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Police shuts ‘New PDP’ office, deploys Armoured Personnel Carrier.

*Action violates court order – Baraje
faction
*We are protecting status quo – Tukur
NWC
The crisis rocking the People's
Democratic Party (PDP) took a turn for
the worse, yesterday, after the police
sealed off the office of the Alhaji
Abubakar Kawu Baraje-led faction.
The police put the office, situated at Plot
3206A, No 4, Oyi River Crescent, Maitama, Abuja under lock and key, just
as former President Olusegun Obasanjo
was fingered as the brain behind the
factionalisation of the ruling party.
The same Obasanjo led some elders of
the PDP on a trouble shooting mission
on Friday which ended in a deadlock.
A top leader of the ruling party described
Obasanjo's involvement in the truce
effort as pretentious.
The PDP broke into two penultimate
Saturday after a group of members, led
by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar
and six governors namely, Sule Lamido
(Jigawa), Adbdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara),
Aliyu Babangida (Niger), Aliyu
Magatakadar Wammako (Sokoto), Musa
Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano) and Murtala
Nyako (Adamawa), staged a walk out
from the party's special national
convention holding at the Eagle Square
and, less than one hour later, announced
the emergence of their own faction of the
PDP and named some members as top
officials of the party.
Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers
State has since joined the group to make
the `rebel' governors seven.
The Baraje faction, aka New PDP,
yesterday, described the siege by the
police to its office as a flagrant violation
of a court order that stopped the Alhaji
Bamangar Tukur-led PDP from
interfering with its affairs.
The sealed nPDP office.
It faulted the police action which it said
was executed on the grounds of a non-
existent court injunction which the
Tukur-led National Working Committee
(NWC) of the PDP claimed to have
obtained on Friday.
But the Tukur NWC hailed the police
action which, according to it, was in
response to the court order which
emphasised the retention of the status
quo.
The sealed factional PDP secretariat was
said to have been inspected by Baraje
and Lamido on Friday ahead of its formal
commissioning anytime this week.
At about 3:44pm yesterday, an
armoured personnel carrier APC, was
positioned at the entrance of the street
while armed policemen, numbering
about 10, were seen around. Just as some
of the policemen stayed around the APC,
others were seated in a nearby
restaurant.
'We are not leaving'
Efforts to get close to the gate of the PDP
factional secretariat by journalists
proved futile as the policemen, who had
their eyes fixed on every move, sprang to
their feet, threatening to punish them.
One of the policemen, who bragged, said,
"We are not leaving here until we hear
from the Presidency. We have taken over
the place for now."
The property, as gathered, was the
headquarters of the National Democratic
Party, NDP, even as the gate of the
building was painted in the red, white
and green colours of the PDP, while the
partially covered signpost on the building
revealed an insignia similar to that of the
PDP.
Yesterday's incident came barely twenty
fours after Obasanjo led other elders of
the party on the trouble shooting mission
and met with the leaders of the PDP and
aggrieved governors.
The Baraje-led 'New PDP', however,
wondered why Tukur, who appeared
before the elders meeting of the party, on
Friday, in an atmosphere geared towards
peace in the PDP, could, about 12 hours
later, start what it termed a round of acts
of impunity.
Though the Obasanjo led-meeting was
deadlocked as the issues raised by the
elders and the advice given did not go
well with the Baraje-led faction as they
stormed out, the former president said
the meeting became imperative for them
as elders to intervene and save the party
from total collapse. The elders also met
with some pro-Jonathan governors.
Both meetings were inconclusive, though
there were assurances from the elders
that the two factions will once again
come together as one indivisible party
members. Obasanjo disclosed that
discussions and consultations would
continue.
Also at the meeting were former Military
President Ibrahim Babangida;
Chairman, Board of Trustees of the PDP,
BoT, Chief Tony Anenih; two former
National Chairmen, Dr. Ahmadu Ali and
Senator Barnabas Gemade; even as
Obasanjo apologised on behalf of former
Vice President Alex Ekwueme and Chief
Solomon Lar who were not in the
country, and said they were being carried
along.
