There indications that the emergence of Chief Tony Anenih as the Board of Trustees (BoT) chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is a total declaration of war against former president Olusegun Obasanjo.
It may also be a pointer to the intention of President Goodluck Jonathan to impose himself on the party as the sole candidate for the 2015 election.
Anenih emerged unopposed as a consensus candidate in accordance with the Prof Jerry Gana led committee report on streamlining the membership of the BOT.
The meeting, held at the Banquet Hall of the State House, commenced at 8.45pm and ended in the early hours of yesterday.
According to an inside source, the trump card used by the Presidency was that Anenih was removed from the body unjustly.
“So we were told to let him return to his post in the interest of the party and in the interest of the man himself.
But with the new development, the Southwest caucus that is loyal to Obasanjo has described the incident as a dirty slap on the former President who, against all odds, ensured the emergence of Jonathan as the candidate of the party for the last presidential poll.
In a swift reaction to this development, an ally of Obasanjo said that Jonathan has admitted his interest in the 2015 presidential and he has dared Obasanjo to go to hell.
“The emergence of Anenih is a total declaration of war against the PDP southwest especially those that are loyal to former president Obasanjo. Jonathan is aware that with Ahmadu Ali as the chairman, Obasanjo would still be relevant, now he has Bamanga Tukur as the chairman of the party, Gov. Godswill Akpabio as the chairman, PDP Governors’Forum and now with Anenih, Jonathan has asked the Yoruba to do their worse, 1000 Obasanjo could not stop him. Whether he will succeed or not is another thing,” the aggrieved PDP chieftain said.
Speaking further, he recalled how the Speakership of the House of Representatives zoned by the party to the zone was snatched? by the rebels in the House and today, “the southwest has nothing to show for voting Jonathan and we were expected to even have the BoT chairman after Obasanjo but we were not considered at all.’’
But another PDP chieftain from the zone called on the Yoruba to sink their differences.
“We are not happy with what is happening to our party especially the way Yoruba are being treated as lepers all because they are fighting Obasanjo. We voted President Jonathan but we got nothing from his government. All the ministers from the zone are from the private sector with the exception of one or two. But are we one? We are the enemies of ourselves, the Tinubu people in the House voted for
Tambuwal at our expense, Alhaji Oyedokun who came out to contest for the chairman of BoT, how many of us rallied round him. This is the problem and for now, nobody could predict what will happen come 2015.”
But while some were arguing that the emergence of Anenih was an imposition and unconstitutional, the only Yoruba aspirant in the intra-election that never was, Alhaji Shuaibu Oyedokun said the process was constitutional.
Speaking exclusively to our correspondent, the former national deputy chairman of the party disclosed that all the aspirants agreed with the consensus arrangement hence it was credible and acceptable.
“The consensus arrangement is constitutional provided it is acceptable to all.? In this case, I would say it was. All the aspirants were allowed to speak and we all endorsed Chief Tony Anenih as the new chairman of the BoT.
“He was removed from office without completing his tenure, without committing any crime, so his election is in the interest of the party and as a way of protecting his integrity.
“With the new development, our party can now move forward and confront all the challenges facing us as a party and we will overcome. The party is now ready to face every threat confronting it and let me tell you that no alliance or merger would stop PDP come 2015.’’????
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