 |
| Bamanga Tukur |
•16 NWC members agree to step down
•Party to hold mini-convention July 15
•Jonathan to head reconciliation committee
By: Chuks Okocha and Muhammad Bello
Barring any last minute changes, the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) has slated July 15 to hold a mini-national convention to endorse
the changes in the National Working Committee (NWC) expected to take place
during tomorrow’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party.
Before the mini-national convention, however, the party will
also hold zonal congresses on July 13 nationwide.
The purpose of the zonal congresses and mini-convention is
to hold elections into positions for those 16 members of the NWC that the
report of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had indicated
that their election did not meet the PDP election guidelines.
Though the national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, may not
be affected after all by the resignation galore of other NWC members, it was
gathered that the party’s 16 NWC members who will tender their resignation
tomorrow at the NEC meeting, were those affected by the INEC report.
Insisting that he was not affected by the purge of NWC
members, Tukur, who was at the State House, Abuja, yesterday, told reporters at
the end of a one-hour meeting of the NWC with President Goodluck Jonathan, that
he would not quit as speculated.
Others expected to retain their seats are the national
financial secretary of the PDP and the national auditor.
However, a party source said that position of national
secretary, whose position has been vacant following the removal of Chief
Olagunsoye Oyinlola by a Federal High Court, would also contested at the
mini-convention.
Tukur said all the eight people, including their deputies
and the ex-officio members representing the south-west zone who were not voted
for during the March 2012 convention are those that will be affected by the
purge.
This exercise, the party chairman said, covered eight of the
NWC officials and their deputies who will drop their portfolios and seek fresh
mandates if they so wished.
Tukur, who was flanked by the National Publicity Secetary,
Olisa Metuh, denied that he would be stepping down tomorrow, stating with a
hint of irritation: “It is not true that I am resigning. Resign for what? It is
not true at all. We are here to run the PDP and we have done so and we will
continue to run the PDP.”
Metuh, who interjected as his principal was trying to
explain himself, added: “It is not true the chairman is resigning. The chairman
is not only in office, he is in power. In PDP, there is no vacancy in the
national chairmanship.”
On the purpose of the meeting with the president, Tukur
pointed out that the meeting was held to regularise the PDP family because of
INEC’s observation.
“The meeting was about regularising the family of PDP
because there was the INEC observation, some of the members of the NWC were not
properly elected so it has to be regularised.
“Those who have not been elected will resign and they will
go back, they will have the opportunity to regularise their positions as NWC
members,” he said.
Differing with Tukur, however, the Deputy Senate President,
Ike Ekwerenmadu, told correspondents at the close of their meeting with the
president that the party was yet to reach a final decision on the issue of
whether the chairman should resign or not.
Instead, he said the leadership of the party was still
weighing its options while consulting with stakeholders with a view to moving
forward.
“We are still consulting. In the evening, we are going to
have a meeting of the national caucus of the party and look at all the options
available to the party. We hope that by tomorrow or later this evening we will
have a position of the PDP on this issue,” he said.
Saying that their meeting with the president was a “routine
consultation”, Ekwerenmadu added: “But this one had to do with our party issues
because we are of the same political party. It is essentially a party affair.”
On why only four leaders of the National Assembly attended
the meeting, he said: “You know we are on break and some have travelled. But
because of the consultations going on, some are on their way back. The speaker
is on his way back to Abuja, the senate president ought to have travelled to
China, he is also on his way back. He has changed his plans to come back.
“The senate leader is also on his way back from Calabar, the
House leader is also on her way back. I am sure in the next one hour or two,
they will all be back because we are on vacation and this meeting was quite
impromptu. We have contacted all of them and they are all coming back.”
On whether the National Assembly was concerned about the PDP
crises, he said: “Every family has their own issues, the PDP is no exception.
The most important thing is our ability to resolve these issues and this is why
you can see consultations going on. So I am hopeful that we will come out of
the crises much more stronger.”
Confirming Ekweremadu’s position, a PDP source told THISDAY
that governors were also divided over Tukur’s continued leadership of the
party.
He said there were series of meetings yesterday among pro
and anti-Tukur forces.
He maintained that despite the show of unity at the
Presidential Villa yesterday, Tukur might still be forced to step down at the
NEC meeting tomorrow.
Before the NEC meeting, however, the meeting of the Board of
Trustees (BoT) of the party is expected to hold today to ratify some of the
decisions taken at the national caucus meeting of the party that took place
yesterday night in Abuja.
The INEC report had listed the election of 16 candidates
whose election by affirmation had failed to comply with the party’s guidelines
to include the Deputy National Chairman, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja; National Organising
Secretary, Abubakar Mustapha; National Youth Leader, Alhaji Garba Chiza; Deputy
National Youth Leader, Dennis Alonge Niyi; Deputy National Auditor, Senator
Umar Ibrahim; Deputy National Women’s Leader, Hanatu Ulam; National Women’s Leader,
Kema Chikwe; Deputy National Organising Secretary, Okechukwu Nnadozie; Deputy
National Treasurer, Claudus Inengas; National Legal Adviser, Victor Kwom;
National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh; and the Deputy National Publicity
Secretary, Binta Goje, among others.
The report therefore listed the ballot cast at the
convention as follows: National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur, total votes cast –
3248, votes scored – 3185; National Auditor, Bode Mustapha, total votes cast –
3183, total votes scored – 3005; Financial Secretary, Bolaji Anani, total votes
cast - 3065, total votes scored – 2975; and the National Secretary, Oyinlola
Olagunsoye, total votes cast - 3165, total votes scored - 306. The remaining
four members of the NWC are those duly recognised by INEC.
Meanwhile, ahead of the NEC meeting tomorrow, Chairman of
the PDP Governors’ Forum (PDP-GF), Governor Godswill Akpabio, yesterday met
with all members of the PDP G.84 at the Akwa Ibom State governor’s lodge in
Abuja.
The G.84 members of NEC are the voting members who usually
vote en bloc at NEC meetings and determine the outcome of most contentious
issues.
It was for this reason that Akpabio hosted them to a meeting
in his lodge.
Also, the national caucus of the party rose from a one and
half hour meeting with a resolution that the president will spearhead a
high-powered ensemble to reconcile aggrieved members.
Akpabio disclosed this to State House correspondents at the
end of the meeting, saying that the president will work assiduously as the
father of the party to bring all together.
Akpabio, who said the suspension of his colleague, the
Governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Amaechi was brought before the caucus, noted
that his recall by the party may have been stalled by fact that his case was
still in court.
Although he did not mention who the members of the
Jonathan-led reconciliation committee were, the Akwa Ibom State governor said
the focus of the group will be to ensure that the party’s unity is not
compromised.
In addition to the presidential committee, another committee
that will raise guidelines that will be submitted to the NEC to steer its
deliberations was raised by the caucus. It includes Akpabi, representatives of
the party’s BoT and a host of others.
In a related development, the Gombe State government has
protested news report that the state governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo, was absent at
the Monday meeting of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) led by Governor Jonah
Jang of Plateau State.
The Special Assistant to the governor on media and
publicity, Juniad Usman, maintained that the governor was present, stating that
he was the 17th governor at the meeting.
He said: “Gombe State Governor, Alhaji Dankwambo attended
the second meeting of the Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF) held on Monday 17th of
June, 2013, at the NGF secretariat, Abuja.
“The meeting was chaired by the NGF Chairman, His Excellency
Da David Jonah Jang, Governor of Plateau State. Governor Dankwambo was the 17th
governor that attended the crucial NGF meeting.
“Recall that His Excellency Governor Dankwambo could not
vote at the time of the election because he was away on a trip to Japan.”
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