President Goodluck
Jonathan has held meetings with the former governor of Kaduna State,
Ahmed Makarfi, urging him to work for the victory of the People’s
Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of today’s governorship and House of
Assembly polls in the state. A reliable source from the presidency said
that the president met with Mr Makarfi, the former gubernatorial
contestant of the party, Suleiman Hunkuyi, and other aggrieved
stakeholders in Abuja during the week, and pleaded with them to join
hands with the party’s candidate, to ensure that he wins today’s
election.
According to the
source, both Messrs Makarfi and Hunkuyi expressed their anger to Mr
Jonathan, who promised them that all the issues raised by them would be
addressed after the election, and reminded them that what was paramount
was to deliver Kaduna State to the PDP. The source also disclosed that
Mr Makarfi reportedly regrets making vice president Namadi Sambo
governor in 2007, whom he alleged was the architect behind their rift
with Mr Yakowa. “My greatest mistake in life was making Sambo governor
of Kaduna State,” Mr Makarfi was quoted to have said.
Others at the peace
parley in Abuja also expressed similar displeasure against Mr Sambo for
allegedly telling Mr Yakowa not to relate closely with them.
Why they are angry
Mr Makarfi was
accused of working for the victory of the Congress for Progressive
Change (CPC) governorship candidate in the state, Haruna Sa’eed,
against Mr Yakowa, the PDP candidate. It was this alleged anti-party
move by Mr Makarfi that prompted the president to summon the meeting.
The Makarfi group
alleges that, in the past, Mr Sambo frustrated every attempt by Mr
Jonathan to reconcile all aggrieved members of the party, just as they
also said that the vice president surrounded himself with people whose
family history in the state is in doubt.
Mr Hunkuyi, who
filed a petition against Mr Yakowa and the PDP shortly after he lost
the primary in January, was seen at the government house last week, and
also held a series of meetings at an undisclosed spot where he
reportedly intimated his supporters on the latest development.
A source from the government house revealed that Mr Yakowa’s victory
would have been frustrated by the duo of Messrs Makarfi and Hunkuyi if
not for the intervention of President Goodluck Jonathan.
