Skip to main content

Ribadu Goes Into Hiding As PDP Moves To Appoint Him Party Chairman

As the opposition Peoples Democratic Party gets set to name a new leader of the party, governors and other chieftains of the PDP are on a manhunt for a former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu, in their bid to make him chairman.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that a meeting of the national caucus of the PDP is currently holding in Abuja, after which the National Executive Committee would meet at the Wadata Plaza secretariat of the party by 2p.m. on Tuesday.

Mr. Ribadu was tipped for the chairmanship position last year, shortly after the then chairman, Ahmadu Muazu, resigned from office.

However, we gathered that the move, championed by governors elected under the party, was thwarted by the National Working Committee, NWC, under the interim leadership of Uche Secondus.

We also gathered that Mr. Ribadu who had earlier agreed to take the offer also abandoned it on account of "lack of seriousness to truly reform the party by its top echelon".

However, after a long back and forth and controversy, including court cases, the party agreed to hold a special NEC meeting to fill the position created by the resignation of Mr. Muazu.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt of spirited attempts over the last few days by some top party chieftains to persuade Mr. Ribadu to accept to chair and transform the party.

A source privy to the goings on in the PDP said some of the party's governors visited Mr. Ribadu in a last minute effort to get him to change his position. He was however, said to have stuck to his guns.

"Since midnight yesterday, party chieftains led by a governor from the South-south region began a search for Ribadu, to no avail.

"The ex-EFCC chair was said to have gone incommunicado since last night, making all attempts to reach him impossible," the source said.

He also said at least four governors of the party and other chieftains are currently waiting at the Bayelsa governors lodge in Maitama area of Abuja, scrambling to reach Mr Ribadu.

"Mr. Ribadu, PREMIUM TIMES learnt, is skeptical of taking the PDP job because of the battered image the party has suffered, especially with current corruption probes.

"He is also not confident that the party's bigwigs would tolerate his radical disposition," our source said.

PREMIUM TIMES reporters have been unsuccessful in reaching Mr. Ribadu for hours. His telephones are switched off the several times our reporters called.

At his residence in the Asokoro District of Abuja, security guards denied our reporters entry, saying the former EFCC chairman was not home, and that his whereabouts is unknown.

When contacted, his spokesperson, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, said he had not been able to reach Mr. Ribadu in the past two days.

 
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NIGERIA'S BREAKUP IS NOT AN OPTION-DAVID MARK

N igerians must move on together as a breakup is not an option, former Senate President, David Mark, said on Friday. “Those who are agitating for otherwise are missing the point. Nigeria has crossed many crucibles. We cannot reverse ourselves,” Mr. Mark told Kaduna State Acting Governor,  Alhaji Aminu Shagali, in Kaduna. He was at the head of a delegation of the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA) 3rd Regular Course Alumni Association on a courtesy visit to the acting governor. “The only option is to move on in a manner that is progressive, peaceful and united,” he was further quoted as saying by his media aide, Paul Mumeh.   “We may have our disagreements. But a breakup is not an option. We can resolve our differences through meaningful dialogue and genuine conversation." “There is no use heating up the polity,” the ex-Senate president added. He noted that no matter the imperfections, the nation is greater and better as an indivisible country.
Post a Comment
Read more

EMIR OF KASTINA TELLS PRESIDENT BUHARI TO SIGN PEACE CORPS BILL

The Emir of Katsina, Abdulmumini Usman, has declared support for the Peace Corps bill passed by the National Assembly. The bill, which seeks to turn the Peace Corps, a non-government organisation, into a government paramilitary agency, has elicited mixed reactions from Nigerians. Proponents see it as an avenue to create jobs for thousands of youth while critics describe as a duplication of functions already being performed by existing agencies and creation of another bureaucracy at a time the country is finding it difficult to pay workers' salaries. The bill was opposed by existing military and security institutions in Nigeria and the Peace Corps leader Dickson Akoh is currently being prosecuted for alleged fraud. Apart from lawmakers, the bill is also supported by some prominent Nigerians including the Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung, who also asked Mr. Buhari to sign to it. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Katsina emir made a similar call on the president on Thursda
Post a Comment
Read more

Asari Dokubo reveals name of President Buhari's ailment.

Former Niger Delta militant leader, Asari Dokubo, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari will never be well again. He said that this is the reason no doctor has been able to diagnose his ailment. Asari said the hands of God is on Buhari just as they were on Pharoah. He also said the name of the disease affecting President Buhari is 'hale and hearty.' According to ex-MEND leader, every government official who goes to London to see President Buhari returns to the media to say that he is hale and hearty. He said they have all failed to disclosed what ailment he is suffering from. He said, "As God first of afflicted Pharaoh with the deafness of the ear and deafness of the heart, God also first of all, afflicted Buhari with deafness of the ear. "He was not sick, later they said he has an ear infection like Pharoah. Allah inflicted him with ear problem. "We are talking of ear problem and we heard of another sickness and the name of that sickness is hale and hearty. H
Post a Comment
Read more