President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday formally confirmed to the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the resignation of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as Chairman of the party, paving the way for PDP to reach out to the aggrieved governors who defected to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), particularly the former chairman’s arch-enemy and Governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako.
Before defecting to APC, the governors met the president three times; and on each occasion, they demanded Tukur’s removal as a condition for remaining in the party.
It is believed that Tukur is determined to install his son, Hon. Awwal Tukur as Governor of Adamawa State in 2015, a move huhuonline.com learnt pitched him against the incumbent Nyako, who eventually defected to APC with five other governors.
Following Tukur’s resignation, Nyako’s return to PDP is imminent. His return — and that of the other five governors — is desperately needed, as their decampment had depleted the party, particularly in the Federal House of Representatives.
In the Senate, though, David Mark succeeded in stemming the tide of defection by dangling automatic tickets in the 2015 elections as well as a cash bribe of $300,000 before each of the 19 senators who had threatened to leave PDP with their governors.
On current standings, PDP and APC have 18 states each; and with democracy being a number game, the return of some of the governors, particularly Nyako, will give PDP a numerical edge. Aside from overseeing Tukur’s removal, President Jonathan will also concede ministerial slot to the angry governor in the impending cabinet reshuffle.
An ardent supporter of Jonathan, Tukur was brought in as Chairman to deliver the reins of the party to the president, which he succeeded in doing by forcing Obasanjo out as Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT). In the process, however, he earned the wrath of governors loyal to Obasanjo.
Responding to news of Tukur’s resignation though, Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said he holds no personal animosity against Tukur.
“I want you to note that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has nothing personal against Alhaji Bamanga Tukur”, the former president’s media assistant, Mr. Tunde Oladunjoye said late Thursday.
“If you look at Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s last letter to the former national chairman, the issues he raised in that letter were much more than Tukur’s resignation. He did not call for Tukur’s resignation, and all the issues raised in the letter were purely based on personal principle”.
