Former Peoples Democratic Party governors and ex-ministers on Friday rejected an aircraft sent to them by the embattled National Chairman of the party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, to convey them from Abuja to Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
One of our correspondents gathered that the plane was sent to the former governors and other anti-Sheriff with the aim of truncating the parallel national convention they planned for Abuja today.
The aggrieved members, under the name of Concerned PDP Stakeholders, are holding their convention today at Area 11, Abuja, the same day that the Sheriff group is holding its own.
It was learnt that members of the Sheriff group, who had waved aside the former governors as inconsequential, became worried when they got to know the amount of energy and work being put in place to conduct the Abuja convention.
A serving governor, who was in Port Harcourt for the convention, told one of our correspondent on condition of anonymity, that an aircraft was sent to Abuja on Friday evening to convey the former governors and ministers to Rivers State.
He said that the aircraft was delayed for more than three hours with none of the former governors and ministers turning up at the airport.
He said, “We have been talking, in fact we told them that we were ready to abandon Sheriff and that they should come to Port Harcourt for final discussion.
“We sent an aircraft to them, hoping that they would board and come here for final discussion. We were ready to share offices with them. But they refused to turn up.”
But a former minister in the Prof. Jerry Gana led group, which is holding its national convention in Abuja, said that the group did not trust the governors.
“We didn’t board their aircraft because we didn’t trust them. They ignored us, they said we didn’t have money to run the party and now they were sending aircraft to us at the last minute. We don’t need it,” he added.
Our correspondent gathered that the governors of the party were troubled and were almost dropping Sheriff, but for the intervention of Governors Nyesom Wike and Ayo Fayose of Rivers and Ekiti states respectfully, who advised their colleagues against taking such decision.
It was gathered that the tenure of Sheriff may be extended at the Port Harcourt convention.
This is as a result of the ruling of a Lagos court, stopping the party from conducting election into the offices of the party’s national chairman, national auditor and national secretary.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, on Friday insisted that the Port Harcourt convention would hold regardless of any court injunction stopping the exercise.
Wike, who spoke with journalists at the Government House in Port Harcourt, stated that the PDP had filed a motion for a stay of execution of a court order the stopping the convention.
Wike, who is Chairman of the Port Harcourt PDP Convention Planning Committee, addressed journalists in company with Governor Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom State, his counterpart from Abia State, Chief Okezie Ikpeazu, Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State and the Senate Minority Leader, Chief Godswill Akpabio.
He said the PDP’s decision to go ahead with the convention would not amount to disobedience of any court order.
Wike said, “Just to let you know that the PDP convention, as scheduled by National Executive Council, which is the highest decision-making organ of PDP, will be taking place in Port Harcourt tomorrow (Saturday), May 21, 2016.
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