Chief Tony Anenih, The Chairman Board of Trustees, BoT, of the Peoples
Democratic Party, has proposed an automatic second term ticket for incumbent
president and governors who perform well in office, thus seeking to boycott the
usual primaries.
This he said is to avoid the
hassles that go with the party primaries, especially for executive positions.
Speaking at a dinner organised by
President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday night, for the “PDP family” at the
Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Chief. Anenih said the internal problem
of the party must be urgently handled if Nigerians must take the party serious.
The proposal by Chief. Anenih, if
accepted by the party, would mean that President Goodluck Jonathan would be
unchallenged for the PDP presidential ticket in 2015.
Chief. Anenih is one of the most
influential member of the PDP and holds one of its highest positions as BoT
chairman. He is believed to have emerged BoT chairman based on President.
Jonathan’s support.
His proposal must however be
adopted by the parties structures including the National Working Committee,
National Executive Committee, and Convention for it to become a rule.
Chief. Anenih added that the
ongoing problems in the Nigerian Governors Forum, NGF, which has seen the
emergence of two chairmen, both of whom are from the PDP, “is an embarrassing
situation which must be urgently addressed.”
PDP won’t tolerate NGF
crisis
Chief. Anenih also cautioned the
PDP to solve its internal crisis or risk losing the support of Nigerians.
“I believe the challenges facing
the party are temporary and at the end of the day we will come out stronger.
But if we want to continue to enjoy the support of Nigerians; if we create
tension in the country as a result of the problems in our party and expect
Nigerians to continue to support and applaud us, it is not possible,” he said.
The Edo politician also said the
party would not tolerate the NGF crisis.
“As party leaders, we must commit
ourselves to repositioning the party. It is an embarrassment what is happening
in the Nigeria Governors Forum. It is an embarrassing situation which must be
urgently addressed. The leadership of the party will not tolerate a situation
where it will preside over a divided house.
“We need a strong party. If a
party is strong and there is discipline and those who work hard are rewarded,
our government will be stronger. Our problems are not insurmountable. After the
tour of the board of trustees, we will collate the opinions and make
appropriate recommendations to the president as leader of the party. But what I
would like to say is that the president and governors who are seeking their
second term should be given automatic tickets to contest the second term,” he
said.
The Chairman of the party,
Bamanga Tukur, who announced that those present at the event were the “Happy,
contended” family of PDP under his watch, urged members of the party to imbibe
the culture of discipline as the party can only grow “if we imbibe the culture
of discipline, justice and equity”.
Mark seeks automatic
ticket too
In his remark, the Senate
President, David Mark, also called for members of the parliament to be given
automatic ticket in order to strengthen the parliament.
He also urged members not to take
the opposition for granted saying “if they are not there that means we are not
working, they want to be where we are because we are doing well”.
In his remarks, President
Goodluck Jonathan thanked members of the party for their commitment adding that
there was no need for members of the party to panic because re-groupings by
opposition parties.
“If the opposition is holding
meetings everyday, then you should smile. If the opposition starts applauding
the president, there is problem. PDP will endure because it was not built based
on conspiracy against anybody. We believe in this country,” he said.
He added that the disagreements
within the PDP was not abnormal for such a large family, as there are bound to
be disagreements which would be resolved. He also said the idea of the family
dinner had been thought up by himself and the party chairman who had seen it as
an opportunity for party members to interact and exchange ideas.
Speaking on the presentation of
his scorecard the previous day, the President said he had just been told that
the National Assembly was already working on a bill that will ensure that the
president presents a scorecard every July.
The event was attended by
Governors of Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Delta, Ebonyi, Abia, Bayelsa,
Kogi, Taraba, Enugu and Deputy governors of Niger and Benue State.
Other attendees include Mr. Mark,
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal; Chief. Anenih; Mr.
Tukur; the PDP state chairmen as well as other PDP stalwarts.
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