Twist of Faith in PDP House Clean-up: NWC And Tukur To Go As Wamakko is Recalled

It seems like the house clean-up within the PDP will suffer crises on both sides as the crises within the party came to a head Monday when the committee set up by President Goodluck Jonathan to resolve the spiralling crises in the party demanded the immediate resignation of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) members led by the party’s National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.

Sources at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the decision was taken to “save the party from imminent collapse”.

The directive to Tukur and other NWC members to step down came on the heels of the decision to lift the suspension slammed on the Sokoto State Governor, Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko, by the PDP for insubordination.
it would be remembered that reports last week had it that the president had set up a committee headed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, to resolve the crises in the party.

Other members of the committee included the Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Mike Oghiadomhe, the President’s Special Adviser on Political Matters, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, Governors Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta), Ibrahim Shema (Katsina), Gabriel Suswam (Benue), Isa Yuguda (Bauchi) and Theodore Orji (Abia).

All members of the committee were present at their inaugural meeting last Saturday night except Suswam.

Part of the recommendations that were to be made by the committee was for the resignation of the four NWC members whose election had been recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Although other members of the NWC may be considered collateral damage, the real target was Tukur, who had been blamed by several governors and other party chieftains for most of the crises in the party.

The presidential directive was said to have been conveyed to Tukur at a meeting at the Legacy House, Abuja, attended by Anyim and four PDP governors.

According to party sources, “The president directed that the entire NWC members should resign and that the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting be convened immediately.

“The directive was as a result of the seemingly rudderless leadership headed by Alhaji Tukur, which had been taking unilateral actions, including the suspension of its top members.

“The president is unhappy with the inability of Tukur to contain the growing level of indiscipline and discontent among members of the party.
“Also, the presidency is worried about the number of court cases pending in the various courts, even against the NWC members.

“The president has told them that if nothing urgent is done to save the party, it will get to an embarrassing point which is why he directed the resignation of the NWC members to stave off future embarrassment.
“The president believes that once the NWC is out of place and a mid-term convention holds to elect a new set of executives, the trouble and legal works will fizzle out.”

However, before the presidential directive had reached Tukur Monday, the party’s national chairman had earlier in the day announced the lifting of the suspension slammed on Wamakko by the party.