As a business mogul, Second Republic governor of Gongola State and Minister of Transport, life was rosy for Alhaji Bamanga Tukur. But as the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), his tenure has been characterised by crisis. Can he hold on to the end? Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU examines the strengths and weaknesses of the party leader and his chance of survival
Bamanga Tukur, prominent businessman and embattled National Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was in a pensive mood in his office last week.
In the last one year, the ruling party has been battling with protracted crises. These crises are not good for a man of Tukur’s age. The 80 year-old politician pondered on the lingering crisis that has decimated the platform. Signals from the troubled chapters suggested that more troubles were on the way.
There was no PDP National Chairman who had been insulated from crisis in the last 15 years. But the raging controversy has assumed an alarming proportion. Although the National Working Committee (NWC) had passed a vote of confidence on his leadership, he acknowledged the limitation of the partisan endorsement. Reality dawned on Tukur that his perception as the obstacle to peace in the troubled party by the aggrieved governors may soon turn the table against him. Therefore, he took a step.
In a surprise move on Wednesday, the chairman visited the Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman, Chief Tony Anenih in his Abuja home. Both Tukur and Anenih are founding fathers of the PDP. They are also loyalists of President Goodluck Jonathan. However, they have been working at cross-purposes. They embraced, discussed the logjam and resolved to revive the moribund reconciliation process. ‘Mr. Fix it”, as Anenih is fondly called, was said to have promised to work harmoniously with the chairman to resolve the lingering crisis.
As the meeting was going on, the aggrieved governors were sharpening their deadly arrows. When the swords of five out of the seven governors hit the party few weeks ago, it bled profusely. Their defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) created ripples. It was the first massive defection from the acclaimed largest party in Africa. But, the two governors who are reluctantly staying on in the PDP have been firing salvos at Tukur. Thus, reconciliation with Anenih only paled into a tip of an iceberg.
At the weekend, Tukur’s agony increased geometrically. The governors insisted that the chairman should go. In fact, some names were suggested to the PDP National Leader, President Goodluck Jonathan, as replacement. However, at the weekend, there was another trouble for the chairman. To his consternation, 37 House of Representatives defected from the PDP to the APC. Now, there are fears that some senators may join the band if defectors.
Since he became the chairman in a rancorous convention, Tukur has not had peace. Ahead of the national congress, governors rose against his candidature. Yet, as a party source said, he was the only aspirant the President could depend for loyalty. But, despite the fact that President Jonathan had his way, he could not prevent the volley of attacks on his anointed candidate.
From day one, Tukur could not go along well with the National Secretary, Gen. Olagunsoye Oyinlola. The National Executive Committee (NEC) was divided. Oyinlola complained that Tukur’s Chief of Staff, Abu Fari, was an interloper doing the work of the national secretary by proxy. Following the confrontation, Fari was shoved aside. But it was not the end of the matter. When party chieftains in the protested the congress that threw up the national officers, the agitation, which was backed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), led to the resignation of some national officers.
Tukur survived the purge. But preparations for the next congress created rift between him and many PDP governors. A section was bitter over the suspension of Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and later, Sokoto State Governor Aliyu Wamakko. Although Wamakko’s suspension was suspended, Amaechi was not pardoned. Wamakko said that the chairman had erred, warning that his activities will injure the health of the party.
The PDP went into its supplementary convention in distress. A section of the party led by Alhaji Kawu Baraje formed the New PDP, which has now fused into the APC. Prominent chieftains were summoned before the National Disciplinary Committee chaired by the ailing Dr. Umaru Dikko. The committee had not commenced its sitting when many party stalwarts started to desert the ruling party. Although the governors had persisted in their call for Tukur’s removal, the President has refused to yield.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, has dismissed the call for Tukur’s ouster as illegal, stressing that he emerged in a proper congress witnessed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). “The INEC attested to it that he emerged in a proper convention. How can you ask a duly elected chairman to leave?”, he queried.
A presidential source said that Tukur is being perceived as the only shield for President Jonathan, who is believed to be nursing a second term. “It is a game they are playing in the PDP. Tukur is not the problem. His problem is that he is committed to the President, who is the target”, he said. Asked to shed light on the source of the discord, he added: “The President may actually declare his intention for re-election. Tukur is loyal to the President. Therefore, they believe that he is loyal to one of the candidates or aspirants in the PDP”.
Another chieftain, who collaborated this view, said that the adversaries of the President, notably the aggrieved governors, are also eyeing the Presidency in 2015. “They too want to be President and they believe that, with Tukur as the chairman, the President will still be in charge of the party, just as the governors are in charge of the state chapters”, he added.
Both the PDP National Executive Council (NEC) and the National Working Committee (NWC) are solidly behind Tukur and the President. Two week ago, they both passed a vote of confidence on the National Chairman, urging him to team up with the President in the implementation of his transformation agenda. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in his letter to the President, also exonerated Tukur, saying that he only accepted dictation from the President.
The camp of the former President in Ogun State are unhappy with Tukur for recognising the State Executive Committee headed by Adebayo Dayo, an engineer, instead of the factional executive led by the eminent politician, Senator Dipo Odujinrin. But, Tukur had explained that he only obeyed the court’s ruling on the Ogun PDP leadership tussle. He said he could not have ignored the court judgment, having vowed to return the party to the path of integrity, discipline, rule of law and party supremacy.
In Adamawa State, Tukur and Governor Murtala Nyako have been at loggerheads. There is a sort of ego war between the two Fulani brothers and neither was ready to sheath his sword. Nyako’s group had accused the national chairman of projecting his son, Awa, for the governorship in 2015. Initially, Tukur objected to the objection against his son’s ambition, saying that he is an adult who can decide for himself. However, when he persuaded the younger Tukur to defer his aspiration, the discord generated by the ambition did not vanish.
However, a source said that crisis brew between Tukur and the PDP governors because they resented the reforms introduced by the chairman. Tukur’s advisers have furnished him with the information that the governors would ultimately become his albatross because they constituted a powerful cult. He was told that past national chairmen fell because the governors did not want them or the President instigated them against the chairman. In fact, they warned him against falling into the same trap like Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, who did not survive his quarrel with the governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime. Therefore, he decided to liberate the office of the national chairman from the jaw of the governors.
Tukur introduced the on-line membership registration and payment of dues by members at the ward level. It is an innovation that could aid aggressive mobilisation of party members. The former chairmen relied on the governors for money for running the party. Therefore, with on-line registration, Tukur sought to assert his independence by relying on the party members, whose dues would now be used for running the party.
The chairman also attempted to sideline the governors by canvassing for the sponsorship of the party by the Federal Government. The governors felt slighted. A source said: “The reforms initiated by Tukur were in good faith, but they were damaging to the personal interest of the governors. Tukur and President Jonathan were governors in the past. They know that the governors are the leaders of the party at the state level. They control the party across the states. But they do not want the President to control the party at the centre.
“Tukur’s on-line registration of party members meant that the party secretariat will have access to all party members across the wards. This may disrupt the governor’s plans to rig primaries at the state level”.
The heat is on. The forces against the chairman are not relenting. They are unanimous that Tukur should go in the interest of the party. The chairman is in the eye of the storm. But the President is also sensitive to the danger of letting down a dependable ally. Will Tukur step aside? Will he survive the crisis? Time will tell.
