Last ditch effort by politicians either sympathetic to principal opposition party, People’s Democratic Party, PDP, to halt another round of defections failed yesterday evening as Tunde Adeniran, one time minister, defeated chairmanship candidate of the party last year, Professor Jerry Gana, a member of the PDP board of trustees, BOT, defected to the Social Democratic Party, SDP. Insider sources say that the move is just the beginning of massive defections from both PDP and APC to SDP in the days ahead.
Though report broke earlier yesterday that a reception ceremony to receive heavy weight PDP members was at the offing at the Ladi Kwali Hall, Sheraton Hotel, Abuja, DAILY INDEPENDENT, exclusively scooped that some politicians from the PDP or still sympathetic to the party had try to dissuade them from doing so.
As gathered, former Senate deputy president, Ibrahim Mantu tried to woo the defecting politicians from their planned move early in the day.
By evening, however, it appeared that the mission embarked on by Mantu failed. The newspaper confirmed Gana and Adeniran’s presence at the Ladi Kwali Hall venue of the defection programme.
As also learnt, activities is culmination of wide consultations with diverse political interests across the country. According to an officer of the SDP who spoke to the paper but asked not to go on record, “What people will see in the days ahead is the third force emergence. It is going to be a coalition of interest group from PDP and APC. You have seen with your eyes two members of the PDP who are here to day
“This is just a tip of the iceberg as they are bigger PDP members who will be coming to SDP,” the source said.
Asked if he could list some of the politicians from APC who plan on moving to SDP, the source bulked. But explained that matters will unfold in less than a month.
“All I can say is that some will detect soon before the APC primaries and others will do so after the primaries,” the source added.
During their raproachment with various interest groups the party claimed to have reached an understanding with the groups on which way the country will go. In a document titled ‘Towards a New Political Order’ which is an Mou between SDP and the political interest groups of tagged as Movement For A New Political Order’, an arrangement has been worked towards true federalism, democracy, sustainable economy just and fair country among other desirable conditions for citizens. The Mou also spelt out core values of of the party as justice, transperency, accountability, zero tolerance for corruption, respect for human life, international cooperation for common humanity.
But other political observers at the place raised concerns over the motive of the defections at this time. According to Aminu Ibrahim, a delegate from Nasarawa, these defectors are aggrieved members of PDP who lost out somehow.
He may well have a point.
Adeniran contested for the chairmanship position of the PDP but lost heavily to Uche Secondus.
Shortly after, some members of the party opened a parallel secretariat’s calling themselves Fresh PDP. There were speculations that Adeniran was the brain behind the move.
Prince Obi Nwosu, Alhaji Hassan Adamu, Chief Olusola Akindele, Chief Godwin Duru and Franklyne Edede made up the group.
But the former minister debunked the report. Speaking through the Director of his Campaign Organization at the time, Shehu Garban, in Abuja, Adeniran stated that anybody who had genuine grievances was free to express them but cautioned that his principal should not be linked to the group
Speaking on the presence of a member of his campaign team in the aggrieved group, the former minister said he did not “send anyone to the group.”
“We do not know them. They don ’t represent us and we have nothing to do with them. Whoever is there doesn’t represent us,” he stated.