Sunday Vanguard also gathered that
after the meetings, the elders went into a
closed door meeting to harmonise
opinions and issues raised by the groups.
The elders meetings with the groups
lasted about five hours as the meetings
started around 10am and ended 2.30 pm.
Tukur was accompanied to the meeting
by the National Auditor, Adewale
Adeyanju, the Acting National Secretary,
Aderemi Akitoye; and Governors Henry
Seriake-Dickson of Bayelsa State,
Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State;
Jonah Jang of Plateau; Liyel Imoke of
Cross River; Idris Wada of Kogi;
Theodore Orji of Abia; Emmanuel
Uduaghan of Delta; Ibrahim Shema of
Katsina and Isa Yuguda of Bauchi while
Baraje was accompanied by Lamido,
Wamakko and Amaechi, the faction's
Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola,
the Deputy National Chairman, Dr. Sam
Sam Jaja, Senator Bukola Saraki,
Senator Abdullahi Adamu and Senator
Danjuma Goje.
The new PDP office.
'Height of impunity'
Reacting to the closure of the secretariat
of the Baraje-led PDP, yesterday, the
faction's National Secretary, Oyinlola,
who noted that they were not surprised
by the action taken by the Tukur-led
PDP, however, described it as the height
of impunity, adding that security forces
were mobilised to seal the office based on
a non-existent court injunction which
the Tukur NWC claimed to have obtained
on Friday.
In a statement, Oyinlola said, " The
whole world knows that Justice E.
Chukwu of the Federal High Court,
Abuja on Friday refused to grant Alhaji
Bamanga Tukur's application for an ex
parte injunction against our party's
executive. The judge asked parties to
maintain the status quo. His judgment
was a reinforcement of an early order of
the Lagos High Court which also asked
parties to maintain the status quo. Now,
should Nigerians conclude that Tukur's
interpretation of status quo is this crude
display of naked power and undisguised
impunity?"
"The statement continued, we are not at
all surprised at this occurrence given the
fact that Tukur issued a statement on
Friday evening deliberately seeking to
mislead the media and the public that
Justice Chukwu granted him an
injunction against us. We are happy that
the ever vigilant Nigerian press ignored
him and his falsehood. Now, he is not
only wilfully disobeying the various
courts which have made
pronouncements on this matter, he is
spicing up his love for impunity with this
reckless misuse of state power by
misleading the police.
" We call for an immediate removal of the
siege to our secretariat. We call on the
Inspector General of police to order the
immediate removal of his men from our
office. Doing so, we believe, will serve the
interest of justice, rule of law and
democracy. Nigeria is a country ruled by
law and not by might and force.
"We hasten to say that if this move is
aimed at breaking our spirit, that goal is
definitely off the mark. We are
determined to rescue our party from the
lawlessness and crass arrogance that
have defined the character of the Tukur
leadership since inception. Our party
needs that deliverance, its members
deserve the change we have brought into
it."
We are protecting status quo – Tukur
NWC
In a response, yesterday, the Tukur NWC
hailed the closure of the Baraje PDP
faction secretariat, stressing that in was
in line with a court order.
In a statement by the PDP National
Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh,
the NWC stressed that the injunction
granted by the Federal High Court,
Abuja, on Friday, clearly affirmed the
leadership of the party under the
Chairmanship of Tukur.
According to the PDP, ordering that the
parties in the dispute maintain status
quo ante bellum until the determination
of the case, "the court clearly granted the
request of the PDP that the group led by
Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje should not
operate or be recognized by INEC".
Metuh continued: "The sealing of the
secretariat opened by the Baraje group
was in line with the order of the court
which held that the splinter group should
not operate or parade themselves as
leaders of the PDP until the hearing of
the suit before it.
