Fresh facts are beginning to emerge on how former Chairman of Board of Trustees, BoT of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Tony Anenih and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and leader of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Chief Olu Falae entered into a working relationship prior to the 2015 presidential election.
The letter by Chief Tony Anenih, the then Chairman of PDP BoT was dated January 26, 2015 and it confirmed the claim by Chief Olu Falae that there was inter-party cooperation between the PDP and the SDP to support Jonathan’s presidential ambition since the SDP had no presidential candidate for the 2015 Presidential elections.
The PDP through Chief Anenih had agreed to the six issues raised by the SDP before it could support the re-election bid of President Goodluck Jonathan in last year’s presidential election.
Falae, who admitted that he received on behalf of the SDP the sum of N100 million from the PDP through Anenih, following the agreement to work together, told an online newspaper-Premium Times-that the money was distributed to all the state branches of the SDP.
Chief Falae had also stated elsewhere that his party, which did not have a candidate for the presidential election, decided to work for the actualization of Jonathan’s re-election after the PDP agreed to the six issues it placed on the negotiation table.
Anenih’s letter had clearly responded to the six issues, thus paving the way for the PDP-SDP working cooperation.
The letter, entitled: “Inter-Party Co-operation” and signed by Anenih in his capacity as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP reads: “I write to sincerely thank you for your letter dated January 23,2015, on the above subject matter.
“After due consultations with relevant stakeholders of our party, I am pleased to convey to you our decisions on the issues and to further inform you that the President and the leadership of our party have expressed delight and strong optimism to fully cooperate and work with the SDP in the circumstance.
“On the implementation of the report of the 2014 National Conference” that “Please be assured that the report of the National Conference will be implemented to the letter. We believe that having regards to the fact that the National Conference was a baby of the President, he is in a better position to implement it. And this is what he is doing.”
On “zero tolerance to corruption”, Anenih had responded thus : “There is no doubt that our party, the PDP and your party, the SDP, are on the same page on this issue. Apart from the fact that this administration has done more arrests, investigations, prosecutions and convictions of corrupt cases, the President has continuously laid emphasis on the need to develop an appropriate technology to comprehensively combat corruption and its vices.
“The approach, for example, has produced immense results in eliminating corruption that was associated with the distribution of fertilizers in Nigeria in the past.”
On “intensification of efforts to defeat insurgency”, he said: “it is the primary duty of Government to protect the lives and property of its citizens and secure the territorial integrity of the nation. This Government has consistently made efforts to deal with the challenges of Boko Haram who have established their operational base somewhere between some States in the North-East of the country and the boundary with some of our neighbouring African countries.
“Terrorism has become a global phenomenon and fighting it requires the co-operation of not just the entire citizens but the support of the international community. The President is working on this. In his recent visit to Borno and in a rally in Maiduguri few days ago, he assured the people that every inch of Nigerian soil currently under the control of insurgents will be recovered in no distant time.”