
Buhari, CPC; Onu,ANPP; Okorocha, APGA and Tinubu, ACN
The constitution committee, headed by Osoba, Chief Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba as secretary and Niyi Adebayo, Chris Ngige, John Oyegun, Akpan Udoedehe as members, among others, was mandated to examine the constitution of the merging partners in detail, analyze them, examine political party constitutions from successful democracies with a view to adopting some suitable provisions.
The manifesto committee, with Ogbeh as chairman, Senator Hadi Sirika as secretary and Dr. Usman Bugaje, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chief Achike Udenwa, Alhaji Ibrahim Gaida, Prof. Tam David-West, Osita Okechukwu, among others as members, was saddled with the responsibility of working out sound methods for job creation including mass housing and agriculture.
The committee was mandated to pay special attention to power supply, agriculture, transportation, health, housing, industrial growth and how to tackle corruption headlong.
The INEC/legal and constitution compliance committee, which has Mr. James Ocholi, SAN, as chairman, has Gorge, Governor Kashim Ibrahim Shetima, Ahmed Yerima, Okoi Obono-Obla, Celestine Omeha, Martin Agbaso as some of its members, is to determine and examine all legal issues related to the process of merger of the political parties.
The committee is also expected to provide guidelines to all the parties involved in the merger which will ensure full compliance with all relevant laws by all the parties, liaise with INEC and all other relevant agencies to ensure a smooth consummation of the merger and to document all understanding and or agreements among the merging parties.
Jonathan, PDP govs tackle the merger challenge
Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan will today go into a meeting with governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to resolve some of the crises in the party.
Sunday Vanguard gathered that the meeting, scheduled for the Presidential Villa, also has on the agenda the merger of four opposition political parties, Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN; Congress of Progressive Congress, CPC; All Nigerian Peoples Party, ANPP; and All Progressive Grand Alliance , APGA; to give birth to All Progressives Congress, APC.
PDP governors
Sunday Vanguard gathered that, Jonathan, at the meeting, will harp on unity among members of the PDP, the governors and the national leadership of the party against the backdrop that the coming together of the parties and their ten governors must not be taken for granted, but as a challenge to the ruling party.
The meeting, a source said, is aimed at strengthening the party following the crises in the party in Adamawa State, South West, among others.
The president, as learnt, will also brief the governors on the Professor Jerry Gana Committee on the contentious which report he will receive.
Meanwhile, the governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido, has described the APC as too small to flush out the PDP from the Presidency in 2015.
Speaking with journalists, yesterday, when Adamawa PDP stakeholders came to present their memorandum on the crisis in the state chapter to his commttee, Lamido said, ‘’APC is a gathering of small parties. Small party plus small party, what do you get? In mathematics, you can’t get something out of nothing; so, small party plus small party equal a smaller party. Is this the party that will flush us out? The entire votes of all the parties nationwide put together is nothing, so which type of mathematics is this?; it’s a warped mathematics.”
On the reconciliation process and the assignment of his committee, the governor said, “PDP is one family where you have people who believed in Nigeria with passion. We avoid anything that will bring anything bad to Nigeria.”
Speaking on behalf of the Adamawa stakeholders, Senator Mohammed Maina disclosed that the delegation of very senior elders of the PDP and all the elected members of the PDP from the state were at Legacy House to address the Sule Lamido- led committee on the crisis in Adamawa State.
Maina said, “Already we have submitted our memorandum to the committee and what we came to do today is to show them that what we wrote to the committee is a fact and not figures.
“The state is a PDP state. Adamawa has been a PDP state from 1999 till date and fortunately there is a move and you know the committee set up by Mr. President to look into this crisis has been receiving memorandum and we came today as bonafide members of the PDP, elders and elected members of the PDP to see the committee to ask them and ensure that the PDP does not break up in Adamawa state”.
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