THISDAYonline

The chairman of the Kano chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Yusuf Kutama, has dismissed the accusation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Ghali Umar Na'Abba that some aides of President Olusegun Obasanjo are after his life.

Speaking yesterday in an interview with THISDAY, Kutama expressed surprise at the accusation, saying as a muslim he had never thought of killing anybody in his life.

"I stand by what I had earlier said that I am ready to defend the interest of the PDP and if Na'Abba leaves PDP today the party would be better off.

"What I was told prompted the speaker to accuse us of planning to kill him is the use of the idiomatic expression: 'his days are numbered' which also means he is going to fail, loose or fall out of favour etc.

But I said and starred it that the he is going to fail, if he continues to attack the interest of PDP and since the position he attained he got it through PDP," he said.

On the allegation that some thugs were given N500 to attack the speaker, the chairman said he was not privy to any such plan

"Let him come and tell us who and who collected and who gave them the money to perpetrate the act," he challenged the speaker.

It will be recalled that on June 29, Na'Abba at a launching of the PDP Kano municipal council Almanac and a book on himself harshly criticised President Olusegun Obasanjo and urged people not to vote for the party if it fields the president as its candidate in the 2003 polls.

The speaker at the occasion vowed to quit the PDP should it present Obasanjo as its flagbearer in next year's general elections. Shortly after the Kano municipal event, some irate PDP followers were said to have invaded the Nasarawa quarters residence of Na'Abba with a view to attack him. The youths were however repelled by securitymen attached to the speaker.

However, last Thursday, a spokesman for the speaker, Faruk Adejoh-Audu issued a statement alleging that some presidential aides were planning to kill Na'Abba on account of his opposition to the re-election bid of president Obasanjo.

In the statement, Na'Abba said the purported attack on him in Kano "was to give the impression that President Obasanjo is popular in Kano, thus, hoodlums would therefore attack whoever is against his re-election."

Na'Abba particularly expres-sed discomfort with the statement credited to Kutama, who was quoted as saying, "He (Na'Abba) should also realise that whoever attacks Obasanjo is attacking PDP interest. And we are ready to protect PDP and its interest. Ghali can say whatever he wants to say. But he should be careful, if he continues to attack PDP, he should know that his days are numbered."

Kutama, who doubles as Obasanjo's campaign coordinator in Kano said the way Na'Abba was carrying on, attacking the PDP, he would not be surprised if the party's supporters "decided to take action."

However, Na'Abba said the purported attack was therefore, "to prepare the minds of Nigerians of the possibility of Na'Abba being attacked in Kano, therefore providing a cover for their larger agenda of eliminating the Hon. Speaker."

The statement said Na'Abba is alarmed at the desperation of Obasanjo supporters in Kano. "As a matter of fact, we are aware that ..., a prot‚g‚ of Aminu Wali, Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters actually gave N500 each to twenty persons to disrupt a meeting between Na'Abba and state and local government executives of the party, but they collected the money and refused the assignment.

"It is clear that those who want Obasanjo to return at all cost will spare nothing including the life of the Hon. Speaker in their singular desperation," Na'Abba said in the statement.

The statement added that Na'Abba was compelled to raise this alarm in view of rising wave of violence and assassinations in the country.

"We take Kutama's threat very seriously. All must therefore view the boast of Kutama to do away with Hon. Speaker with utmost concern," the statement added.

The statement noted that the Speaker as an individual has a right to exercise his political preferences affirming, "as a member of the PDP, he has always spoken out for fairness, transparency and internal democracy in the party," adding "It is up to those at the butt of this criticism to respond with superior logic and argument and not resort to violence."

The statement urged "President Olusegun Obasanjo to call his associates to order as he shall be responsible for whatever happens to the Hon. Speaker, now that his campaign manager has openly declared that 'Na'Abba's days are numbered'."