The embattled National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, has intensified moves to stave off his removal from office.
The latest is the constitution of a committee comprising PDP elders in his home state, Adamawa, to plead with Governors Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom) and Jonah Jang (Plateau) to help him save his job.
The committee is made up of Air Commodore Dan Suleiman (retd.), Anthony Hanaiya, Umar Ardo and Wilberforce Juta.
Our correspondent gathered that the outcome of the committee’s interactions with Akpabio and Jang would determine whether or not Tukur would remain in office or quit before the PDP National Executive Committee meeting on Thursday (tomorrow).
Tukur had on Monday dared President Goodluck Jonathan by declaring that he (Jonathan) lacked the power to ask for his resignation.
He had boasted, “I am an elected national chairman; I have my certificate of return and I cannot resign. A convention brought me; so it has to take the convention that brought me for me to resign.
“So, not even the President can ask me to resign. Remember, some members of the National Working Committee were asked to go recently because the election that brought them was flawed. So, Mr. President cannot tread that route again.”
It was learnt that the decision to set up the committee to meet the two governors was arrived at after a meeting Tukur had with PDP stakeholders from Adamawa State.
Sources at the meeting, which started at about 10. 54am at the Wuse 2, Abuja residence of Tukur and lasted for about 90 minutes, said the two governors were picked for strategic reasons.
The reasons, according to investigation, included the fact that Jang is heading a faction of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, which is recognised by Jonathan while Akpabio is the chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum.
A source close to the meeting said the Adamawa elders advised Tukur not to adopt a confrontational posture until they meet with Akpabio and Jang.
Ardo, who confirmed the setting up of the committee, said the need to approach the two governors became necessary given their positions in the party.
He said, “ We decided to explore this option with the national chairman as we agreed that it would not be right to take any action without hearing from them since they hold key positions on behalf of the party and our position would be decided by the outcome of the meeting with them.”
But the division among members of the National Working Committee of the party, which Tukur heads, became more pronounced on Tuesday.
The National Legal Adviser, Mr. Victor Kwom, in a statement dissociated the PDP from a letter in which Tukur’s lawyer, Mr. Ajibola Oluyede, said the national chairman could not be removed from office.
In the letter sent to Jonathan, Oluyede also said since Tukur was elected at a national convention, he could only be removed through the same process.
The lawyer, who advertised the letter, also maintained that there was a subsisting court order,which asked that the status quo be maintained.
The said order, according to him, was issued on April 25, 2013 by Justice Adamu Bello.
Kwom, however, said in a statement that Oluyede did not have the mandate of the PDP to issue the statement.
Kwom’s statement reads in part, “The attention of the NWC of the PDP has been drawn to a media advertorial in which one Mr. Ajibola Oluyede adduced certain opinions claiming such to be the position of the PDP constitution on some recent developments in our party.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the NWC of the PDP wishes to state as follows:
“That Mr. Oluyede has no mandate or authority to issue the said advertorial. That the position adduced in the advertorial does not in any way represent or correspond with the position of the constitution of the PDP.
“The PDP has a National Legal Adviser whose duties under the party’s constitution include advising the party on all legal matters, conducting all litigation; prosecuting and defending actions on behalf of the party, including its organs and officials in so far as the subject of the litigation affects the interest of the party; and interpreting the laws, regulations and Constitution of the Party in the event of any ambiguities.”
Meanwhile, Tukur has said he is not in the position to tell Jonathan on what to do concerning the crises in the PDP.
Tukur, who made this known in a statement, added that he was in the party to further its growth.
He said, “My role as PDP national chairman is to help the further growth, preservation and wellbeing of Nigeria using a disciplined platform.
“It is this platform that I am helping to ensure, exist in our great party with the help of well-meaning Nigerians and prayers to almighty God. We hope to succeed.”
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