Ahead of tomorrow’s selection of the successor of the former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, strong indications emerged last night that President Goodluck Jonathan has succumbed to pressure to allow stakeholders have a say in who emerges as the helmsman of the party. It appears the current minister of transport, Idris Umar, has lost out in the race. The tussle has been narrowed to three frontrunners: former special adviser to the president on National Assembly Matters Senator Abba Aji, Alhaji Shettima Mustapha and Alhaji Adamu Maina Waziri from Borno and Yobe states. Moments after Tukur’s resignation, first lady Dame Patience Jonathan was reported to have spoken to a spectrum of PDP leadership to back Umar as the next party’s chairman. Nonetheless, party stakeholders have been circumspect in this regard to what a source called the need “to insulate PDP from non-political actors”. In particular, the governors have reportedly rejected the suggestion of the transport minister to be chairman of the PDP. It was learnt that the governors of Bauchi and Gombe states had rejected the zoning of the PDP’s foremost office to their states apparently to avoid a repeat of the Tukur and Governor Murtala Nyako saga. Prior to this development, the battle for the new national chairman had taken a fiercer dimension as stakeholders deployed their arsenal to mass support for their preferred candidates. The aspirants also joined the fray as they reached out to both party leaders and other prominent Nigerians to swing the pendulum in their favour. Most of the aspirants and their supporters took their case to the presidency, which is seen as the deciding factor in the contest. There were strong indications that President Jonathan had run into fresh trouble while shopping for a new chairman for the party, even as aspirants allegedly lobbied Tukur for support. Tukur, who was eased out of office on Thursday, is alleged to be pushing on with his bid to be succeeded by his loyalist. There were also insinuations that Senator Aji, Dr Shettima Mustapha and Adamu Maina Waziri from Yobe were among the three shortlisted candidates. Abba Aji allegedly refused to transmit the late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s letter to the National Assembly, nearly causing a constitution crisis. Critics say that Mustapha is too old for the job. Supporters of Adamu Maina Waziri for the office say he is the only PDP stalwart from Borno/Yobe axis whose houses in Potiskum and Kaduna were destroyed in 2011 (post-election violence) because of his support for Jonathan. Others said that since he is very close to former president Olusegun Obasanjo, he would be a suitable bridge builder and could reconcile Jonathan and Obasanjo. On Senator Aji, another source informed that he was being propped up by Tukur with the express support of Chief Edwin Clark; though Clark refused to confirm this when contacted, he declared that he would rather remain neutral on this matter. A source further revealed that a former member of the House of Representatives and deputy to Aji in the National Assembly, Cairo Ojougbo, had been appointed his anchor man. Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) Chief Tony Anenih is allegedly championing the choice of another candidate and former national chairman of Grassroots Democratic Party (GDM), Alhaji Gambo Lawan, also from Borno State. North-east leaders to choose party chairman Meanwhile, leaders and elders of the PDP have been given the mandate to consider the long list of aspirants and agree on the next occupant of the office. This is a remarkable shift from the old order where the president picked the PDP chairman. Others being tipped for the office are Senator Abubakar Mahadi, Dr Musa Babayo, Adamu Muazu, Mohammed Wakil, Alhaji Idris Waziri, Alhaji Ibrahim Bunu and Senator Idris Umar. LEADERSHIP Sunday also has it on a good authority that some of these aspirants and their supporters are trooping to the Abuja house of Tukur to ask for his support.
Posted on: Sun, 19 Jan 2014 05:29:48 +0000
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