"Our attention has been drawn to reports
by a section of the media erroneously
suggesting that the Federal High Court
sitting in Abuja did not accede to our
prayer that INEC should not recognize
the so-called new PDP led by Alhaji
Abubakar Kawu Baraje.
"For the avoidance doubt, the position of
the Federal High Court is clear. By
ordering that the two parties maintain
status quo ante bellum, the court has
clearly ordered the Baraje group to stop
all its activities including operating a
secretariat while it affirmed the
leadership of the PDP under Alhaji
Bamanga Tukur.
"By the order of the court, no person is
authorized by law to open a secretariat or
operate under the name, colour and flag
of the PDP other than the one led by
Alhaji Bamanaga Tukur. The sealing off
of the secretariat opened by the Baraje
group under the name, colour and flag of
the PDP is therefore in order and in line
with the law."
'In defence of Oyinlola'
In the meantime, the Osun State leaders
of the PDP loyal to Oyinlola have risen in
his defence.
The defence is in reaction to the Elders
Forum of the party in the state which on
Thursday warned PDP members from
associating with the former governor of
the state for his role in the formation of
the new PDP.
But a stakeholders forum of the party in
Osun, in a statement in Osogbo
yesterday, put its weight behind the
factional National Secretary, describing
the threat to sanction him by the state
chapter of the PDP as empty.
The PDP stakeholders, under the aegis of
Osun PDP Concerned Forum, also
decried the leadership of the party in the
state for taking sides in the current
imbroglio within the PDP.
Solution to crisis lies with Jonathan –
Fani-Kayode
Also, yesterday, a former aviation
minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, said
the solution to the PDP crisis resided
with President Goodluck Jonathan
listening to Obasanjo by dropping his
rumoured intention to return to office in
2015.
"The only hope left for the PDP is if
President Goodluck Jonathan listens to
former President Olusegun Obasanjo
and those behind him and drops his 2015
ambition. Failing that the fight in the
PDP will never end", Fani-Kayode said in
a statement. He went on: "The truth is
that Obasanjo is one of the greatest
political strategists that Nigeria has ever
known and he is an extremely dangerous
adversary. I know him well and his ways
are deep. Ori Baba le ga ni. Go and find
out what happened to all those that
betrayed him or tried to kill him. Their
end is never good. Those close to
Jonathan would do well to advise him to
get on his knees and beg his political
mentor. Only Obasanjo, with the help
and support of President Ibrahim
Babangida and Vice President Abubakar
Atiku, has the power, authority and
moral gravitas within the PDP to call the
dissidents to order and rally their
support. Without that, President
Goodluck Jonathan is finished and he
should just wave goodbye to his 2015 re-
election ambitions. The APC, with the
support of the PDP dissidents, will form
the next Federal Government of Nigeria.
That is the way to go. PDP as we once
knew her has gone forever. The ship has
hit the rocks and she has sunk to the
bottom of the sea. She is dead and buried
and my prayer is that her soul rests in
perfect peace".
`Elders truce terms for Jonathan'
In a related development, Sunday
Vanguard learnt, late yesterday, that the
Obasanjo-led Elders' Committee, which
met with the feuding PDP groups on
Friday, has listed some conditions that
are expected to be tabled before
Jonathan on Monday.
Some of the recommendations, it was
gathered, include but are not limited to
the following:
*That the Adamawa State chapter of the
party be returned to Nyako – he was in
control before the Tukur-led NWC
started issuing conflicting statements,
leading to the institution of a new state
chapter EXCO;
*That the Rivers State Chapter Exco be
returned to Amaechi;
*That there should be a review of some of
the perceived anomalies at the Special
National Convention, as observed by the
aggrieved governors;
*That the suspension of Amaechi be
lifted and in accordance with the party's
constitution; and
*That the President should meet with
Jang and Amaechi with a view to
resolving the crisis in the Nigeria
Governors Forum, NGF.
The elders are expected to present their
recommendations to Jonathan
tomorrow.
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