A gathering of corrupt ex-governors currently undergoing trial for corruption showed up Sunday night at the Aso Rock Villa to express solidarity with the beleaguered President Goodluck Jonathan.
A gathering of corrupt ex-governors currently undergoing trial for corruption showed up Sunday night at the Aso Rock Villa to express solidarity with the beleaguered President Goodluck Jonathan.
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The retinue of ex-governors shook hands with Mr. Jonathan and pledged their support for him. A senior presidential aide told SaharaReporters that the visit was a huge morale booster for the president who has devastated by a major split in his ruling Peoples Democratic Party.
At the party’s special convention held on August 31 at Eagle Square, Abuja, former Vice President Abubakar Atiku walked out with seven state governors to protest what they termed the party’s disrespect for the norms of internal democracy. The aggrieved group then met at the Musa Yar’Adua Convention Center in Abuja to elect factional national officers and to announce the formation of a “new PDP” chaired by Abubakar Baraje.
The split has been seen as a dire event for Mr. Jonathan who plans to seek a second term in 2015.
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The majority of the former governors who paid a visit to Mr. Jonathan are currently being tried for corruption and money laundering by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The delegation of convenient well wishers was led by former Governor Boni Haruna of Adamawa State and former Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha of Bayelsa, Mr. Jonathan’s home state. UK authorities arrested Mr. Alamieyeseigha for money laundering after he was found with millions of pound sterling in cash in his home in London. The then governor of Bayelsa found his way back in Nigeria under mysterious circumstances and was subsequently tried and convicted on several counts of corruption. He was recently granted pardon by President Jonathan.
The governors were at the Villa to partake of a post-convention dinner. Former Governor Haruna listed other ex-corrupt governors backing Mr. Jonathan for his 2015 reelection bid to include former Governor Lucky Igbinedion of Edo State, who is also an ex-convict, former Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, former Governor Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State, former Governor Rashidi Ladoja of Oyo State, and former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala, also of Oyo State.
An unusually elated President Jonathan clapped in appreciation as Mr. Haruna reeled off the names of his corrupt endorsers. A source at the Presidency told SaharaReporters that Mr. Haruna, who recently rejoined the PDP from the Action Congress of Nigeria, was chosen as spokesman for the ex-governors as a way of spiting Governor Murtala Nyako and Mr. Atiku, who are both from Adamawa State. Mr. Nyako as well as former Vice President Atiku are prominent members of the PDP splinter group.
At the Villa reception, Mr. Haruna said, “We can’t leave the PDP. We are in unity to affirm our support for Mr. President and the party. There is a prophecy that the party would rule for 50 years. I pray that the prophecy should come to manifest.”
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