Jonathan Wades Into Ebonyi crisis, summons Elechi, Anyim, Umahi

Abuja, By George Agba — Mar 3, 2015 The impasse crippling political activities in the Ebonyi State chapter of the ruling People’s Democratic Party ( PDP) took a deeper crisis dimension on Tuesday, as a meeting between President Goodluck Jonathan and the warring parties was inconclusive. The president, LEADERSHIP gathered had summoned the state Governor, Martins Elechi; Secretary to Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim and the PDP governorship candidate for Ebonyi state, David Umahi as well as some PDP leaders to the meeting with a view to addressing the political rancor once and for all. The meeting, which lasted for over five hours in the President’s office at the presidential villa Abuja was also attended by Vice President Namadi Sambo and some PDP governors led by chairman of their forum and Akwa Ibom State Governor, Obong Godswill Akpabio. Also in attendance were Governors Sule Lamido of Jigawa State and his Benue counterpart, Gabriel Suswam. After the December governorship primary in which former Health Minister, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu who was Elechi’s candidate lost to the governor’s deputy said to be the preferred candidate of the SGF, the state has been embroiled in a serious crisis. The embattled governor who also failed to scale through his own senatorial primary is at the moment facing impeachment threat from the Ebonyi State House of Assembly on allegations of misappropriation of funds, gross misconduct and anti party activities, as he is said to have shifted his support to the Labour Party governorship candidate in the state. It became apparent that yesterday’s meeting could not resolve the impasse in Ebonyi when the Elechi stormed out of the president’s office looking rather angry. He was very hostile to State House correspondents who had approached him for the outcome of the meeting, just as he threatened to brake a tape recorder belonging to one of the reporters. The governor who said he was not in Aso Rock to answer questions from journalists raised his walking stick, threatening angrily to smash the tape recorder of the correspondent who was adamant on getting answers from him. Benue State Governor, Suswam who spoke to journalists acknowledged the fact that the political crisis in Ebonyi was one of the major issues discussed at the meeting,even as he said the impasse in the south east state would soon be over. Suswam who came out of the meeting few minutes after his Ebonyi counterpart had left denied, however that Elechi did not storm out of the meeting, contrary to the impression created by his body language. He argued that the meeting went well and that Elechi only rushed out IOC the meeting the way he did to meet up with his flight. He said, “I don’t think he (Elechi) stormed out of the meeting. We ended the meeting properly, and I believe he had a flight to catch and so, he was rushing. “Yes, Ebonyi problem was one of the issues discussed in the meeting, but we are almost at the solution to that problem. So I think the governor was rushing to catch a flight”. On the allegation that some PDP candidates were not campaigning for other candidates of the ruling party, especially the party’s presidential candidate, Jonathan, the governor dismissed the claim as near impossible. He explained that all candidates of the party were duty bound to campaign for the party which implied that every single candidate was campaigning for all others of the party platform, not excluding the presidential ticket bearer. He said: “I don’t think that is true. People have different ways of campaining, and as a senatorial candidate there’s no way I can be campaigning for my seat alone without campaignong for the president. “You know in political parties we have issues. Different candidates have different issuses. There are no universal issues across the lenght and breadth of the parties. So it is not true that people are not campaigning for the president. “There are minor issues here and there and those issues like I said since yesterday, you will observe that between yesterday and today, we’ve been meeting. We are meeting because we want to be in charge, we want to be abreast. PDP is going to win this election landslide, there’s no two ways about it. Forget about the noise and propaganda. We are ready and willing, and nothing is going to stop it. “So there’s no issue of not campaigning for the president. We are all campaigning for the PDP. and all the PDP candidates across, even if no names are mentioned.” Suswam further explained that the series of convened by President Jonathan with PDP governors, candidates and party leaders in the last few days were targeted at calibrating the ruling party as safe guard for victory in the forthcoming general poll Source Leadership newspaper