9th January, 2013
Ex-convict, Chief Olabode George was on Tuesday night named among six members of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Board of Trustees, BoT saddled with the task of restructuring membership of the board described as the “conscience” of the ruling party.
This is coming on the heels of wrangling by some members over the criteria to be adopted for determining who will vote and the procedure that should be adopted for voting were the major reasons for the failure of members of BoT of PDP to produce a new chairman Tuesday.
It was also gathered that Senate President David Mark played a significant role in nipping the ascendancy of the candidacy of Dr. Ahmadu Ali in the bud during the meeting.
Chief Ojo Maduekwe, Nigeria’s Ambassador to Canada, had after over three hours meeting held at the Presidential Villa and presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan, told journalists that the decision members of BoT to set up a six-member committee was to streamline membership of the board in preparation for the election of a new chairman.
“The meeting did not come close to election, nomination or endorsement of any aspirant. There was no deadlock and no gridlock,” Maduekwe said to the disappointment of journalists eagerly awaiting the announcement of the successful candidate from the election.
Rather, Maduekwe announced the constitution of a six-man special committee which, according to him, will carry out the job of aligning membership of the BoT with its constitutional provisions that established the body.
He said the establishment of the committee became necessary to enhance the legitimacy of the outcome of election of a new BoT chairman when the election is eventually held.
Professor Jerry Gana, former Information minister, heads the committee which also has as members Chief Bode George, former minister Shetima Mustafa, Governor Ibrahim Shema, Senator Stella Omu and Senator Hope Uzodinma. The committee has three weeks to conclude its assignment.
The inclusion of George, who was in 2009 sentenced to two-year jail term alongside some members of the Board of the Nigeria Ports Authority, NPA, on a 163-count charge that bordered on alleged abuse of office and award of about N80 billion contracts, on a reform team of a committee saddled with the job of reforming a body regarded as the moral guardian is sure to raise eyebrows.
George and the other convicts were said to have inflated the contract prices contrary to Section 22 (3) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
In the judgment, Justice Joseph Oyewole held that the EFCC proved beyond reasonable doubt that George, a former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, abused his office. As stipulated in the party’s constitution, the PDP BOT is to: “Ensure highest standards of morality in all the activities of the party by acting as the conscience of the party, with power to call to order any officer of the party whose conduct falls below the norms” and also to “ensure high morale of members of the party and that the party enjoys a good image before the Nigerian populace and is in good political health…”
Public Affairs analysts who spoke to P.M.NEWS in Abuja this morning however said in as much as the PDP has the right to assign functions it deems fit to its members, the party has continued to send wrong message to Nigerians about its stand of probity and the fight against corruption with the prominence it is giving to people of corrupted moral standing like George.
They also consider it ironical that George who was convicted on charges of corruption is being saddled with the task of reforming a body saddled with the job of sound moral health of the ruling party.
Meanwhile, members of PDP BoT also yesterday asked the secretary of the body Walid Jibrin to continue in office to the disappointment of one of the favoured candidates for the position, Dr. Ahmadu Ali.
P.M.NEWS gathered that elements within the ruling party close to Ali had been at the forefront of the campaign that Jibrin should step down as Secretary of the BoT in the run-up to the Tuesday night’s stalemated election.
Ali is from Kogi State, while Jibrin is from Nassarawa, both in North Central Nigeria. It was gathered that there were also moves yesterday to force Jibrin to step down.
But the move was frustrated when Senate President David Mark called for the ratification of Jibrin’s election for a five-year tenure.
It is believed that with Jibrin retaining his position within the BoT, Ali’s ambition to become the chairman of the body may have been totally foreclosed based on the principle of federal character.
This is the second time that efforts to fill the position of PDP BoT Chairman which became vacant following the resignation of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the previous occupant of the position, will be unsuccessful.
When they reconvene for the election, members will pick among the 12 contestants that include Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Senator Ken Nnamani, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, Ahmadu Ali, Chief Tony Anenih, Chief Emmanuel Iwuayanwu, Chief Don Etiebet, Senator Bode Olayinka, Chief Yekeen Adeojo, Senator Onyeabor Obi, Chief Harry Akande and Chief Shuaibu Oyedokun as replacement for Obasanjo.
Members of PDP BoT present at yesterday’s meeting include Vice-President Namadi Sambo, David Mark, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, and the Chief of Staff to the president, Chief Mike Oghiadomhe among others.
—Oluokun Ayorinde