Jonathan intervenes in Ondo crisis

President Goodluck Jonathan has intervened in the crisis going on in Ondo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the concerning the process leading to emergence of candidates ahead the 2015 general election.

The party in the state has been enmeshed in crisis with about 74 aspirants alleging that they had been replaced by those loyal to the state governor, Olusegun Mimiko, who recently defected to the party.

After staging a protest in Abuja, where they vowed to resist such impositions with the last drop of their blood, the aspirants vowed to engineer protest votes against the party, should the party's hierarchy fails to address their grievances.

Nigerian Tribune, however, gathered that the president, together with the chairman, Board of Trustees of the party, Tony Anenih; Senate president, David Mark; Olusola Oke and Jimoh Ibrahim, among others have intervened.

This was confirmed to the Nigerian Tribune in Abuja, on Tuesday, by the chairman of the Ondo PDP aspirants forum, Honourable Adekanmbi Femi.

He confirmed that an agreement was reached for all of the aspirants to be subjected to primaries.

The chairman further confirmed that about 203 wards and local governments chairmen, as well as all the aspirants attended the reconciliation meeting.

According to him, the meeting resolved that the current executive members of the party in the state should not be tampered with while the screening committee which was due to commence its tasks today, should do same at the party's secretariat.

Adekanmbi, however, insisted that there would be no going back on the court's action instituted by the aspirants against the party.

He maintained that an agreement must be signed by the major stakeholders to seal the verbal agreements reached.

The chairman noted that the court case served as a weapon for the aspirants, pending when the agreement was signed.

He said: "Till that is done, nobody can withdraw the court case. We believe in the words of President Goodluck Jonathan, but what if Governor Mimiko fails to abide by the agreement at the end of the day?

"We want to appeal to the screening committee for the House of Representatives and the Senate not to conduct its affairs at the Ondo State Government House and not to be induced.

"They should protect their integrity and the party. They should be seen to have done justice at the end of their task.

"We want to thank PDP leaders who have not compromised and who have sustained the fighting spirit to make sure that justice is done since the crisis broke out.

"We want to assure President Jonathan that we will give him one million votes; he will win convincingly in Ondo State."
Source: Olaniran Faith's blog