Tukur: PDP Won’t Tolerate Indiscipline Any More

Alhaji Bamanga Tukur

by: Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, monday  warned party members against indiscipline, saying the party under his leadership was committed to enforcing the party’s rules and regulations in order to chart a new path for the organisation.

Tukur, while fielding questions from journalists in Abuja,  said it had become imperative for the party to enforce discipline to avoid distractions from its quest to retain power in 2015.

Though Tukur did not state what exactly he meant by distractions which  indiscipline would cause the party ahead of the 2015 polls, observers said the activities  of some PDP governors were  a source of concern to the ruling party.

The party also accused its members of acting in questionable manners due to indiscipline within the party.

Tukur  said the party was weary of the reports of anti-party activities being levelled against members in some states, adding  that the PDP would henceforth begin to invoke relevant sections of its constitution against errant members to keep them in check.

He explained that the failure of PDP to strictly enforce its laws for whipping non-conforming members into line had accounted for the frequent breakdown of confidence among members and the leadership crisis rocking the party.

He recalled that the founding fathers of the party took the issue of discipline seriously which was why they made party discipline and supremacy a credo.

He said: “PDP would no longer hesitate to wield big stick against perceived saboteurs and agents of destabilisation in its fold.

“People say we have crises in our party. It may appear so, but that also shows that democracy is at play in the way we conduct our affairs. We are a family and like any family, we can disagree and then we will agree. We have mastered the game and that is the reason we have been keeping afloat.

“However, we are talking about discipline here. During the PDP family dinner, I emphasised on necessity for party discipline in line with the vision of our founding fathers. We have our constitution to guide us in maintaining discipline. Our past failures to uphold discipline with sense of seriousness has been the reason some members act in very questionable manners.”

“Today, everybody is talking about 2015 with expectations that we must win fairly and transparently. How can we achieve that if certain members of the party go against the rules with impunity, while nothing happens? We have had enough of inconsistencies and loose conducts, and today we say that must stop.”

He, however, said having gone so far in entrenching democracy in Nigeria since 1999, the party’s main pre-occupation would be to consolidate on the gains of democracy.

Accordingly, he  said the presentation of the mid-term report   by President Goodluck Jonathan was laudable and necessary having offered Nigerians the right opportunity to reflect on what the PDP government had attained in the past two years with a view to putting the government on its toes to do better.