On the 16th of August 2014, former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu decamped to the People’s Democratic Party(PDP) from the All Progressives Congress (APC). Few days later, Ribadu was seeking the nod of the PDP to run in the October 12 gubernatorial election in Adamawa State as he picked up the nomination form.
Some governors of the PDP seem to be working hard to ensure the former Presidential candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) which metamorphosed into APC doesn’t get the party’s ticket for the election. The Governor’s are finding it hard to trust Ribadu as they are wary of his agenda in the party.
The governors met on Monday night at the the Akwa Ibom State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja ahead of the PDP primaries in Adamawa state slated for the 6th of September. They also discussed about President Jonathan’s chances in the 2015 election.
Some of the governors are of the opinion Ribadu may have been planted by the APC as a spy in the PDP. They wondered why President Jonathan’s Principal Secretary, Alhaji Hassan Tukur and one of the female ministers were keen to impose the former EFCC boss on the PDP.
One of the governors who was at the meeting spoke to journalists but pleaded anonymity. He said the posssible emergence of Ribadu as the party’s gubernatorial candidate may portend danger for the ruling party.
“It is not ideal for the man (Ribadu) to come close to us at all. We still don’t know why Hassan Tukur is insisting on the man.
“We can’t trust him for anything. Look at the auditing job given to him concerning the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation? Do you know the problem that report caused this government?
“Before Ribadu submitted the report, he had leaked it to all the embassies in the country. Will it therefore not be wrong to have such a man close to the government he had denounced and condemned in the past?”
Ribadu is seeking a waiver by the PDP to enable him run for the position of Governor as Section 50 (9) of the PDP constitution clearly states:
“There shall be a minimum of two year membership span for a member to be eligible to stand for election into any public office, unless the appropriate executive committee gives a waiver or rules to the contrary.”
The Governor said the stance of the governors could affect the possibility of the former APC man getting a waiver.
The PDP’s National Working Committee is expected to meet today (Wednesday) in Abuja and the issue of granting Ribadu waiver is one of the topics expected to be discussed.
