Politics-Nigeria - The attempt to work out a rapproachment between the ruling Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) presidential flagbearer, President Goodluck Jonathan and the Malam Adamu Ciroma-led Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF) appears to have hit a brick wall, as the party's Board of Trustees (BOT) has advised Jonathan not to deal with the group. The BoT met at the Aso Villa on Saturday night. The meeting, which was presided over by its chairman and former president Olusegun Obasanjo, it was learnt, resolved to advise the party's presidential flag-bearer to continue with his campaigns, instead of dissipating energy in trying to woo the NPLF for support.

LEADERSHIP learnt that the BoT members were miffed by the stance of the NPLF in the negotiations so far, personally initiated by President Jonathan to win their support ahead of the April 9, 2011 presidential election, as according to the source, the NPLF had stalled all attempts at reaching a compromise.

It was learnt that the BoT after reviewing the campaigns of President Jonathan so far, felt that the candidate stood a good chance of winning the election.

The BoT, it was also gathered resolved that the NPLF members are bona fide members of the PDP and should according to a source at the meeting, "should not be allowed to hold the party to ransom".

The BoT further said that in spite of the moves by President Jonathan to assuage the NPLF, they had continued to exhibit what the source called anti party positions.

It would be recalled that the NPLF had presented former vice president Atiku Abubakar as the consensus candidate of the hitherto presidential aspirants on the platform of the party from the geo-political North.

Chuks Ohuegbe

Leadership/21/03/2011