The Peoples Democratic Party on Saturday through its spokesman, Olisa Metuh, said it postponed the Board of Trustees chairmanship election to enable those interested in the position make formal declaration.
Albeit this claim is the official stand, sources privy to party activities said President Jonathan asked that the election be deferred as he sensed a political disgrace.
A source speaking to DailyPost said: “There is no doubt that Baba and Dr. Jonathan are not in good terms. The fact is that Obasanjo is the political mathematician of Nigeria and as it stands today, without the president doing proper homework, he would lose if that election was held.”
Many believe this is a the first major show of strength between Messer Jonathan and Obasanjo, who are reportedly in a cold war over issues of governance and political differences. While former chairman of the party’s BOT, Tony Anenih has the backing of the presidency, a former national chairman, Ahmadu Ali, is being supported by ex-President Obasanjo.
The former military Head of State, who is still popular in the party wields enormous power and this is a huge threat to Jonathan who is keen on having a solid grip of the party especially with 2015 in sight.
Recall that as president, Obasanjo had played a fast one on Anenih when the latter was the chairman of the BOT some years ago. The ex-general initiated and succeeded in changing the rules for vying for the exalted seat. That law stipulates that only former presidents can contest the PDP BOT chairmanship. With that in place, Obasanjo after he left office in 2007 ousted Anenih and simply strolled into the office.
But under normal circumstances, none of those whom have shown interest are qualified for the seat as the act which brought Obasanjo to office is still in effect.
However, as the new date of the election approaches, the president it was learnt is working on throwing up a back-up candidate in the event that Anenih does not get the required support from the party’s bigwigs.
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