Barely 24 hours after he was involved in a shouting match with Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio, the Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum and Governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu was summoned to the Presidential Villa for up to two hours by President Goodluck Jonathan.
Aliyu has been under pressure from the leadership of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) to withdraw his comments on an alleged “one-term only agreement” signed with the governors of the party by President Goodluck Jonathan as well as to have him withdraw his support for the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, whose re-election comes up in May.
Before the NGF rescheduled its chairmanship election on Monday night, Aliyu and Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio had engaged in a shouting match over the formation of the PDP Governors Forum, which the Niger State governor described as baseless and an attempt to break the ranks of the 36 governors.
Aliyu was the only governor ‘summoned’ to the Villa, a development which generated anxiety among his colleagues and political associates. Though it was not clear what Aliyu was told at the Villa, there are indications that Aliyu’s invitation may also have been in connection with his recent utterances that some external forces were at work to split the NGF.
A confidential source said, “We are aware that since he raised issues on the President’s pact with PDP governors, he has been under pressure to retract the comments he made during a phone-in-programme on Liberty Radio in Kaduna.
“Some security agencies, PDP stalwarts and government officials are said to have obtained the tape of the interview for review to ascertain that Aliyu actually made the revelation.”
The source said that the visit to the Villa by Aliyu was part of the steps to change him as the Presidency considers him to be aggressive towards them.
“They know that Aliyu is leading the Northern Governors Forum, a powerful caucus which could make much political impact. They also need the Forum’s support to stop Amaechi’s re-election in May,” he said, adding:
“Of the 19 Northern governors, only four were said to be anti-Amaechi on Monday. They included Governors Ibrahim Shema (Katsina); Gabriel Suswam (Benue); Isa Yuguda (Bauchi) and Idris Wada (Kogi).”
Aliyu’s visit to the Villa might also be connected to do with alleged anti-party statements he made at the NGF’s session on Monday, where he spoke against the formation of the PDP Governors’ Forum, saying he foresaw the emergence of a dictator.
“The PDP leadership felt slighted and it believes that Aliyu should be called to order. As a matter of fact, Akpabio visited the PDP National Headquarters on Tuesday to give bite to the new forum.
“Some party leaders are already agitating that Aliyu should be sanctioned for anti-party activities.
“The governor has also uncovered plans to frame him up as part of a grand plot to impose disciplinary sanctions on him,” said another source.
The anti-Amaechi forces continued yesterday to rally Northern governors for the Presidency to effect a change of leadership in the NGF.
A third source added: “These forces are now reaching out to the governors one-by-one to lobby them to dump Amaechi.
“Those who are pro-Amaechi are watching their backs to keep the NGF united and solid against any form of infiltration.”