Atiku Abubakar
By Chuks Okocha
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and former Minister of Environment, Hassan Adamu, have suggested the setting up of a peace and reconciliation committee to ensure that Governor Muritala Nyako of Adamawa State attains victory at the January 14, 2012 governorship election.
The suggestion is coming against the backdrop of the setting up of a high powered national campaign committee by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Both of them spoke at a closed door sessions with the Vice-President Namadi Sambo, after the inauguration of the national campaign committee, while reacting to the post comments on how to ensure that Nyako is re-elected.
Atiku, who faulted the composition of the national campaign committee put in place by the NWC of the party with the vice- president as chairman, said the committee was not reflective of the various ethnic groupings in the state and other aggrieved members of the party from Adamawa State.
Atiku urged PDP to shun rhetoric and set up a peace and reconciliation committee to address the crisis within the state, if the party is actually desirous of winning the governorship election as it set out to do.
Atiku told the national campaign committee headed by the vice-president that Adamawa State was made of more than 87 ethnic groups and that the committee is not reflective of what is on ground in the ethnic composition in the state.
Apart from this, Atiku told the meeting that all aggrieved politicians in the state are all members of the PDP and therefore, if the party is aiming for victory, there is the need to ensure that there is a total reconciliation.
He suggested that a neutral person in the person of the vice-president should be the chairman of the peace and reconciliation committee in the state.
His views were supported by the former Minister of Envi-ronment, Hassan Adamu, who also said there are lots of aggrieved politicians in the state and that it would be fruitless for the party to pretend that all is well.
The former Speaker of the Adamawa State House of Assembly, James Barka drew attention to the impeachment of the two principal officers of the state assembly, the speaker and the deputy speaker, stating that such development will not augur well for the much needed peace and reconciliation in the state.
The Speaker, Hon. Sadiq Ibrahim Dasin, his deputy, Hon. Wale Fwa of Demsa constituency, was also removed. He explained that the impeachment of the two principal officers had left a sour taste in the already fragile peace in the state.
It was this reason that the party agreed that a peace and reconciliation committee be set up as a sub committee to the national campaign committee.