A foremost Ijaw leader and former Minister of Information, Chief Clark, on Thursday, asked the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) not to grant waiver to Mallam Ribadu for the forthcoming bye-election in Adamawa State.Clark told a press conference in Abuja, on Thursday, that Ribadu would betray President Goodluck Jonathan at the end.He further claimed that Ribadu was involved in the impeachment of an unnamed governor of the party in the past.The former minister said the former anti-corruption crusader was known for raising false alarm against governors elected on the platform of the party in the past, while he served as chairman of the EFCC.He added that when the president saved him from public disgrace by converting his dismissal to retirement as assistant Inspector General of Police, Ribadu refused to show gratitude.He, therefore, warned the leadership of the party against granting him any waiver to contest the party's governorship primaries of the party in Adamawa State.Clark also suspected the defection of the former EFCC boss, saying that it was a grand conspiracy by some people in and outside the party to use Ribadu destroy the chances of President Jonathan in the state.He further stated in an open letter to the PDP chairman, Adamu Muazu, that 'welcoming him so enthusiastically and granting him an obnoxious waiver to pick up the party's governorship nomination paper is nothing other than grand plan against Mr President, the party and innocent Nigerians.'Mallam Ribadu, in his reaction, said 'those huffing and buffing over the entrance of Mallam Ribadu into this race portray themselves as empty shells that they are.'According to him,'the attempt to truncate a legitimate process is totally condemnable and uncalled for. There is no basis for opposition to granting of the waiver.'We don't seek for advantage over any aspirant. What we advocate for is for everybody to be allowed to participate in an open and transparent manner. No party member is superior to another.'Also, the immediate past executive secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and a governorship aspirant in the forthcoming Adamawa State governorship bye-election in the state on the platform of the PDP, Dr Ahmed Mohammed Modibbo, on Thursday, dismissed the petition against him by some co-aspirants in the race, that he was not a member of the party and should not be granted waiver by the party.Dr Modibbo, in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja, on Thursday by his media aide, Mr Julius Toba, described as baseless and ridiculous, a claim by his co-contestants in the party, that he was not a member of the party, thereby calling for his disqualification from the race.Modibbo did not only dismissed the petition, he also challenged its authors to come up with concrete evidence and facts to back their ficticious and fabricated lies against his personality, saying 'I am a foundation member of the PDP; the records are there right from my ward level.'According to the statement, 'much as Dr Modibbo would not like to join issues with any politician or fellow aspirants in this race, we cannot afford to watch and allow a few unserious elements have a field day running him down.''Just like other allegations made against any forward-looking politician of Adamawa extraction by the petitioners, Dr Umar Ardo, in the past; this latest one too smacks of bad blood, it is ridiculous, baseless and laughable in its entirety,' the statement read.Meanwhile, the PDP has raked in N154 million from the 14 governorship aspirants in the forthcoming Adamawa State governorship bye-election slated for October 11.It was gathered that the amount was realised from the expression of interest and nomination forms sold to the aspirants at N11 million each.The expression of interest form costs N1million each, while the nomination form was sold for N10 million to each aspirant.This is coming just as the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party would, today, decide the fate of the three of the aspirants on their request for waiver for their eligibility to continue in the governorship race.Those who applied for the waiver were former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) boss, Mallam Ribadu, General Buba Marwa, the former governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the 2011 election in the state, Mr Marcus Gundiri and General Aliyu Kama (retd).It was gathered that the issue of the waiver had already divided the members of the NWC, as some of them had reportedly expressed reservation of granting them the waiver for whatever reason, especially to Mallam Ribadu, while other stakeholders, including former and serving state governors and some members of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party had also kicked against granting waiver to any of themNational publicity secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, had told newsmen in Abuja after the marathon meeting of the NWC, that all issues concerning waiver applications would be resolved today, ahead screening exercise slated for tomorrow.Nigerian Tribune learnt that the meeting of the sub-committee raised by the NWC look into the waiver applications and report back to it, in order to be guided, was still in progress.
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