PDP Convention: War in OBJ's Home - Iyabo Tackles Father's Candidate

Idowu Samuel, Abuja - 16.02.2008

There are indications that both the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and his daughter, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, have not been operating on the same wave length politically, as they have now been pitched against each other on the choice of the next chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Investigations by Saturday Tribune revealed that Iyabo has been working at cross-purposes with her father who is currently weathering severe storm in the PDP at the instance of members who have been scheming to remove him as the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the PDP.

Iyabo, findings revealed, is one of the top supporters of the former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim, in the National Assembly on his ambition to become the next chairman of the PDP, not minding the interest of her father to ensure that he is a party to the emergence of Ahmadu Ali’s successor.

There have been moves in the PDP to crush the interest of Obasanjo on the choice of the new chairman of the PDP, even as two main groups in the party – The Integrity Group, led by Hon. Farouk Lawan, and G-21, led by the former Senate President, Sen. Ken Nnamani, are poised to fight him to a standstill.

Both groups have been openly suggesting to PDP to be circumspect of the strong influence wielded by the former president, whereas the G-21 had taken a step further by proposing an amendment of the PDP constitution to remove the clauses exploited by Obasanjo during his administration to make himself the BOT chairman of the ruling party.

The proposal by the G-21 was however turned down by the PDP during the last meeting of the National Executive Committee in Abuja, as the National Chairman, Chief Ahmadu Ali, complained against the proposal, saying the process of submission ought to have followed the due process.

Meanwhile, Senator Iyabo is said to be fully at home with members of the G-21 and Integrity Group and has been networking with them on modalities for actualising the chairmanship of Anyim during the next National Convention of the PDP which comes up on March 8.

Obasanjo is widely believed to be a strong supporter of the ambition of former governor of Ebonyi State, Dr. Sam Egwu, to become the next PDP Chairman on the basis of the long-standing relationship he had established with Egwu.

Both Egwu and Anyim hail from Ebonyi State and have been arch rivals, a reason why attempts by some concerned PDP members to make one of them step down for the other has proved abortive.

All the PDP chairmanship aspirants have ruled out the possibility of agreeing to any plan aimed at picking a consensus candidate from among them.

Some Senators who spoke with Saturday Tribune affirmed that Senator Iyabo was neck-deep in the campaign to have Anyim emerge as the PDP National Chairman, making individual efforts in convincing his colleagues to support the former Senate President.

Saturday Tribune learnt that the manner Iyabo had been taking the campaign suggested that she was really not perturbed by the contract scam against her as well as the news report about the storm in her family occasioned by an alleged illicit sexual acts among members of the family.