PDP NEC May Give Jonathan Right Of First Refusal

There have been indications on Wednesday that the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may avail President Goodluck Jonathan the Presidential ticket of the party for the 2015 elections at today's Emergency Meeting by giving him the right of first refusal. The same benefit may also be extended onto the Governors who are eligible to run for second term in 2015.

A reliable source at the party secretariat told Daily Independent on Wednesday night that some powerful party leaders had since last week begun the move to get loyal members into the project. A high ranking party leader from the North East is said to have been detailed to move the motion while someone else from the South West had been selected to second it.

The Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BOT), Tony Anenih, had last month proposed that Jonathan and other elected office holders of PDP be given automatic second term tickets to run in 2015. The motion would be moved today so that once NEC approves, it would be taken to the national convention next week for ratification.

Tukur Chairmanship will not be discussed
Daily Independent also reports, referring to its source, that the issue of removing National Chairman of the party, Bamanga Tukur, will not be discussed. The question whether Takur is eligible to keep his post has lately been one of the causes for PDP internal crisis.
“The President is the only person qualified to ask Tukur to go and I can confirm, that will not happen,” said the source.

However, despite the split in the PDP, the Chairman Tukur, stated on Monday he was not under pressure to resign.

“Let me reiterate that I am not resigning and I have no intention of doing so as an elected National Chairman of the PDP,” he said in an electronic mail, according to Punch.
Anambra and Ekiti Issues.

Today's meeting is also expected to resolve the crisis rocking Anambra and Ekiti state chapters, particularly the authentic state chairman in Anambra.

The 14 governorship aspirants of the party in Anambra State had refused to accept consensus and opted for the congress which would come up this weekend in Akwa, the state capital.

And ahead of today’s NEC meeting, Sokoto State Governor, Aliyu Wamako, and leaders of the party from the South West led by Bode George, met with Jonathan at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday. After the meeting, Wamako said,
“It is just a routine visit to the President of this great country. It has nothing to do with tomorrow’s NEC meeting. It is just a normal visit.”

Is Jonathan eligible to contest in 2015?
Meanwhile, a one-time PDP governorship aspirant in Adamawa State, Umar Ardo, on Wednesday noted that only the Supreme Court can determine the eligibility of Jonathan to contest the 2015 ballot.

He highlighted that if Jonathan contests for another term of four years in 2015, he would have self-succeeded himself in office as President for a cumulative period of nine years and 23 days.

“I am making this press release against the backdrop of the current agitations for and against President Jonathan’s candidacy in 2015 that have lately been tearing, especially the peoples of the core North and the Middle Belt apart,” he said in Abuja.

Ardo noted that politics is a game of numbers and that those who champion the cause of power to return to the North must work hard towards it.

It will be reminded that the PDP Interim National Publicity, Dr. Aderemi Akintoye, announced the NEC meeting in Abuja on Tuesday. However, the agenda of the meeting was not disclosed.