Tukur: My Removal Not Part Of PDP NEC‏

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The crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) shows no sign of abating, as the National
Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur,
has said his resignation or sack will not be on the
agenda at the National Caucus, Board of Trustees
(BoT) and the National Executive Committee
(NEC) meetings scheduled for next week.
Also Tukur said members of the party, including
the governors who have defected to the All
Progressives Congress (APC) will sooner than
expected, come back to the PDP.
But despite Tukur’s assurance that he was not
going anywhere, critical stakeholders of the party
have started shopping for his replacement.
Tukur, who spoke yesterday in a phone interview
with THISDAY from Huston Texas, United States,
said: “I summoned the National Caucus and the
NEC meetings to be held on January 6 and 8 and
I can assure you that the agenda of these
meeting has no leadership change. My
resignation or ouster by the NEC is by no means
part of the agenda of these meetings.
“I summoned these meetings for us to address
some of the issues affecting PDP as a political
party and to make PDP come out stronger after
these meetings. There is no leadership problem
or crisis in the PDP.
“The NEC meeting will focus on how to
strengthen our party as one united family. It is
the National Working Committee (NWC) of the
party that prepares agenda of the NEC meeting
and I can assure you that change of leadership is
not part of the January 8 meeting.”
For several months, governors of the PDP have
pushed for Tukur’s ouster, accusing him of
highhandedness and running the party like his
personal estate.
Before the defection of five governors of the
party to APC last November, they had demanded
Tukur’s removal as a prerequisite for peace.
However, Tukur has continued to enjoy the
backing of President Goodluck Jonathan who has
refused to bow to the demands of the governors.
Tukur, in his interview, pointed out that all the
talk about his resignation and change of
leadership was nothing but a mere distraction to
get across to the leader of the party, the
president, adding, “We will not give them the
opportunity to do so.
“These people making these allegations are
merely trying to get to their main target, who is
President Jonathan. They know that my loyalty to
the president is absolute and therefore they want
to get at me first and make the president
vulnerable.
“I was the person who raised his hand in the
north during the presidential campaign and they
know that the first target to get to before
Jonathan is me. This is why they are doing what
they are doing because of my absolute loyalty to
President Jonathan.
“All these are mere distractions, all they want to
do is to destroy me and then get across to
Jonathan. This is because they know I will not
agree to betray the president. This is why I am
the target now.”
Also, Tukur allayed fears over the defection of
some members of the party to APC, boasting that
those who had left the party would soon come
back to PDP.
According to Tukur, measures are being put in
place in the PDP, in conjunction with the
president, to enable those who have defected to
return to the party in the nick of time.
Tukur, who spoke when a team of Nigerian
professionals based in Europe, led by Dr. Edwin
Olabamiro visited him, said: “The PDP remains
the party with the largest spread and tested
strength to win elections any day, any time. I
thank you all for this visit, while I urge our
members all in Nigeria not to be brow beaten by
images of political delusion that confront them
everyday from different quarters.
“The PDP is at home to contain all forms of
harassment by the opposition, either vaunted or
intended. If it is a game of numbers in any
election, you can always count on the fact that
the PDP would have it greater.
“The good thing is that if five people moved out
of PDP to the other party, even by a dint of
propaganda, the party takes in more than 500 at
a time, as replacements. This means that the
electorate in Nigeria trust the PDP more than
many people are aware.
“As the chairman of PDP, let me say that we may
not have smooth sailing in the party at the
moment, but the party and Mr. President are not
relenting in holding consultations with the
aggrieved members. At the end of it all, PDP
would be the better for it and more prepared for
greater exploits.
“Our members should therefore savour the
period of the yuletide season and not allow any
issue to keep them distracted and depressed.”
However, despite Tukur’s insistence that he
would not resign or be removed as the PDP
chairman, some stakeholders of the party,
including members of its NEC and BoT told
newsmen that they have been on the lookout for
a credible person from the North-east who would
unite the party and curtail APC’s encroachment
and efforts to lure its members.
One NEC member from the North-east, who did
not want to be named, said: “Names like the
former National Administrative Secretary, Habu
Fari, from Taraba State and the former acting
National Secretary of PDP, Dr. Musa Babayo from
Bauchi State, have been mentioned as possible
replacements for Tukur.
“Some members are also suggesting a
replacement in the person of the former
governor of Bauchi State, Adamu Mauzu, while
some are rooting for the former Minister of
Defence, Abdullahi Shettima.
“We don’t know what will happen at the NEC
meeting, but everything depends on the leader
of the party, President Goodluck Jonathan.”
Also, the name of the former Minister of the
Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abba Gana, from
Borno State is another person who has been
touted as a possible replacement for Tukur.
When reminded that the issue of change of
leadership was not on the agenda of the
meeting, the NEC member said: “ It depends on
the president, if he wants a change of leadership,
the agenda of a meeting means nothing to the
NEC meeting. It can come under AOB (Any Other
Business).”
In addition to the current search for Tukur's
replacement, the governors who have been
pushing for his ouster are insisting that the next
chairman of the party should come from a non-
PDP controlled state.
They have premised their position on the fact
that most chairmen of the party end up in power
tussles with sitting PDP governors. So they see
this as a measure to prevent differences that
might arise between a chairman of the PDP and a
governor elected on the platform of the party.
Jonathan, in this regard, has been meeting with
the party’s governors on an individual basis
during the yuletide period to sample their
opinions on whether Tukur should go or not.
In recent days, he has meet with Governors Isa
Yuguda (Bauchi), Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe),
Sullivan Chime (Enugu), Emmanuel Uduaghan
(Delta) and Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom).