The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has experienced a major crack in its wall as some ardent members have formed a new and what seems as a formidable faction within the party to hijack leadership from the hold of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.
The announcement of the formation of the new PDP faction which held simultaneously at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua centre while the party’s special national convention was on at the Eagle square Abuja, was an upshot of grievances of key members of the party.
They include; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu and his deputy, Sokoto State Governor Magatarkada Wamakko and his deputy, Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido and his deputy, Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwakwanso and his deputy, River State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako and the Kwara State governor Abdulfatar Ahmed.
Others at the event are former Osun State Governor and the immediate past National Secretary of the PDP, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, immediate past Deputy National Chairman of PDP, Sam Sam Jaja, former Governor of Kwara State, Shaba Lafiaji, former Nasarawa State Governor, Abdulahi Adamu, a host of National Assembly members and States Assembly members from the states where the governors are from.
Besides, the People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) has revealed that its party is set to commence registration of new members while its leadership commended the move of the new PDP faction members.
The aggrieved members of he PDP were said to have noticed various regularities which would not cater for free and fair elections into vacant positions of the party’s working committee.
Sam Jaja who is a loyalist of Governor Amaechi was a contestant for the Deputy National Chairman seatbut was disqualified from the contest despited having been cleared by the screening committee on Friday alongside 74 others vying for various offices in the committee.
The other governors also confirmed that their candidates for the various offices have been removed from the list of contestants.
In a speech delivered at a full capacity hall at the Shehu YarAdua centre, immediate past National Chairman of PDP, Kawu Baraje who led the team of the renegade party members said the move to take over the party leadership from Tukur is real and irreversible.
Baraje who revealed that that the team is seizing power from Tukur because “he has lost focus on how the party is to be run just as the team”, also accused president Jonathan and Tukur of turning the party to their personal properties.
Baraje also accused Tukur of conniving with Jonathan to witch hunt perceived enemies of the 2015 presidential ambition of the President.
“Tukur has become a ‘yes man’ to Jonathan and has sold the soul of the party to Jonathan and his men while other stakeholders of the party are sidelined in the running of the party”,he noted.
He introduced the executives of the party’s faction thus; himself as the new party chairman, Oyinlola as the authentic Secretary of the party and Jaja as the authentic Deputy National Chairman of the party and assures that others will be unveiled soonest.
He said: “We address you today as leaders of PDP, who are worried by the increasing repression, restrictions of freedom of association, arbitrary suspension of members and other such violations of democratic principles by a faction of our party led by Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.
“While we have done everything humanly possible to bring to the attention of critical stakeholders within the party the dangers inherent in the course being charted by that leadership, it has become very clear that the desperate permutations towards 2015 general elections have blinded certain people from the consequences of their actions.
“Not only has the constitution of the party been serially abused by Alhaji Tukur and fellow travelers, all the organs of the party have been rendered virtually ineffectual by a few people who act as though above the law.
“Unfortunately, it is obvious that they get encouragement from the presidency whose old calculations are geared towards shutting out any real or imagined opposition ahead of the party’s presidential primaries for the 2015 elections.
“As leaders of our great party, we consider it a sacred responsibility to save the PDP from the antics of a few desperadoes who have no democratic temperament and are therefore bent on hijacking the party for selfish ends. While the list of their violations of the tenets of our great party is long, we will highlight just a few:
“•The National Executive Committee of the PDP at its belated meeting of 20 June 2013 approved 20 July 2013 for the conduct of a special national convention. However, that date was changed to August 31 without reverting to NEC (the only authority vested with such powers) by a few people, apparently acting on the authority of the presidency.
“•Notwithstanding the fact that INEC had noted that the PDP congresses in nine states were not presently conducted, the illegal delegates from such states are being paraded at the so-called convention being held today (Saturday) in a cynical attempt to circumvent the law and further bring the name of the party to disrepute.
“•In gross violation of the PDP constitution which stipulates that the NEC meeting must hold at least once in a quarter, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and a few people have been running the party like a personal fiefdom without recourse to that important decision-making organ of the party.
“•The NEC of the party accepted the resignation of the former members of the NWC whose offices were affected by INEC observations based principally on the agreement that the affected officers would be returned to their respective offices at the convention. However, against the decision of the NEC. And in a not-so-clever bid to exclude some perceived opponents of the few powerful members who are trying to hijack the party, these positions have been made open to some Yes-men within the party.
