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NATIONAL Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Audu Ogbeh believes Kano State Governor Malam Ibrahim Shekarau was mischievous when he (Shekarau) accused PDP members of provoking the riot that rocked the state recently.
Speaking with newsmen in Abuja, Chief Ogbeh said "I have to be honest with you, I think that is absolutely ridiculous to say the least. It is preposterous, we don't want to push certain things." The PDP chairman also ruled out the possibility of conducting fresh elections in Plateau State following the declaration of a state of emergency. He disclosed this to leaders of the party from Plateau State led by Second Republic Deputy Senate President, Senator John Wash Pam who paid him a solidarity visit in Abuja.
On the claim by Kano State governor that PDP members were responsible for the crisis in the state, Chief Ogbeh said: "He was warned by the Emir of Kano not to allow the demonstration and he went ahead and did it and he is turning around to blame the PDP."
Ogbeh said "It was for the sake of peace that PDP has refused to push the matter further. What role has he played in the riot? And the killing of so many people in Kano, what role did he play? "We don't want to play unnecessary politics with the issue there. He has no right to make statement like that. What did he make of the advise of Emir of Kano and Sultan of Sokoto? He ignored their advise, and he can turn around and blame the PDP?, he queried.
"We just hope that he knows as Governor of the state, he has responsibility for lives and property, and anything that quietly and overtly encourages violence and killings is wrong and secondly ungodly," he added. Second Republic Deputy Senate President, Senator John Wash Pam who led the delegation of party leaders to the PDP Secretariat told newsmen that they visited the PDP chairman as a mark of solidarity with the Federal Government of the Peoples Democratic Party. Senator Pam said they were being sent to Mr. President and the party in particular to lift the suspension on the House of Assembly.
He denied report that the Leaders of the Party in Plateau State had met with Mr. President. "We didn't meet him yesterday, that was a wrong reporting." Our prayer is that he (Obasanjo) should restore the democratic institutions in Plateau State as early as possibleâ-oeâ-oebetter still before the six-month period as contained in the Constitution.
He also expressed confidence that once the democratic institutions are restored, "all of us that you see here, that was what we did before we came here. We could have been here two weeks earlier, but we said to ourselves that we should all go back to our own constituencies and see what we can do to restore peace in Plateau State."
Let us tell our people to support the administrator and give him all the cooperation that he needs so that he can succeed because the earlier peace returns to Plateau state we know we assure the earlier the democratic institution could be restored."
The party has asked us to go back and work for peace and we will leave the rest to them and Mr. President. We want to make an appointment to see the President if possible, that's was one of our requests.
On his impression of the delegation from Plateau State Chief Ogbeh said: "They were very very level headed, they regretted what happened in Plateau state; they actually said they apologized for the kind of grief they caused Nigeria and that it shouldn't become an opportunity for people to call for fresh elections in Plateau State."
He said, "But frankly, that baffles me too. That must be a work of fiction in the mind of anyone to suggest that at the end of the six months there would be elections. There is no such thing. The PDP won that state and we intend to keep it. So if the situation normalizes ahead of scheduled, the Constitution provides that the National Assembly can call off the state of emergency."
"So they are working very hard now going round the villages, Muslims and Christians meeting, the women are going around talking to each other restoring peace. So we are very pleased with what they are doing. We have asked them to go home and continue," he noted.
According to Ogbeh, "As a matter of fact in the next few days here, people are going to meet at different political levels. The situation in Nigeria today, the least we need is peace. We can't afford this killing and violence and so on, because at the bottom of it all is poverty and low level political practice."
On the fate of democratic institutions, especially the House of Assembly, he said, "well, we are talking about that; the President is looking at it. We are all looking at it, seeking opinions and as soon as we have clear interpretation of certain situations, we will definitely meet with the President and talk with him and talk with the National Assembly.
On what becomes of the court actions already initiated by some aggrieved persons in the House of Assembly, Ogbeh said, " well, it is a democracy, if we solve the problems before the courts, then of course they will withdraw the case, if the court rules before us, fine but you can't stop anyone in a democracy. And the courts are there, their job is to say well, you are wrong, you are right and we follow what they say."
The National Chairman stressed: "So we are quite hopeful on this issue, like we have said, PDP is sad that it had to happen to one of our own governors, and on the other hand we are matured enough to realize that democracy must be allowed to work and that the Constitution is being tested, but the meeting was very useful."
Asked whether it is true that PDP Government in any way violated the Constitution by suspending the Governor because there was no clause like that, he recalled that a state of emergency was declared in the State of Illinois in 1876 in US. "A lot of trouble happened between the Governor then and the president of the United States, in the end, the Supreme Court upheld his action" adding "It does happen, but the Constitution is being tested; we are waiting on the court to tell us whether we are right or wrong."
On the letter written to Mr. President by Kano State Governor accusing PDP members as cause of the problem in the state, he said I have to be honest with you, I think that is absolutely ridiculous to say the least. It is preposterous we don't want to push certain things. But we want to suspect him of gross mischief too in what happened in Kano State. He was warned by the Emir of Kano not to allow the demonstration and he went ahead and did it and he is turning around to blame the PDP."
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