20 aspirants for BoT chair
WORRIED by the lingering controversy between the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Governor of Adamawa State, Admiral Murtala Nyako (rtd), governors under the auspices of the party Tuesday stormed its national secretariat in Abuja, urging the party to thread softly.
Also, the Secretary of the PDP Board of Trustees (BOT), Walid Jubril, disclosed that 20 aspirants, including non-members of the board, have indicated interest in its chairmanship.
The governors, led by the chairman of Nigerian Governors' Forum (NGF), Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, met with the National Working Committee (NWC), where they made their case.
Speaking after the visit, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, confirmed that the governors came in respect of the matter and that the decision of the party would be guided by the party's constitution.
"We have the constitution of the party, at the end of the day we will be guided by the constitution of PDP. The constitution is sacrosanct and we will be guided by it," he said.
"The constitution has enshrined that the governors, because of the role they play in the states, are leaders of the party, but we have a constitution which is the final authority on party matters. We have been elected to administer the affairs of the party, but we have to take into consideration the views of the governors in doing that.
"I don't think there is conflict between what the governors want and our constitution and there is no conflict between what we have done and the constitution. At the end of the day, the governors and the leaders of the party are working in tandem for the progress of the party."
He said the governors also expressed concern over the ongoing construction of the party's new secretariat, noting that work was moving at a slow pace.
He added: "The governors pleaded with the NWC to revisit the issue of Adamawa State PDP, and that on the basis of the relationship between the party and the governors, the matter of Adamawa State should be revisited based on the remorse of the Adamawa governor and the plea of the governors' forum."
Speaking with journalists at their national secretariat in Abuja, Jubril said: "We made an announcement that all members of BoT, who are interested in the vacant position of chairmanship, should signify interest by writing the secretary. That was a directive from the board in the last meeting.
"It is true that some people wrote and signified interest, such people include those who are not even members of BoT. So, it will be very unfair for us to go publishing the names without reporting to the people who gave me the directive to get the names of people who are interested. It is only fair that I have to present the list first to the people who asked me to do so."
