The Special Adviser on Political Matters to the President, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, has absolved the presidency of being behind the plot to remove Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), stating that those clamouring for Tukur's ouster are anti-Jonathan and want to hold the president hostage.
The governors of the party have pushed for Tukur's removal for months, accusing him of highhandedness and running the party like his personal estate.
The chairman's sack was also one of the key demands of the seven aggrieved governors of the PDP, but President Goodluck Jonathan's refusal to accede to their request, among other demands, led to defection of five of the governors to the rival All Progressives Congress (APC).
In fact, THISDAY learnt that some of the governors of the PDP have made it clear that Tukur's continued stay in office may compel them to exercise other options including leaving the party for APC.
In addition to the governors, THISDAY learnt, more pressure has been mounted by the Senate Caucus of the PDP which warned the president against his continued support of the party chairman at the expense of losing more members and a possible loss of control of the majority by the party in the Senate.
But one of the aides of the national chairman, Alhaji Mohammed Shittu, has urged members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP to defend the party, stating that all decisions of the NWC are collective and never unilateral.
Speaking on the presidency's position on the ouster plot, Gulak, in a text message to THISDAY yesterday said that removing Tukur as the national chairman was not part of the agenda of the January 8 National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party.
He added that the plot to remove Tukur is aimed at holding the president hostage.
"Removing Tukur is not on the agenda and has not been. Those clamouring for Tukur's removal have their hidden agenda to control the party in order to hold Mr. President hostage.
“To them, Tukur has sinned since he will not act their script. Any supporter of Mr. President should support Tukur's leadership of the party,” Gulak said.
Also speaking in defence of his principal, Shittu, a former chairman of the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC), urged NWC members to rise to the occasion and defend PDP as a political party, stating that the party has never been run as a one-man show.
Shittu, who was responding to a question, said: “What is happening is a challenge to all members of the PDP NWC. They should rise to the challenge of the occasion and defend PDP in these trying times.”
He explained that the plot to destroy PDP was targeted at the president, Vice-President Namadi Sambo and Tukur.
“Why are the NWC members not talking? There has been no single decision of the Tukur-led NWC that was not collective.
“The NWC under Tukur speaks as a family. It has never been run as a one-man show. All decisions of the PDP NWC are collective and never unilateral. The PDP, like the NWC, is a family. All these attacks to get the national chairman are sponsored with a hidden intention.
“If they succeed in removing Tukur, then the next target is the president and the vice-president. We know the game plan,” he said.
However, stakeholders of the party pushing for the sack of Tukur are not unrelenting as they have continued to weigh options for his removal.
A top party chief told THISDAY that there were two options before the national caucus, Board of Trustees (BoT) and the NEC meetings expected to hold between January 6 and 8.
According to the stakeholder, who is a member of the national caucus and NEC, “The options before the party are to remove Tukur as the national chairman now and let the mid-term national convention confirm his removal.
“The mid-term convention is expected to hold in March. In this regard, the deputy national chairman will take over the affairs of the party until the mid-term convention or a substantive national chairman is appointed at the March convention.
“These are the two options before us, but all these are subject to the approval of the president who is the leader of the party.”
Also, the Senate Caucus of the party has joined the clamour for Tukur's sack, as members pointedly told the president at a meeting that he was taking an undue risk by his continued retention of the party chair.
THISDAY learnt yesterday that Senate President David Mark led some members of the Senate Caucus to the president to review the situation in the party with a view to resolving some of the controversial issues and how to address them.
Sources at the meeting said the senators told the president that he could be risking impeachment by allowing more members of the National Assembly defect to the opposition APC.
They were said to have told the president that it would amount to sticking to a bad strategy to continue to keep one man (Tukur) at the expense of hundreds of others, adding that the longer he keeps the party chairman, the more difficult it would become to dissuade the aggrieved lawmakers from defecting.
A source quoted the senators as telling the president that the threat to impeach him is not a fluke and an attempt might be made if more members of the National Assembly defect to the APC under the guise of being unable to work with Tukur.
Already, 37 members of the House of Representatives, elected on the platform of the PDP, have defected to APC and several senators are also on their way to the opposition party.
The source added that at the meeting, one of the staunch supporters of the president stood up and threatened to defect too if Jonathan refused to heed their advice.
Convinced by their logic, the president, it was learnt, agreed to have a rethink on the matter and revert to them.
But he was said to have immediately briefed Tukur on the matter as well as sought his understanding in the larger interest of the party.
It was against this backdrop that an understanding was allegedly reached that Tukur should leave at the end of this month, a decision that would be properly managed and perfected next week at the PDP NEC meeting, the source said.
Source: Thisday
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