A former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Ahmadu Ali, yesterday took a swipe at a former minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, over the 2014 National Conference report.
Speaking at the opening session of the Middle Belt Leader’ Conference held at New World Hotel, in Abuja, Gana said the leaders had resolved that the Federal Government should fast-track the full implementation of the report of the confab which, he said, would promote peace, security and national stability.
Gana also said the current federal structure was not balanced, noting that it was unfair, over-centralised and unstable, hence the urgent need for restructuring.
But shortly after his speech, Dr Ali, a retired military colonel who also served as Director-General of the 2015 PDP Campaign Organisation, stood up and countered Gana’s position on the confab report.
”He (Gana) shouldn’t have called for the implementation of the report of the national conference because of the manner it was convened; the composition. He didn’t subject us to discussions on the topics but went ahead to read the resolutions; it is wrong,” he said.
He said he was among the Northern Delegates to the conference, saying they recently met at the Gombe Jewel Hotel, in Abuja and rejected the report of the conference.
Col. Ali said he could, therefore, not come back through another platform to accept the report or call for its implementation.
When his opposition became stiff, the hall became noisy and some of the participants at the event urged him to calm down.
However, the retired colonel overruled them and went ahead with his presentation.
Thereafter, Prof. Gana, who was the chairman of the conference, stood up once again and insisted that “If you want Nigeria to be peaceful and stable, implement the report of the national conference” and that was when the meeting went into a closed-door session.
Briefing newsmen at the end of the meeting which lasted for about four hours, secretary of the forum, John Dara, announced the resolve to adopt the resolutions earlier read by Prof. Gana.
He said they also called on the federal and the Borno State governments to rescue the Chibok girls still in captivity and also resettle people from the southern part of Borno in their ancestral homes.
The middle belt leaders also condemned the ultimatum given to the Igbo by some northern youth saying it was unconstitutional.
Some of those who attended the meeting included a former governor of Plateau State, Fidelis Tapgun; a former deputy governor of Nasarawa State, John Mike Abdul; Senator Danjuma La’ah representing Kaduna South and David Kente among others.
