Jonathan didn’t offer tickets to senators-Abatemi-Usman

President Goodluck Jonathan and the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) never offered automatic tickets to 40 senators for the 2015 general elections, Senator Nurudeen Abatemi-Usman (PDP, Kogi Central) has said. He was reacting to media reports that the president and the leadership of the party had at a meeting on Thursday night, offered […]

President Goodluck Jonathan and the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) never offered automatic tickets to 40 senators for the 2015 general elections, Senator Nurudeen Abatemi-Usman (PDP, Kogi Central) has said.
He was reacting to media reports that the president and the leadership of the party had at a meeting on Thursday night, offered automatic return tickets to 40 of 72 PDP senators.
Abatemi-Usman, who was at the meeting, told journalists in Abuja on Sunday that such truce was never reached at the meeting and described as misleading and untrue, the report of a harmonised list of automatic ticket holders.
He said the report was the handiwork of a senator who had been creating the false impression of being close to the Presidency and the PDP national leadership.

Abatemi-Usman said the senator, whose name he did not disclose, had reported at the meeting that his governor was planning to scheme him out of the race.
“My colleague should be careful as he’s becoming known as the
purveyor of dubious information. I was at the meeting from the
beginning to the end and at no point was any list of senators drafted. It’s unfortunate that a fellow senator would peddle such rumours and that respected national newspapers would publish the report without
checking the facts. What our national chairman did after some senators had spoken their minds was to look at the situation in each state, and he said where there are issues, they’ll be resolved amicably.
“If there was any such list, my name definitely would’ve been included because the chairman said he’s not aware that I’m having any problem in Kogi Central. The chairman said the problem in Kogi West would be resolved. That was the manner in which the chairman went through all the states. Neither he nor the President at any time mentioned names of senators to be granted
automatic tickets. It seems my colleague behind the purported report is being mischievous in spreading this story and the public should disregard his claims,” he said.
Efforts to get the comments of Jonathan’s political adviser, Rufai Alkali, who also attended the meeting, were unsuccessful as he did not answer phone calls placed to him yesterday.