THE National Chairman of the Peoples
Democratic Party, Chief Bamanga Tukur, on Wednesday disowned a statement
by his media aide in which the PDP chair was said to have slammed five
northern governors whose statements were described as “unguarded.”
Tukur said he never asked his spokesman,
Oliver Okpala, to abuse the governors for calling for the PDP
chairman’s removal as a precondition for peace to reign in the party.
The PUNCH however learnt in Abuja on Wednesday night that the embattled Tukur was pressurised to repudiate his abuse of the governors.
The governors – Aliyu Babangida (Niger);
Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano); Aliyu Wamakko(Sokoto), Sule Lamido (Jigawa);
and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) – were said to have canvassed the removal of
Tukur as chairman during their series of meetings with ex-dictators
Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar; and ex-Presidents Shehu
Shagari and Olusegun Obasanjo.
They were said to be planning to meet
other leaders like Gen. Yakubu Gowon, Chief Ernest Shonekan and Lt.-Gen.
T.Y. Danjuma (retd.)
Okpala, speaking for Tukur in a
statement on Tuesday, described the governors’ demand for his removal as
unguarded and asked them to desist from acts which he said were capable
of truncating the nation’s democracy.
He had advised the governors to pass
their grievances through the normal party channel instead of fanning the
embers of disunity in the party.
He had said whereas the governors had
the fundamental right to meet and discuss with each other and express
their views, such views and comments must be in tandem with
civilisation, decorum and humility.
He had also asked the governors to show
respect to constituted authority and leaders, including the PDP national
chairman who he said, had contributed immensely to the peace process
and development of the country.
In a twist on Wednesday, however, Tukur
denied authorising Okpala’s statement and that he could not possibly
abuse the governors over their “consultative efforts” to restore peace
to the party.
In another statement in Abuja, Tukur,
who spoke through another aide, Ahmed Gara Gombe, said he was currently
in Saudi Arabia for the Lesser Hadji and that he did not approve Okpala’s statement.
But our correspondents learnt that
Okpala’s statement was indeed seen and approved by the embattled PDP
chairman before he travelled to Saudi Arabia.
Tukur left the country on Tuesday.
Besides, the statement being disowned
was said to have been seen by another senior aide of the chairman (name
withheld) who reportedly said “it is fine” before it was released.
The Gombe statement on Wednesday read,
“The consultative efforts of the five governors happened before the
newly established reconciliation committee of the party, therefore it is
unthinkable for the media assistant to have condemned the northern
governors of not utilising the reconciliation committee as a medium or
channel to table their grievances.
“The national chairman, therefore,
wishes to re-emphasise his support for any initiative towards
reconciliation by any members regardless of who is promoting it.”
Gombe said that there was mutual respect
among these governors and that it was not certain that the governors
actually asked President Jonathan to remove Tukur from office.
He said the PDP chairman was happy with
the intervention of the governors in the Rivers State crisis, adding
that their discussion with the President on the matter was already
yielding fruitful results.
He also said Tukur would not resign from office as being speculated.
“The national chairman wishes to
unequivocally state that he has not resigned as he is not ready to
resign as chairman of the party,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, Presidency sources on
Wednesday said the governors never made any request for the President to
remove any of his ministers as part of the efforts to resolve the
Tukur/governors imbroglio.
A source in the Presidency said the five
governors did not make any request for Jonathan to remove any of his
ministers and that even if they did, the President would never sacrifice
any member of his cabinet.
The source stated further that removing
ministers because of the governors’ face-off would portray Jonathan as a
weak leader who had lost control of his party.
“The outcome of the meeting of the
President and the four PDP northern governors has been slanted,
curiously to include matters that were not on the agenda and never
mentioned in the meeting,” the source said,.
PUNCH
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