To ‘New PDP’ Governors, Lawmakers: Defect, Lose Your Seats, Says Tukur By: Uchenna Awom, Chibuzo Ukaibe, Jonathan Nda-Isaiah, Mohammed Ismail on September 5, 2013 - 3:35am inShare The national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, yesterday bared his fangs following the crisis rocking his party. He is firmly in charge of the party, he said, and all those claiming to be leaders of the new PDP are impostors who should be arrested. A visibly miffed Tukur further warned that all elected members of the party at all levels including governors and lawmakers who associated with the faction would lose their seats as required by law. But the national chairman of the new PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, described Tukur as unfit to be chairman of a political party because he does not understand party politics. Former vice-president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar along with seven PDP governors -- Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Abdulfatai Ahmed (Kwara), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) and Rabiu Kwankwanso (Kano) -- had formed a parallel PDP after staging a walkout at last Saturday’s PDP convention. Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, Sam Sam Jaja and Olagunsoye Oyinlola had emerged national chairman, deputy national chairman and national secretary of the parallel party respectively. Although consultations to resolve the crisis was in the works, the parallel party had gone to court seeking an injunction to declare the convention a nullity as well as to nullify the chairmanship of Tukur. At a press briefing at the Wadata Plaza national secretariat of PDP, Tukur fired back, saying “there is only one lawfully recognised PDP and I am fully in charge”. Surrounded by members of the newly constituted members of the National Working Committee of the party, Tukur called on security agents to treat the leadership of the new PDP as impostors. He said: “Our reason for being here is to inform you without any iota of doubt that the Peoples Democratic Party has no faction and there is neither room nor reason whatsoever for such a claim under any guise. “The PDP has only one duly elected National Executive Committee (NEC) under my chairmanship. I wish therefore to state with all emphasis that any group of persons parading themselves as leaders of NEC or any other organ of our party are impostors and I urge all Nigerians, especially the security agencies and other institutions of democracy, to regard them as such. “Let me state categorically that the PDP as the sole custodian of the sacred mandate of over 160 million Nigerians and which, in the last 14 years, has lifted high the banner of democracy will not fold its arms while some undemocratic and unpatriotic elements destroy our common destiny by causing divisions and confusion among the people. “Consequently, we shall ensure that any person who is not duly elected into any leadership position in our great party and has not been duly assigned any role but goes ahead to arrogate such to himself will be made to face the full wrath of the law. “Similarly, all persons elected on the platform of our great party at all levels who identify with these enemies of the oneness and greatness of our party shall have their seats declared vacant as required by law. “We shall leave no stone unturned to ensure that such persons and indeed any other individual who attempts to subvert the leadership of the PDP shall reap in full the consequences of such actions. “I wish to emphasize that the PDP has adequate mechanism for internal conflict resolution. All party members are therefore advised to ventilate their grievances through this medium.” The national chairman of the new PDP, Barage, in his reaction, said Tukur does not understand party politics. He said for Tukur to just wake up and threaten to recall members shows that he is not fit to be chairman of the party. “They are all mad and they don’t know what is party politics. We are not surprised because it’s ignorance of party politics. In any case, the process of declaring seats vacant or recalling members of the national or state assembly is well known in the constitution. To wake up and threaten that he’s going to recall shows that he is not fit to be called national chairman of PDP.” - See more at: leadership.ng/news/050913/new-pdp-governors-lawmakers-defect-lose-your-seats-says-tukur#sthash.odJtbwBx.dpuf
Posted on: Thu, 05 Sep 2013 04:13:01 +0000
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