Following deep rooted interest in who becomes the next national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, there are indications that some frontline contenders may lose out, paving way for a dark horse to emerge.
This is just as the party has denied the existence of any rift in its National Working Committee, NWC, describing reports which suggests otherwise as not only misleading but jaundiced.
? Sources within the party say the two frontlines aspirants in the person of Acting National Secretary of PDP, Dr. Musa Babayo, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur of the African Business Roundtable have continued to dominate the race of who becomes the next national chairman by February next year with different stakeholders supporting them.
Indications have emerged that with the alleged support of President Goodluck Jonathan of Bamanga Tukur, and the governors of the PDP support of the acting national secretary, Dr. Musa Babayo, the party is headed for yet another leadership crisis as a neutral candidate may emerge to lead the party.
A chieftain of the party who spoke to leadership on condition of anonymity said, “the scenario is like what happened during the March 8, 2008 national convention of the PDP, where former President Olusegun Obasanjo is said to be supporting former governor of Ebonyi state, Dr. Sam Egwu, while the governors of the party were said to be supporting former senate president, Anyim Pius Anyim and in the ensure contest, a dark horse in the person of the former national secretary, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor was chosen as the consensus national chairman.’
The source said that under the circumstance that the former National Assembly Presidential Liaison Officer, Senator Baba Aji is under pressures to declare for the office of the national chairman of the PDP as a consensus candidate.Senator Aji who was also a former Managing Director of the National Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) hails from Borno state, where former minister of Defence, Dr. Shettima Mustapha, former national chairman of the Grassroots Democratic Movement (GDM) and Ibrahim Biu have all indicated interest to contest for the office of the national chairman.
Meanwhile, the national publicity secretary of the party, Prof. Rufai Ahmed Alkali, has denied that there was a rift it the NWC, saying the report in a national daily (not LEADERSHIP) that some members wanted the acting national chairman, Alh. Kawu Baraje, to be removed over his role in the removal of the Bayelsa State chairman was imaginary.
“We wish to state that the reports as published in the newspapers were jaundiced, ill-informed, in bad taste and clearly a product of the imagination of the reporters, and theirs alone.
For the avoidance of doubt, we want to put it on record that the decision to put in place a substantive chairman of the Bayelsa State chapter of PDP was? a unanimous decision of the National Working Committee of the Party.
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?“Therefore,it remains the immagination of the reporters for them to report that there is a rift among NWCmembers on the issue of Bayelsa Chairmanship and the purported move to removedour Acting National Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje.
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“ On the issue of how the National Chairman emerged,? we wish to state that the National Publicity Secretary was completely quoted out of context by the reporters especially on the purported role of the South East Governors and other insinuations that were made in that regard. We hold our Governors in high esteem and we shall not say or do anything to undermine their respected status,’’ Prof Alkali said in statement made available to LEADERSHIP.
Blaming the increasing number of inmates to the failure of the society to cater for its weak segment of the population, she called on individuals and other tiers of government to embark on massive job creation for the people.