feelers coming out of Thursday's Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) National Working
Committee, NWC, meeting with President
Goodluck Jonathan is anything to go by, the
days of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as National
Chairman of the ruling party may have been
numbered and it is only a matter of time before
he is asked to go.
The president,
who reportedly only got first-hand knowledge of
the depth to which the goodwill of the
embattled national chairman had sunk within
the party, watched on Thursday night in
disbelief as 11 members of the organ openly
revolted against Tukur in what could best be
described as a stormy meeting.
The displeased NWC members told Jonathan
that the party would fumble at the 2015 general
elections with Tukur at the helm of affairs.
Stunned by the development, the president
reportedly rose on his feet and told members of
the NWC: "Anyway, we have meetings next
week" before he dismissed his guests shortly
after and made his way out of the venue of the
meeting which held at the presidential villa.
The PDP Board of Trustees and the National
Executive Committee are scheduled to meet on
Wednesday, January 15 and Thursday, January
16 to "chart a course for the party following
mass defection of members to the All
Progressives Congress (APC)".
Thursday's meeting it was reliably gathered was
meant to douse the tension in the party in the
build up to the NEC and BoT meetings. It was
also particularly called on account of a
perceived cold war between Tukur and Deputy
National Chairman of the party, Uche Secondus.
It, however, turned out that almost all the NWC
members had bone or the other to pick with
Tukur, because as it turned out, the session
provided a vantage opportunity for the anti-
Tukur forces to openly confront him with his
alleged sins in the presence of President
Jonathan.
According to a source, Tukur was put to task on
such allegations as:
•Holding party /NWC meetings at Tukur's
residence instead of the PDP Secretariat;
•Running a parallel NWC, leaving Tukur to take
decisions on critical party matters with only his
aides;
•Mass defection from the PDP due to lack of
confidence in Tukur;
•Governors, National Assembly members, BOT,
NEC unhappy with Tukur;
•No concrete achievements since Tukur took
over in the last two years. He could not even
complete the ongoing National Secretariat of the
party;
•Globe-trotting without any result to enhance
the electoral fortunes of the party;
•Lack of access to Tukur sometimes for two
weeks.
The source said: "The meeting was amazing and
the President was shocked when he asked each
NWC member to talk.
"Of the 12 NWC members at the meeting, 11
spoke against Tukur. Tukur was only there
rationalizing his actions.
"A pin-drop silence dominated the venue at the
Villa because the President did not know that
the situation had degenerated.
Another source said: "At a point, NWC members
prevailed on the President to ask Tukur a
question: What benefit has Tukur added to the
PDP since he came on board?
"The NWC members demanded a response
which they could not get at the session.
"They also went further to ask Tukur to tell the
President which of the organs of the party is
happy or pleased with him. Is it the BOT or NEC
or NWC or National Caucus?"
A third source at the meeting said the NWC
members pointedly told the president that the
PDP cannot win elections in 2015, if Tukur
remains in charge and the situation in the party
continues to deteriorate.
He said the NWC members accused Tukur of
unilaterally taking crucial decisions and passing
instructions instructions to the NWC through his
aides "in a cabinet that every member is equal
having been elected at the National Convention
of the party.
"We also drew the attention of the party to the
fact that Tukur has not been able to complete
the ongoing construction of the National
Secretariat of the PDP which was started by a
former National Chairman of the party, Dr.
Ahmadu Ali".
The source said: "The President did not respond
to issues raised, but he merely said: 'Anyway,
we have meetings next week.' That was how
the session ended".
However, a source in the embattled chairman's
camp said: "The meeting was a confidence-
building session between the NWC and President
Goodluck Jonathan to put the PDP in a better
shape.
"The President asked Tukur and NWC members
to close ranks. He pleaded for peace and
reconciliation.
"I think the President may still meet with NWC
members on Sunday", he said.
Among those who attended the meeting
according to the sources included the National
Secretary, Prof. Wale Oladipo; Deputy National
Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus; National
Auditor, Adewole Adeyanju; National Publicity
Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh; National
Organising Secretary, Abubakar Mustapha;
National Treasurer; National Financial Secretary,
Elder Bolaji Anani; National Woman Leader, Mrs
Kema Chikwe; National Legal Adviser, Victor
Kwom and National Youth Leader, Abdullahi
MaiBasira. Only the Deputy National Secretary,
Onwe Solomon Onwe was said to be absent
because he was still in the East.
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone provided by Airtel Nigeria.
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