What Jonathan Told Bode George, Other PDP Elders At Lagos Meeting

President Goodluck Jonathan, held a private meeting with elders and governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, on Sunday, but yesterday the details of that meeting are beginning to emerge.

President Jonathan was accompanied by the Bayelsa State governor, Honourable Seriake Dickson, Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr Olusegun Aganga and a member of the PDP Board of Trustees(BoT), Mrs Aduke Maina to the two-hour meeting held at the State House, Marina on Lagos Island.

A former Deputy national chairman of the party, Chief Olabode George, Dr Kola Balogun, Senator (Mrs) Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele, Dr Abimbola Ogunkelu, Senator Seye Ogunlewe, Charles Akintoye, Chief (Mrs) Onikepo Oshodi, among other PDP elders, were in attendance.

Some of the aspirants at the meeting, which began at about 6.30 pm shortly after the president arrived at the venue, were Dr Ade Dosunmu, Mr Jimi Agbaje, Tokunboh Kamson, Babatunde Gbadamosi, Dr Adegbola Dominic and Akitoye Branco-Rhodes.

Insiders said President Jonathan reportedly gave the PDP elders and other key stakeholders two critical conditions that must be vigorously pursued in their quest to sack the All Progressives Congress (APC)  from the Lagos Government House in 2015 which are  to produce a possible consensus governorship candidate and sustain unity among all PDP stakeholders in Lagos.

The president told the gathering that comprised a broad spectrum of PDP stakeholders, including serving and former ministers, PDP national officers that contrary to rumours making the rounds in certain quarters, he had not anointed any of the aspirants for the ticket of the party in the state. Nonetheless, he said the number of aspirants currently jostling for the sole ticket of the party was too unwieldy and posed a major challenge to all sincere, honest and dedicated PDP members. 

Accordingly, he said the elders and the nine contestants or thereabout, should explore the possibility of adopting one of them on consensus, so as to put the Lagos PDP in a better stead ahead the general election.

But, where it was difficult to have a consensus candidate, he urged the stakeholders in the Lagos PDP to prune the exiting number of contestants to at most two for the forthcoming party primaries.

While reiterating the need to carry all every loyal and committed party members along in the quest to deliver Lagos to the PDP in 2015, the president promised to fully back whoever emerged among the aspirants as the party’s governorship candidate.

Jonathan, specifically, urged the elders and the contestants to meet to resolve the issue of current number of contestants for the ticket, noting it was unnecessary for nine aspirants to pay the non-refundable sum of N12 million each for expression of interest and nomination forms.

He said it was important for the PDP to win in Lagos as the state remained the commercial hub of the country, promising to meet with the aspirants again at an unspecified date and venue, ostensibly to get feedback from them on the consensus option.

Chief George, who spoke on behalf of the elders and the entire party in the state, reaffirmed that the PDP had put its house in order and working as a team preparatory to the election year.

He asserted that the members had buried whatever perceived differences that existed before now by working assiduously towards claiming Lagos from the APC and taking the state to the mainstream of national politics in 2015.

The former PDP national deputy national chairman was quoted as saying the party was now poised “to rescue Lagos from the grip of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), by achieving a resounding victory in next year’s election.” 

However, according to Nigerian Tribune George solicited the unflinching support of the president in three key areas: funding, security and logistics, for the Lagos PDP, as it prepares for the forthcoming voter registration in the state and the general election in 2015.