“•Notwithstanding INEC instance that Senator Any Uba is the duly elected candidate of the party in Anambra State and against the background that he is so recognised by majority of our party members, the Bamanga Tukur-led Executives announced a purported suspension of Senator Uba and some other members close to him in defiance of subsisting court orders.
“•Despite that the PDP Constitution is very clear that the state chapter of the party cannot discipline a national officer, the Deputy National Chairman, Mr. Sam Jaja, has reportedly been dismissed by some renegades who have hijacked the Rivers State chapter of our party with the connivance of the Bamanga Tukur leadership.
“•The persistent change in the list of the party’s delegates in many states as part of a deliberate attempt to rig the party’s nomination of candidates, especially at the presidential and gubernatorial levels, with a view to foisting on the PDP some unpopular candidates who are bound to lose at the polls.
“•The suspension without due process of the Governors of Rivers and Sokoto states. Even when the illegal suspension on Sokoto State governor has been lifted, the Rivers governor remains purportedly suspended for no just cause.
“•The illegal dissolution of the Adamawa State chapter of the party is a clear abuse of power by Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, thus causing confusion in his home state.
“Given the foregoing, it is very clear that the Bamanga Tukur leadership cannot guarantee for our millions of party members democracy anchored on free choice and the rule of law. We have therefore taken it upon ourselves to rescue the party from their dictatorial leadership.
“It is indeed noteworthy that from 1999 to date, Nigerians have constantly voted the presidential candidates presented by our great party but not only does such trust come with enormous responsibility, we recognise that we cannot continue to take the people for granted.
“From now, the new leadership of the party under us will strive to build a fairer as well as a more transparent and accountable PDP that will put interest of members and indeed all the people of Nigeria above that of one single individual.
“For all the members of our great party who may have become disillusioned by the anti-democratic tendencies of the Bamanga Tukur leadership, there is a new lease of life in the horizon. It s a new day for the Peoples Democratic Party.
“As we take over the leadership of the PDP, our immediate priority is to revive the culture of robust debate of all contending issues while providing a level-playing field for all our members.
“These were the ideals that differentiated our party from others and endeared us to Nigerians.
Barage complained that the party degenerated into a situation where one man has been taken decisions for all members.
Later on, the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM chairman, Mallam Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim, who spoke through his Media Advisor, Alaba Yusuf, in a statement has said: “We appreciate their bold, brave and patriotic stand of these delegates for refusing to participate in an election which they knew gave no even playing ground to all stakeholders.’’
He also added that PDM, a party of true democracy, equity, fairness stand shoulder to shoulder with all true democrats who wish to make Nigeria great again through positive political change.
He also said the PDM shall soon throw open its online and manual registration of prospective members within and outside the country, within a few weeks.
During his remarks, in which he condemned the manner the party had is being managed by Tukur, Atiku said the position taken by the new faction was “the best way to save the party from the hawks”.
His statement read in parts; “Today is a very historic day in the life of our party. It is also a day of mixed feelings. It could also be a day of happiness. It could also be a sad day. Sad because the party we conceived in 1998 to be a rallying point for all Nigerians to be a source of unity, to be a party that will fulfill the aspirations of Nigerians, has today been dragged down by people who don’t even understand what party politics is all about.
“I have always been trying to draw attention of leaders of our party, and the leaders of government that this democratic dispensation is supposed to make things better for the people of this country. Let us not deceive ourselves, the country is full of frustration, the country is full of anger, is full disappointment, therefore we have a responsibility, to see how we can reform our great party so that those lofty ideals, lofty goals can be achieved.
“They can not be achieved by the present leadership of the party. It cannot be achieved even by the presidency.
“I have said it before and I am saying it again, that we are going in a wrong direction, now we have seen the result.
“We are losing the party, we are losing the government, and for this very courageous people seated here, this idea was mooted to see whether we still have men with courage and determination to get up and stand up. I will therefore want to appeal to the rest of our party members who are still sitting on the fence to join this new PDP”, PDM stated.
“I want to assure you we will restore the values of the founding fathers of this party. Let me thank all of you for the courage and support to stand up because some people will be hiding somewhere.
“By the grace of God with your support, with your loyalty, the change will be achieved.”
Nevertheless, Atiku noted that he had forewarned those in charge of the party, but that they refused to heed his warnings.