National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declared that Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State has joined the opposition party in principle and is only still in the PDP to ensure that the party becomes extinct.
The party chairman also warned the governor to be wary of his utterances, which show him as uncultured, realising what it means to be Governor and party member.
Tukur, who spoke through a statement signed by Prince Oliver Okpala, his Special Assistant on Media, was reacting to the recent statement credited to the governor that he visited former President Olusegun Obasanjo with other governors to seek lasting peace for the party, which he accused Tukur of trying to destroy.
He said in the event that he and his colleagues are unable to achieve the desired result, they would fold their arms and watch the party die and would even help to bury it. Reacting through the statement, Tukur’s media aide said the PDP as an institution has come to stay and would never die. According to him, the party will outlive those wishing for its premature death, and gain more recognition worldwide as the largest political party in the black world.
“It is unfortunate that in Nigeria like in other advanced countries orientation courses, seminars or retreat are not organized for those elected into the office of Governor of States in Nigeria to help reform and remodel them into strict adherence to being politically and socially civil in terms of their public utterances, mode of dressing, social comportment and the norms of the society as against their past indoctrination and behaviour,” he lamented.
“This lacuna in our political structure has allowed those elected as Governors to behave and talk in ways that desecrate the sanctity of the office of Governor of states they have been elected to hold.
“It is the fervent view and recommendation of the national chairman that this lacuna in our political system in the country should be addressed properly through a legislation in the National Assembly making it a must for those elected as Governors or other political office holders to attend orientation courses, seminars or retreats before assuming office as Governors of States or holding other top political officers in the country.”
He recalled that Dr. Tukur is one of the founding fathers of the PDP and would therefore not allow the party die as was predicted by Governor Nyako and his government.
The statement added that by predicting the death of a political structure that brought him to public recognition as Governor, Nyako had shown that he is not a true party man, as no responsible party man or head of a family would wish the death or eclipse of his own family.
How can Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, as a father, work towards the death of a political structure he helped to establish? As National Chairman of the PDP, Dr. Tukur has brought peace, concourse and mutual understanding among the true members and faithful of the PDP family.
“It is no longer a hidden truth that Governor Nyako and his faithful in Adamawa State have not only been romancing with the opposition as indicated in his public utterances against the party but have actually joined the opposition in principle.”
He said that it is the constitutional right of the governor to move out of the party if he so wishes but maintained that nobody can challenge that right to move out of the party.
“But as long as he remains in the PDP, he must align himself to party discipline, which is the bedrock of enthroning internal democracy in the party.
“His utterances and wishes for death of the PDP clearly in the eyes of the party and public portray him as a believer of a sect without faith. Dr. Bamanga Tukur preaches, love, affection and encourages harmonious existence within the PDP family and does not believe in the creation of a state of anarchy and bitterness in the PDP family.
“Governor Nyako should therefore respect Dr. Bamanga Tukur as an elder statesman and treat him with respect and decorum since it is not in the culture of a true northerner to cast aspersion, insult and disrespect to elders even under the pretext of political exercise. It is the wish of the national chairman that the governor of Adamawa will love and tow a path of political rectitude, maturity [and] decorum by watching his unguarded utterances and political reactions.”
He reminded Nyako that even a million ‘unguarded’ utterances by him cannot dent Tukur’s image.
“Dr. Bamanga Tukur, as a first class nationalist, an acclaimed patriotic Nigerian who [has] served this country selflessly in many capacities, will, as the national chairman of the party, continue to work to give the party a sense of direction and reposition it for greater political height thus making it impossible for the party to die as is the wish of Governor Nyako and his likes,” he enthused.
“A true founding father of the PDP, as an elder statesman and nationalist who is not in politics to make money but to give selfless services to the nation, Dr. Tukur will use his wealth of experience to make young Nigerians to play politics with sanity and decorum in the interest of our national growth and international recognition.”
