If all goes as planned at today’s meeting,
President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to create
a soft landing for the embattled National
Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,
septuagenarian Bamanga Tukur, pursuant to
working out a tidy strategy for his removal from office, Sunday Vanguard can authoritatively reveal. The meeting, which is expected to hold inside Aso
Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja, this night, would
involve governors on the platform of the party, its
elders and Jonathan. Indeed, as at the time of going to press yesterday,
the 23 PDP state governors were said to be
“united” on the imminent exit of Tukur whose
tenure has been made very controversial, first, by
the crisis in the Adamawa State Chapter of the
party, spiraling into an all out angst by some governors against his person, style of leadership
and tenure.
PDP National Chairman Bamanga Tukur and
President Goodluck Jonathan. Photo by Gbemiga
Olamikan. Sunday Vanguard has been made to understand
that this seemingly conciliatory move by the
President is part of steps being taken to ensure
that the PDP “tolerates all shades of interests
while not allowing for any impression that would
seem to support the use of blackmail by those who insist on forcing Tukur out of office before
the expiration of his tenure”, according to a
source very close to Aso Rock. The highly dependable source, however, insisted
that whatever discussions are held today and no
matter the conclusions and agreements reached,
all would be without prejudice “to the
constitutionally guaranteed right of our President
to seek re-election for a second term of office.” The source went on: “That is something that is
non-negotiable. The President has every right to
seek re-election and the fact that he wants peace
in the party should not be taken as a sign of
weakness. He is acting like a statesman and that
is why we have come to this agreement. “Mind you, the timeline for that exit by Tukur is
something that we all have to agree on and it is
not something that would be forced down
anybody’s throat. This is a democracy and
bullying would not work”. But the high wire politics that is presently going
on in the PDP appears to be throwing up some
conflicting pieces of information. All Progressive Congress, APC, as the main
opposition political party – the party is made up
of the Action Congress of Nigeria, CAN; the rump
of the All Peoples Party, APP; a segment of the All
Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA; and some
scattered political parties – is believed to be angling to benefit from whatever misfortune
befalls the PDP, especially the continued threat of
the seven governors and their backers to continue
operating their New Peoples Democratic Party,
nPDP. This is because the camp of the aggrieved
governors, not minding their open conditions
about the “need for internal democracy in PDP are
actually baying for blood and insisting that the
only thing that would resolve the crisis within the
party ‘would be a repudiation of a re-election bid by Jonathan’”. In fact, insiders and close associates of the
aggrieved state governors and leaders of nPDP,
Sunday Vanguard was told, have resolved that
they would continue along their line of
opposition except Jonathan dumps his aspiration
to seek re-election. “Even if Tukur is allowed to remain as Chairman of
PDP, the only thing that is expected of the
President is a repudiation of his ambition”, an
insider said. No matter, it was gathered that part of the
strategy of those in the camp of Jonathan may
“actually be setting up the aggrieved governors
and, therefore, exposing the raison-d’etre for their
agitations and their real intentions.”
President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to create
a soft landing for the embattled National
Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,
septuagenarian Bamanga Tukur, pursuant to
working out a tidy strategy for his removal from office, Sunday Vanguard can authoritatively reveal. The meeting, which is expected to hold inside Aso
Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja, this night, would
involve governors on the platform of the party, its
elders and Jonathan. Indeed, as at the time of going to press yesterday,
the 23 PDP state governors were said to be
“united” on the imminent exit of Tukur whose
tenure has been made very controversial, first, by
the crisis in the Adamawa State Chapter of the
party, spiraling into an all out angst by some governors against his person, style of leadership
and tenure.
PDP National Chairman Bamanga Tukur and
President Goodluck Jonathan. Photo by Gbemiga
Olamikan. Sunday Vanguard has been made to understand
that this seemingly conciliatory move by the
President is part of steps being taken to ensure
that the PDP “tolerates all shades of interests
while not allowing for any impression that would
seem to support the use of blackmail by those who insist on forcing Tukur out of office before
the expiration of his tenure”, according to a
source very close to Aso Rock. The highly dependable source, however, insisted
that whatever discussions are held today and no
matter the conclusions and agreements reached,
all would be without prejudice “to the
constitutionally guaranteed right of our President
to seek re-election for a second term of office.” The source went on: “That is something that is
non-negotiable. The President has every right to
seek re-election and the fact that he wants peace
in the party should not be taken as a sign of
weakness. He is acting like a statesman and that
is why we have come to this agreement. “Mind you, the timeline for that exit by Tukur is
something that we all have to agree on and it is
not something that would be forced down
anybody’s throat. This is a democracy and
bullying would not work”. But the high wire politics that is presently going
on in the PDP appears to be throwing up some
conflicting pieces of information. All Progressive Congress, APC, as the main
opposition political party – the party is made up
of the Action Congress of Nigeria, CAN; the rump
of the All Peoples Party, APP; a segment of the All
Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA; and some
scattered political parties – is believed to be angling to benefit from whatever misfortune
befalls the PDP, especially the continued threat of
the seven governors and their backers to continue
operating their New Peoples Democratic Party,
nPDP. This is because the camp of the aggrieved
governors, not minding their open conditions
about the “need for internal democracy in PDP are
actually baying for blood and insisting that the
only thing that would resolve the crisis within the
party ‘would be a repudiation of a re-election bid by Jonathan’”. In fact, insiders and close associates of the
aggrieved state governors and leaders of nPDP,
Sunday Vanguard was told, have resolved that
they would continue along their line of
opposition except Jonathan dumps his aspiration
to seek re-election. “Even if Tukur is allowed to remain as Chairman of
PDP, the only thing that is expected of the
President is a repudiation of his ambition”, an
insider said. No matter, it was gathered that part of the
strategy of those in the camp of Jonathan may
“actually be setting up the aggrieved governors
and, therefore, exposing the raison-d’etre for their
agitations and their real intentions.”
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