*Wike Threatens To Revoke Titles Of Venues Used By ‘Unrecognised Political Groups’
THE Kabiru Tanimu Turaki-led faction of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was forced to change the venue of its advertised convention on Saturday, May 30, and eventually ratified former President, Goodluck Jonathan, as its presidential candidate for next year’s general election.
This followed the blocade of access roads leading to the A-Class Event Centre in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, its earlier announced venue for the ratification of Jonathan as its presidential candidate.
A former minister of Information, Jerry Gana, received the certificate on behalf of Jonathan at the brief event, attended by dignitaries, including Turaki, Adolphus Wabara and several other supporters of the faction.
According to Channels TV, the Police, using several of their vans, completely blocked the two access roads to the earlier venue from the Wuse and Maitama axis, thereby denying access to both PDP members loyal to Turaki and other road users.
Recall that on Friday, May 29, the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, warned hotels and event centres not to allow “illegal political parties or organisations” to use their resources of properties, for the sake of security in the territory, threatening to revoke the tittles of any defaulting centre.
In response, the faction, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, accused Wike of attempting to halt its planned event, confirming that the planned venue had informed it of pressure being mounted on it to stop the gathering from taking place, after it had already paid for the venue and fulfilled all conditions required for the programme and notified security agencies of the convention.
It said the PDP had instructed its lawyers to remind the event centre of the subsisting agreement signed with it, insisting that the convention would proceed, despite what it described as intimidation.
It stated: “We are certain that Nigeria is a country governed by law, and any attempt to use force to suppress political dissent and opposition is an aberration which must be resisted by all people of good conscience.”
Wike-backed faction of the party had earlier urged Jonathan to reject the Turaki faction’s planned endorsement.
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), headed by Wike, had earlier warned owners of event centres, hotels and other public facilities in the territory against allowing their premises to be used by “illegal organisations or unrecognised” organisations and political party leaderships.
In a statement on Friday, by the Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the minister, Lere Olayinka, FCTA said the directive was part of efforts to strengthen security in the capital city and support ongoing operations by security agencies.
The statement added: “In view of the need to further ensure the security of lives and properties in the FCT and sustain the efforts of security agencies in this regard, usage of event centres, hotels and other public buildings will now be closely monitored.
“This is aimed at ensuring that they are not used by illegal organisations for gatherings capable of disrupting the peace of the nation’s capital.”
The FCTA urged owners of such facilities to verify the legality of organisations seeking to rent their premises and to understand the purpose of the gatherings before approving their use, and to deal only with leaderships of political parties recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), especially during the current political season.
It warned that failure to comply with the directive will result to revocation of the title documents of such properties, stressing that lands allocated within the FCT are meant strictly for lawful activities.
