Yar’Adua group restrategises for 2015 •Schedules national summit for last quarter of 2012 •As PDP dares Buhari for 2015

Late Major-General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua

DESPITE attempts by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to pour cold water on any activity connected to the 2015 general election, elements within its fold are apparently going ahead to forge new alliances or renew dormant ones towards having a head-start in the elections.

Some members of the PDP who were in the old Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), the political platform once headed by the late Major-General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, are trying to revamp the group with a view to properly positioning themselves ahead of the next elections.

The group was said to have utilised the opportunity provided by the yearly memorial lecture for the late Tafidan Katsina last Wednesday at the Yar'Adua Centre, Abuja to strategise towards 2015.

It claimed that the meeting was an opportunity for a reunion but many of the members, most of who are PDP members who have one grouse or the other about the ruling party, were thought to be scheming to strengthen their own bargaining power or even be in a position to stand alone as a party if it becomes necessary.

Among prominent politicians at the meeting were former chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) of the PDP, Chief Tony Anenih; governor of defunct Kaduna State, Alhaji Lawal Kaita and Ambassador Yahaya Kwande.

A National Steering Committee was raised comprising Honourable Bode Ajewole; Mr Godie Ikechi; Senator Abubakar Mahdi, Murtala Shehu Yar’Adua; Dr Etim Amba; Alhaji A. A. Matawallen Hadeija; Chief Ejiofor Onyia; Honourable Dubem Onyia, Dame Titi Ajanaku; Alhaji Bashiru Yusuf Ibrahim; Prince Tonye Princewill and Chief Olupounle Ebo.

The communique issued after the meeting, which emerged in Abuja on Sunday, was silent on the political discussions as it merely spoke of it as a reunion/rejuvenation meeting.

According to the communique signed by the secretary of the steering committee, Mr Ikechi, the purpose of the meeting was to provide a forum for the reunion of old members of the movement and also bring onboard new members.

It said the meeting presented a road map for its immediate future activities, among which is a proposed national summit on "The state of the nation" scheduled to hold in the last quarter of 2012.

The communique stated that the movement resolved to rekindle among its members the spirit of national unity, promotion of peace and good governance.

It described the PDM as a national "consciousness movement", pioneered by the late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua for the promotion of core ideals of democracy; sustenance of and support for peaceful co-existence among the diverse groups in the country; bridge building among the diverse segments of the country; promotion of good governance and sustainable development of Nigeria.

The communique also revealed that goodwill messages were presented by eminent members of the movement from all the geo-political zones, while tributes were paid to the late Shehu Yar’Adua for "the supreme sacrifice he made in furtherance of unity and democracy in Nigeria, as well as other departed leaders of the movement."

It said the meeting was given a tour of the uncompleted bridge at the lawn of Yar'Adua Centre "as a testimony to the work that must be done to complete the hanging bridge by reuniting Nigeria and bringing democracy and good governance back to the country."

Meanwhile, the PDP, on Sunday, defended Chief Anenih's presence at the PDM's meeting, saying that he was there to re-emphasise the oneness of the PDP as a political party.

According to the National Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, who spoke to the Nigerian Tribune, "I have it on good authority that he told them that we don't have division within the party."

He said the PDP would, this week, re-emphasise to its members the need to steer clear of politics of 2015 at this time in line with the position of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party.

In another development, the PDP has challenged the former presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, to demonstrate more statesmanship in his assessment of the ruling party and once again test his popularity in 2015 presidential election if he thinks he has alternative ideas to the PDP.

PDP said said in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by Chief Metuh that the defeated presidential candidate's lecture on democracy and rule of law could not be taken seriously in view of the dehumanising condition his military administration subjected Nigerians to in the past.

According to the PDP, "we wish to advise General Buhari to concentrate on giving Nigerians his alternative ideas and plan of action to what the PDP has at present or even engage us in a public debate on the values of good governance.

"We pray that his party or whatever alliance they are negotiating presents Buhari once more as a presidential candidate so that Nigerians will make their choice.

"However, we wish to remind the former head of state that Nigerians are not fools and that they know what Nigeria was yesterday, especially under regimes like his and what obtains today. There is no doubt that even the blind can distinguish between the daylight it is today and the deep dark night it was hitherto."

The PDP was apparently responding to a statement quoting Major-General Buhari as saying in his assessment of the 14 years of the PDP in power that “under normal circumstances, we are supposed to work strictly within the provisions of the constitution, but this is Nigeria and nothing is perfect and the only thing they have not tampered with between 1999 to date in Nigeria is the Holy Koran.”

The PDP said political differences not withstanding, it expected Buhari as an elder statesman and a former head of state to acknowledge the significant progress that Nigeria had made in internalising democratic culture since the return of democracy in 1999.

According to the PDP, “we are shocked that an elder statesman could paint such an ugly picture, tissue of lies, of his dear nation just to advance his political fortunes. We shudder that a former head of state under whose watch freedom of expression landed many Nigerians in detention on account of his obnoxious decrees, and who now enjoys such freedom, is utterly ungrateful to the efforts of our great party in advancing the cause of democracy."

Flaunting its democratic credentials, the PDP noted: "Today, criticisms, even destructive ones are hurled at the PDP-led Federal Government and no one is harassed because we uphold the inalienable rights of the people which are at the heart of democracy. We throw our doors open to criticism so that we accommodate alternative views.