Jonathan
by: Yusuf Alli, Abuja
Despite the hard line posture of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Presidency has opted to reach out to the aggrieved governors and leaders of the New PDP to give room for the completion of peace talks with President Goodluck Jonathan.
The aggrieved governors- Rotimi Amaechi, Murtala Nyako, Abdulfatah Ahmed, Aliyu Wammako and Rabiu Kwankwaso- defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday.
According to sources, who pleaded not to be named, a security chief has since Tuesday been reaching out to the aggrieved G-7 governors to honor the President on Sunday by attending the resumption of peace talks.
It was learnt that the security chief made the governors to realise that the ill-health of the President accounted for the shift of the meeting.
It was gathered that the security top brass said even if the governors had taken their decision, it is proper to allow the conclusion of talks with the President.
A source, who spoke in confidence, said the intervention of the security chief was as a result of the likely implications of an all-out-battle between the President and the governors.
The source said: “The top security brass has been begging the governors to return to the negotiation table because of likely degeneration of the political situation in the country.
“His fear is that the implosion in PDP may ground governance to a halt, in view of the attitude of some hawks in the ruling party that the President should adopt a tit-for-tat measure against perceived political adversaries.
“The consequence of the crisis on the 2014 Budget became obvious following the probability of APC controlling the majority in the National Assembly, especially the House of Representatives.
“So, there is pressure on the governors to have a rethink. The security chief has contacted some key Northern leaders and traditional rulers to intercede.”
As at press time however it was learnt that the aggrieved governors, with the exception of Governors Sule Lamido and Babangida Aliyu, were yet to make any commitment to have meeting with the President on Sunday.
Another source said: “Mr. Rotimi Amaechi told those making the overtures as follows: ‘I won’t attend any meeting on Sunday since I am no longer in their midst.’
“The governors are skeptical about the sincerity of the President to the resumption of peace talks. He is using the session to gauge the feeling of the governors and determine when to strike against them.
“The governors and New PDP leaders have merged with APC; it is presumed that the reconciliation process is dead.”
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