The power game in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) deepen during the week, leading to fears that Bamanga Tukur’s tenure as National Chairman was under threat Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, examines Tukur’s leadership style, and reports that he may need to change tactics to survive the current storm.
As the ongoing crisis involving the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) deepens by the day, many observers have tried to offer explanation for the impasse, suggesting possible solution.
While few observers who spoke to The Nation blamed external forces for the current troubles, who, according to them, are out to destroy PDP, many contend that PDP leaders themselves, like the National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, share the larger chunk of the blame.
Those advancing this latter argument contend, for example, that Tukur’s style of leadership, which they described as “tending towards imperialism,” has neither succeeded in soothing the numerous frayed nerves within the party nor facilitating the return of former members who left in anger, a development that has rather stunted the growth of the party ahead 2015.
So, as the battle for the soul of PDP rages on in courts and other battlefields across the country, it seems the heat is piling up more on Tukur, leading to the view that the former governor of the old Gongola State will need to employ an unusual political strategy to survive the current power web.
The questions many are asking, however, are if Tukur has the political sagacity, the tact and the right connections to survive the intrigues?
His emergence into power
Born in 1936, Tukur first gained national attention way back in the mid 1970s, when he served as the General Manager of Nigeria Ports Authority. It coincided with the period of scandals over huge importation of cement. The consequent politics of cement then projected Tukur into national consciousness as he led government’s efforts then to tackle puzzles associated with cement importation, storage and distribution.
When he later left that juicy position, he went into politics and contested for the Gongola State governorship seat in 1982. He won the election and was sworn in as the executive governor of the old Gongola State, which comprised today’s Adamawa and Jigawa States. He, however, governed that North-East State for just three months (between October 1983 and December 1983 ) before the democratic dispensation was cut short by a military coup.
Stripped of political power so early in his tenure as a governor, he tactically withdrew from big time political theatre as he threw his weight into the field of business, founded and lead his BHI Holdings (DADDO Group of Companies).
He, however, served as minister of industries under the military government of late General Sani Abacha.
That executive assignment asides, insiders said Tukur was literarily outside the mainstream of North-East politics until March 2012, when he suddenly emerged the National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in spite of high wire politics and intrigues engineered by political big wigs in the zone opposed to Tukur. His critics tried to give impression that Tukur was finished politically and so cannot be given the such intricate assignment.
But by then, Tukur had earned some reputation as a big player in African business development initiatives through his association with the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and his role as President of the Africa Business Roundtable.
This notwithstanding, some observers seemed determined from onset that Tukur was coming to confront an opposition he cannot overcome to succeed. Whether that prediction would be fulfilled depends so much on Tukur himself and the actions of the other leading forces in the party.
His style and prospects of survival
Way back in his days as one of the leading officers of the then ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN), Bamanga Tukur has been marketed by his opponents as a conservative hard liner. Deliberately or by omission, it seems Tukur has allowed that image to stick. Today, as the National Chairman of PDP, some of the officials at the Wadata Plaza headquarters of the party allege that he tries to lord it over his associates and that most of them loathe this tendency and may have aligned secretly with his known opponents because of this singular reason.
A source close to the party’s secretariat told The Nation within the week that the chairman seems unaware that many of his associates feel bullied and are no longer ready to tolerate it since they feel the governors opposed to Tukur and the president on this matter will protect them. “The Chairman is unaware of how unpopular his style has become. Most of his associates got fed up during the face off between the National Secretary and the then Chief of Staff, Fari. They felt it was the chairman that emboldened his chief of staff to attempt intimidation of elected officials. So, though the chairman later sacked the chief of staff then, he did not change. He is therefore to be blamed for what is happening,” the source said.
Another source within the PDP leadership, however, said criticisms against Tukur today is understandable because the aggrieved governors have divided the party in a bid to dethrone Tukur. “They will not succeed, since the man’s hands are clean,” the source said.
Assessed from outside however, most observers said Tukur’s recent actions do not really project him very democratic. For example, as members of the National Working Committee failed to take a decision on the way forward, last Monday, after the embattled National Secretary of the party, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, was sacked by the Federal High Court, two days earlier, the decision Tukur took has been described by some as ‘grossly undemocratic.’
It was alleged that after the session of the NWC failed to form a quorum and thus unable to take a decision over the running of the secretariat pending the determination of Oyinlola’s legal fate, Tukur quietly left the meeting and later wrote a memo, announcing the appointment of the Deputy National Secretary, Onwe S. Onwe, as the Acting Secretary. This decision, has since sparked off another controversy as his critics alleged that Tukur’s decision was not only unilateral but also based on an amended constitution which is yet to be ratified by the appropriate authorities of the party.
Why would Tukur choose to act alone when he knows that the party has a well denied structure? That has been the major question on the lips of many? “He has to do that to avoid a situation where the party would be grounded,” said one of his aides who declined to be be quoted, since he was not detailed to comment on the matter. Others think otherwise. One of his associates, who also declined to named, said “It was a big mistake, but no one is above mistakes.”
Outside the PDP secretariat, other stakeholders and outsiders have also tried to assess the current situation, noting specially the fate of Tukur in the imbroglio.
Shehu Garba, commenting on the PDP face off and the fate of Tukur, had said in an opinion piece: “As good politicians, PDP governors, who are toying with the idea of a bloody fight with Jonathan for the control of the party should, in their own interest, have a re-think. A good politician should be able to make adjustments without being handicapped by ego. At present, the President seems well disposed to Bamanga Tukur as PDP Chairman and may be prepared to swim or sink with him. This is easy to understand, considering that it was the President who in the first place brought Tukur against the wishes of the governors and the electorate. In power calculus, his own strategists may have convinced him that if he allowed Tukur to go down at this time, the next thing the insatiable governors will do is to chance him by asking for his head.”
Maxi Okwu, a former presidential candidate and political analyst, was more direct as he blamed the current problems in PDP to the choice of Tukur as the National Chairman of the party, describing his election as “funny, given his age.” According to Okwu, “Though I am not a member of PDP, as an active player in Nigeria politics, I can see that Tukur’s appointment was funny ab initio. One would have expected PDP to elect a younger and more dynamic National Chairman at this point of its history.”
He argued that Tukur has therefore not advanced the fortunes of PDP since he became chairman, as he had failed to curtail the neck- deep intrigues and unending controversies within the party.
Taking a critical look at the crisis within PDP, Okwu told The Nation, “I think Tukur will lose out ultimately in the ongoing power game.” Reminded that the National Chairman still has the full backing of President Goodluck Jonathan, the National Leader of the party, who sponsored his emergence as chairman in spite of stiff opposition, Okwu said, “Looking at the way the political pendulum is swinging, it is obvious that Jonathan will sacrifice Tukur as it becomes clear that his own ambition is threatened. In the power game they are playing, they will use the Pawn to save the King. As we all know, PDP power structure is built around some forces, which includethe Governors’ Forum, party elders and of course, the President. The current power game may therefore not favour Tukur in the long run, if you understand what I am saying,” he concluded.
