PDP Still Needs You, Tukur Tells Obasanjo

The PDP National Chairman, Alhaji
Bamanga Tukur, on Saturday said
former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s
fatherly aura and experience in politics
were still required by the party.

Tukur said this in reaction to a letter
written to him and President Goodluck
Jonathan, dated Jan. 7, 2014, by
Obasanjo.

Obasanjo had, in the letter, raised
some issues related to the PDP in the
country’s South-West geo-political
zone.

The letter had also conveyed
Obasanjo’s decision to withdraw from
participating in the party`s politics at
all levels.

“It is an honour that you deemed it fit
and proper to intimate me with an
issue important to your mind and our
party in the south-west zone.
“It is my wish and prayer that such
cordial and positive relationship will
continue,” Tukur said.

He stated that Obasanjo’s experiences
as one of the party`s founding fathers
were required in its drive to get
stronger and become more formidable.

Tukur said the PDP had more pressing
challenges, bordering most
importantly on the coming Ekiti and
Osun states’ governorship elections
and the 2015 general elections.

All this, he said, required strong inputs
from the former president.
The PDP national chairman said
continuous dialogue was needed for a
stronger partnership among the
party’s stakeholders.

He maintained that the need for PDP
to reclaim lost grounds in the south-
west required the full support of party
leaders like Obasanjo.

Tukur expressed gratitude to Obasanjo
for his manner of approach and for
presenting his grievances on issues in
the PDP south-west.

“I thank you for your gesture and I
pray that we shall all continue to
dialogue and partner, so he can move
our party forward,” he said.
Baba also said there was the need for
PDP to attain success in the
governorship elections coming up in
Ekiti and Osun and the subsequent
elections in 2015.

This, according to him, was critical to
reclaiming lost grounds in the South-
West zone of the country.

On issues raised by Obasonjo in the
letter on the state of PDP in the south-
west, Tukur said the crisis within the
PDP in the zone preceded his
emergence as the party`s national
chairman.

He insisted that the party’s National
Executive Committee and the National
Working Committee were never part of
the problems in the south-west PDP.

“We came in when we were threatened
with contempt of court charges for not
obeying the court’s order to dissolve
the south-west zonal executive and
remove some officers of the party.

“We complied with the court orders
because of our belief in the rule of law
and to avoid consequences of
disobeying such orders.’’ Tukur said.