- Former president Jonathan, his wife and other PDP leaders have been accused of engaging in anti-party activities
- The ex-president’s kinsmen claimed he (Jonathan) and other party leaders are supporting candidates of other parties
- However, Jonathan’s media aide has dismissed the allegations, saying the ex-president never engaged in anti-party activities
Kinsmen of former President Goodluck Jonathan under the auspices of the Ogbia Renaissance (OR) have reportedly accused the former president and his wife, Patience Jonathan, of working against candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa state.
The group, according to The Nation, alleged that Jonathan and his wife were plotting to work against the PDP in a bid to actualise their interests.
Obhioru Mitanoni, the chairman of OR claimed that Jonathan, his wife, A.J Turner are conniving with other PDP leaders to perpetrate anti-party activities ahead of the general elections.
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Mitanoni further alleged that the ex-president’s alleged anti-party activities have pitched him against Governor Seriake Dickson and other PDP chieftains in the state.
According to the Mitanoni, Jonathan is supporting Samuel Ogboku, an ex-chief of staff to former Governor Timipre Sylva, vying for House of Reps seat in Ogbia on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The PDP candidate for the seat is reportedly Fred Obua.
Mitanoni also claimed the ex-president is backing Senator Nimi Amange who reportedly defected to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to contest the Bayelsa East senatorial election.
Recall that Senator Ben Bruce of the Bayelsa East Senatorial Zone (Jonathan’s Senatorial District) withdrew from his re-election bid allegedly in honour of a subsisting zoning arrangement.
Jonathan and King AJ Turner were, however accused of supporting Nimi Amange Barigha of ADC against the PDP Candidate, Chief Blessing Ipigansi Izagara.
Mitanoni added that Jonathan was backing Cleric Awudum, (Accord Party) against the PDP candidate, Munaleyefa Gibson, in Ogbia Constituency 2; Gabriel Ogbara of ADC against the PDP candidate Naomi Ogoli for Constituency 3.
The OR chairman claimed that Jonathan decided to support for the APC and ADC candidates because his anointed PDP candidates lost in the party’s primaries.
He, therefore, called on the national chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, to take urgent steps to call Jonathan to order so as to save the party from electoral misfortunes in the next election.
Mitanoni was quoted to have said: “Jonathan, his wife Patience and A.J Turner’s brand of petty, self-centred brand of politics in Ogbia is a mockery and cruel slap on the enviable track record of late Senator Melford Okilo and other notable founding fathers and leaders in Ogbia land who fought hard to raise the profile of the Ogbia Kingdom.
“Their selfish brand of politics has left Ogbia completely desolate, abandoned and rudderless. Ogbia that was once the pride and envy of the old Rivers state and Niger Delta is now a land begging for attention with the bulk of her people feeding from the crumbs that have fallen off the dining table of some self-glorifying leaders with no sense of mission.”
According to Mitanoni, Jonathan and his cohorts were at the loggerhead with Governor Dickson because of an alleged rift on who to succeed the Bayelsa governor in 2020.
However, in a reaction to the allegations raised by Mitanoni, Ikechukwu Eze, Jonathan’s media aide, said it was untrue the ex-president was engaging in anti-party activities.
His words: “It is manifestly dishonest, deceitful and preposterous for anybody to suggest that former President Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is working against the interest of the party under which he rose to occupy the highest office in the land.
“As one of the leaders of the party, having served as President under the Peoples Democratic Party, it is obvious that Dr Jonathan has continued and will continue to work for the success of PDP across the nation."
Eze added that those claiming that there is a rift between Jonathan and Governor Dickson are mere mischief makers.
He said: “Those who also push the narrative of a war between him and Bayelsa state governor, Seriake Dickson are either adept at conjuring up a rift where there is none or are lovers of mischief who do not have the interest of Bayelsa state at heart.”
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Meanwhile, without the company of Atiku Abubakar, its presidential candidate, the PDP will next week in Washington, D.C., advertise its programme and share insights on the future of US-Nigeria relations.
Taking the centre-stage instead is Atiku’s running mate, Peter Gregory Obi. Obi will be a guest at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) to discuss the PDP’s economic and security objectives, as well as his views on the future of US-Nigeria relations.
The event is scheduled for Tuesday, January 15, 2019.
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