By Henry Umoru

ABUJA—FORMER Chief Whip of the Senate and chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Rowland Owie, yesterday blamed governors elected on the party’s platform for its present leadership crisis, urging the governors to leave the party’s affairs alone and face governance.

A cross section of PDP Governors Forum

According to him, in the past, especially in the Second Republic, governors in the Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN, brought their annual budgets for vetting and approval by the party’s state executive before forwarding same to the state House Assembly for consideration, arguing that today’s governors treated party executive members as house helps.

In a statement, Senator Owie noted that the Chairman, Caretaker Committee of the party, Senator Ahmed Makarfi and former Acting National Chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, should drop their pride and embrace peace in the interest of the party and for the logjam to be resolved.

He said: “I urge leaders of our party to stop making public statements in support or against any of the two factions. The major cause of the present problem we have in the party is impunity. In the Second Republic our governors in the UPN brought their annual budgets for vetting and approval by the party’s state executive  before being  forwarded to the state House of Assembly for consideration. The UPN National Assembly members from the respective  States were automatic members of the state exco of the party. Now most our governors after being elected treat the party executive  members as house helps.

“In most cases party executive members are shifted to the government houses. To get headway in the reconciliation of this conflict in our PDP, our governors should please stay aside and face governance. Let our few respected leaders who are founding fathers go into the matter.

“I urge Senator Sherif and Markafi to close rank now. They should  know that everything here on earth, is “Vanity upon vanity” They should please  respect and listen now to the voice of reason.

“In this present dispensation, most members of the state executive of parties see copies of their state budgets after they have been presented to the Assembly. How can there be harmony in such situation. Also some of us party leaders, become palace Jesters around the governors because of hunger. Whether the governor  is doing well or not, we continue to hail him. His Excellency, Lateef Jakande, former  governor of Lagos State can testify to what the relationship was between party leaders and elected officials and now when some of the governors have become like Pharaoh.

“I foresee a situation of danger for the PDP if this disagreement persists into the New Year 2017. Everybody should  remove the “coat of pride” and get peace while at the same time, ensure that in the process to that  the “marketers of impunity masquerading as leaders are not allowed to show their faces any longer.”