By: Sunday Oyewole
President Goodluck Jonathan is currently meeting with the aggrieved Governors of the ruling party (G7) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Attending the peace talks are two Governors loyal to the President and Bamanaga Tukur-led PDP- Godswil Akpabio of Akwa Ibom and Ibrahim Shema of Katsina.
On the side of the G7, Governor Rabiu Kwakwanso is attending. Also expected to join the meeting are Governors Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers and Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara.
The President and the Governors at the last peace talks on September 15 could not reach consensus on all the issued put on the table for discussion and therefore rescheduled it for October 7 (today).
The leadership of the new PDP, a splinter group of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had last week pushed for the postponement of the rescheduled meeting.
Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, the new PDP’s National Publicity Secretary last week said they had requested that President Jonathan should shift the meeting because most of the governors would be in Saudi Arabia for this year’s Hajj.
But, Presidential Adviser on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak, on Sunday insisted the meeting would go head, saying the President was not formally notified that they would not be coming.
It will be recalled that at the last special convention of the ruling party held at Eagles Square, Abuja, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and seven governors staged a walked out.
About an hour later, the held a news conference at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua centre, where they announced the formation of a splinter group christened the ‘New PDP’ and a parallel national executive committee under the chairmanship of a former acting chairman of PDP, Abubakar Baraje.
