According to Leadership, it was, however, learnt that the meeting ended without the parties making any headway towards brokering a truce between the principal actors in the dispute.
The NWC on August 1, wrote to Jibrin, inviting him to appear before it over the issue.
Contrary to speculations that the lawmaker may not honour the invitation, he made a surprise appearance at the national secretariat of the party.
The lawmaker, who was decked in a white brocade with cap to match, entered the party secretariat in company with a team of lawyers and aides at about 2:05pm, in a black Land Cruiser with registration number BWA 768 AM, and made straight to the office of the deputy national chairman (North), Sen Lawal Shuaibu where he was received by the NWC led by the party’s national secretary, Mai Mala Buni; national treasurer, Alhaji Bala Mohammed Gwagwarwa and national vice chairman, Inuwa Abdulkadir among others.
Jibrin emerged after over three hours of the closed-door session with the party bigwigs at about 5:15pm, wearing a grin on his face, but he was hesitant to speak to journalists who were waiting anxiously to interview him.
The deputy national chairman (North), Lawal Shuaibu, however, said, the meeting was aimed at amicable resolution of the feud, adding that the party leadership had earlier met with the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara.“I summoned him.
The national secretary of the party and the national vice chairman of his zone sat down to discuss.
There is nothing like passing any judgment on any member of the party; we only play our role as the umpire in this matter, to see how we can create some atmosphere of peace and unity among our members.
“I was reading today in a paper that we called him to discipline him; discipline him for what? Whatever happens in the House of Representatives or the Senate, under the constitution and their rules, they are immune.
But when certain things go off course, the party needs to call its members to know how best to unite any feuding members. That is exactly what we did.“What we did actually was that we heard from him.
We had heard earlier from the Speaker but because it was not in the newspapers, nobody knew we held a meeting with the Speaker.
“I want to say what we discussed, honestly speaking, was to get a better brief because we have to be carried along.
They are our members; we should know, from them directly, what is really going on so that we can see how we can handle the situation without necessary making it a town square dance,” he stated.
Jibrin later said, he was at the secretariat to honour the party’s invitation. He confirmed that no resolution was reached but assured that talkswill continue until the matter is settled.
“I’m here on the invitation of our great party, the APC. We discussed extensively on the crisis in the House of Representatives. We will continue to discuss and engage ourselves.
I will continue to honour the invitation of our party and I am sure that whatever it is we decide, you will know in due course,” he said.
The lawmaker was summoned by the party’s topbrass who had decided to wade into the crisis currently rocking the green chambers involving Jibrin, Speaker Dogara, his deputy, Yusuf Lasun; the minority leader, Leo Ogor and about 10 other principal officers of the House.
This latest development is the new twist to the matter. Both Dogara and Jibrin are members of the ruling APC.Jibrin had on Monday submitted petitions at the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC); the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC); Department of Security Services (DSS); and the Police Headquarters all in Abuja, against the Speaker and 11 others.
Speaking with journalists shortly after submitting his petition at the ICPC, Jibrin said that if the accused could be prosecuted, found guilty and sent to jail, it would send out a powerful signal of President Muhammadu Buhari’s war against corruption.
A chieftain of the party and deputy national publicity secretary, Comrade Timi Frank, had over the weekend called on the NWC members to resign their positions if they could no longer steer the ship of the party, apparently referring totheir inability to mediate in the alleged budget padding scandal and also stave off the wave of crises afflicting the party.
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