Icheoku says the election has been fought and won without the help of the northern elders forum and despite the overt as well as covert effort by them to sabotage President Jonathan's election victory. Now is the time to discipline those master-minds of anti-Jonathan activities within the Peoples Democratic Party; among which are Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, Abubakar Atiku, Aliyu Mohammed Gusau and Mallam Adamu Ciroma. These four northern tribal elders and renegade members of the PDP, who not only refused to support the PDP's candidate President Jonathan but went rogue on the party by actively sabotaging President Jonathan's election-effort, joining forces with the opposition parties should be punished.
Election has consequences and now that the election has been won without their help and notwithstanding their active sabotage, Icheoku says let those who made the victory possible send a strong message of their disgust to these miscreant saboteurs that what they did was wrong and unacceptable to the party. Icheoku says these four bitter and unforgiving elderly men are the real enemies within the PDP and they are the most dangerous type to have around; therefore they should be expelled from the party without further delay. It is not a case or question of carrying everyone along or trying to be magnanimous in victory; no, a case as this one presented by these four northern feudalistic apologists, should be specifically treated on its merit and/or demerit. It is imperative that a strong message is sent to other future wanna-be saboteurs of the party, whose personal parochial regional interest may outweigh that of the national interest of the party, that such anti-party activities shall not be tolerated. This will help to encourage those party faithfuls who stuck their necks out despite what was unpopular in their respective regions and worked their butts off to ensure victory for the party's candidate that their good effort as good party faithfuls were noted. Further that the PDP appreciates their loyalty, effort and hard-work which resulted in the resounding victory the party's candidate recorded in the presidential election.
Icheoku says it is simply unacceptable as it is unforgivable that Ibrahim Babangida, Abubakar Atiku, Aliyu Mohammed Gusau and Adamu Ciroma should spend their time campaigning and working against the PDP's presidential candidate and tirelessly worked for the success of other party's candidate - the opposition's CPC Muhammadu Buhari. These four men despite being repeatedly courted by both PDP and President Jonathan's campaign team, still went out of their way to work for the opposition, helping them unsuccessfully to broker an alliance deal between Buhari's CPC with Bola Tinubu's ACN. Their objective and driving force being just to defeat the PDP's presidential candidate President Goodluck Jonathan; and you wonder the type of anti-minorities hatred these foursome have for President Jonathan? If any political activity ever reached the height of what may be appropriately termed a 'treason' against a political party, what these four men did amounts to that act and accordingly they should be held accountable and sanctioned. Icheoku says, they should be tried for their egregious anti-party activity and expel from the party immediately. This should be a mere formality since they have by necessary implication, already expelled themselves from the party by acting against the party's presidential interest. Moreso it has become evidently clear that these men lacked the follower-ship and political goodwill hitherto wrongly associated with them in the north and could be dispensed with without much fallout. Their popularity and influence is so localized and very little such that their expulsion from the party will not adversely impact the party's foundational strength.
These charges are no longer mere accusations and allegations since the national secretary of the ACN, Senator Lawal Shuaibu, personally confirmed these four PDP elders involvement in strengthening the hands of the opposition parties by among other support, negotiating terms of the failed alliance between the ACN and Buhari's CPC. Icheoku asks what manner of true party men would, instead of working to ensure their party's victory in an election, be busy negotiating an alliance for the opposition parties to enable them to be strong enough to defeat their own party's presidential candidate at the polls. This is unacceptable, treasonous, despicable, wicked, mean-spirited, irrational and a gross anti-party for which they must be severely with expulsion from the party forthwith. Icheoku therefore calls on the Peoples Democratic Party to immediately expel the gang of aging tribal champions Ibrahim Babangida, Abubakar Atiku, Aliyu Mohammed Gusau and Adamu Ciroma for actively working against the PDP presidential candidate interest President Goodluck Jonathan; and joining forces with the opposition to ensure Jonathan's defeat at the polls. These four elderly men are not good party men as they refused and did not accept the wish of their party and its choice of a presidential candidate. They also went a step further by proactively working with the opposition against the PDP's candidate in order to defeat President Jonathan and should therefore suffer the consequences of their anti-party activities. Icheoku says, expel these four men from the PDP, now!
