As the opposition Peoples Democratic Party
gets set to name a new leader of the party,
governors and other chieftains of the PDP are
on a manhunt for a former chairman of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,
Nuhu Ribadu, in their bid to make him chairman. PREMIUM TIMES gathered that a meeting of the
national caucus of the PDP is currently holding
in Abuja, after which the National Executive
Committee would meet at the Wadata Plaza
secretariat of the party by 2p.m. on Tuesday. Mr. Ribadu was tipped for the chairmanship
position last year, shortly after the then
chairman, Ahmadu Muazu, resigned from
office. However, we gathered that the move,
championed by governors elected under the
party, was thwarted by the National Working
Committee, NWC, under the interim leadership
of Uche Secondus. We also gathered that Mr. Ribadu who had
earlier agreed to take the offer also abandoned
it on account of “lack of seriousness to truly
reform the party by its top echelon”. However, after a long back and forth and
controversy, including court cases, the party
agreed to hold a special NEC meeting to fill the
position created by the resignation of Mr.
Muazu. PREMIUM TIMES learnt of spirited attempts over
the last few days by some top party chieftains
to persuade Mr. Ribadu to accept to chair and
transform the party. A source privy to the goings on in the PDP said
some of the party’s governors visited Mr.
Ribadu in a last minute effort to get him to
change his position. He was however, said to
have stuck to his guns. “Since midnight yesterday, party chieftains led
by a governor from the South-south region
began a search for Ribadu, to no avail. “The ex-EFCC chair was said to have gone
incommunicado since last night, making all
attempts to reach him impossible,” the source
said. He also said at least four governors of the party
and other chieftains are currently waiting at the
Bayelsa governors lodge in Maitama area of
Abuja, scrambling to reach Mr Ribadu. “Mr. Ribadu, PREMIUM TIMES learnt, is skeptical
of taking the PDP job because of the battered
image the party has suffered, especially with
current corruption probes. “He is also not confident that the party’s
bigwigs would tolerate his radical disposition,”
our source said. PREMIUM TIMES reporters have been
unsuccessful in reaching Mr. Ribadu for hours.
His telephones are switched off the several
times our reporters called. At his residence in the Asokoro District of
Abuja, security guards denied our reporters
entry, saying the former EFCC chairman was not
home, and that his whereabouts is unknown. When contacted, his spokesperson, Abdulaziz
Abdulaziz, said he had not been able to reach
Mr. Ribadu in the past two days.
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Ribadu Goes Into Hiding As PDP Moves To Appoint Him Party ChairmanCreated at 2016-02-16
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