JONATHAN ANNOUNCE BAMANGA TUKUR RESIGNATION

By Saharareporters, New York

President Goodluck Jonathan finally presented the resignation letter of embattled party chieftain, Bamanga Tukur, to the 63rd meeting of the National Executive Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the party's secretariat in Abuja today.
The president took the unusual step of reading Mr. Tukur's resignation letter to members after pulling it out of an envelope.
He praised Tukur, who was also present at the meeting, and said that he had not committed any crime to warrant his forced resignation promising to give him a bigger assignment.
Saharareporters sources stated that the President hopes to make Mr. Tukur Nigeria’s ambassador to China in coming days.
Saharareporters had revealed last night that Mr. Tukur's resignation will be made public today at the NEC meeting after he was barred from a crucial caucus meeting at the Aso Rock Villa yesterday.

A new chairman of the party will emerge next week Monday according to President Jonathan.

Jonathan Phones Obasanjo, Begs To Reconsider Decision

President Goodluck Jonathan has
telephoned former President Olusegun
Obasanjo to deny responsibility for
promoting a controversial member of
his
Peoples Democratic Party, Buruji
Kashamu, as an influential party
leader in
the south-west geo-political zone, a
development that has infuriated Mr.
Obasanjo, sources close to the former
president said Saturday.
Mr. Obasanjo was travelling in Addis
Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, at the
time
of the conversation with Mr. Jonathan,
those familiar with the matter said.
Usually reliable presidency sources
said
Mr. Jonathan hurriedly called Mr.
Obasanjo on Thursday shortly after he
received the former president’s latest
letter informing him and the PDP
National
Chairman, Bamanga Tukur, that he
was
suspending participation in party
activities for as long as the ruling
party
continued to treat Mr. Kashamu,
believed
to be a fugitive, with reverence.
Our sources said during the telephone
exchanges, Mr. Jonathan appealed to
Mr.
Obasanjo to reconsider his decision to
suspend himself from the party, saying
he
would personally prevail on Mr. Tukur
to
stop fraternizing with Mr. Kashamu
and
imposing him on the South-West PDP
as
a rallying point.
The president, according to our
sources,
told Mr. Obasanjo that he had never
met
Mr. Kashamu and had never instructed
anyone to accord the controversial
Ogun
politician a special or preferential
treatment in the party.
“Baba, believe me, I don’t know
Kashamu,” our sources quoted Mr.
Jonathan as saying. “I think it is the
chairman (Tukur) that knows him.
Personally, I have nothing with him.
But I
will ask chairman.
“Kindly consider your decision again.
The
PDP belongs to us all and we need to
correct whatever is wrong together.”
The president then promised to “hear
from” Mr Tukur, and to “do
something”
about the matter, those informed
about
the discussion said.
In his response, Mr. Obasanjo is said
to
have explained to the president his
frustration at explaining to world
leaders
how an alleged criminal, wanted by
the
United States authorities, ended up as
a
leader of Nigeria’s ruling party.
He reportedly told the president that
his
assurance of action might amount to
nothing as he believed not much could
be
done as of now.
The Special Adviser to the President on
Media, Reuben Abati could not be
reached
to comment for this story. Several
telephone calls to him failed to
connect.
But three separate presidential aides,
who
do no want to be named for fear they
might be sanctioned, however
confirmed
details of the conversation between Mr.
Jonathan and Mr. Obasanjo.
Contacted, Mr. Obasanjo’s
spokesperson,
Tunde Oladunjoye, said he had no
permission from his boss to confirm
details of his conversation with
anyone.
An aide of the former president
however
confirmed the exchanges.
Ex-President Obasanjo’s letter to PDP
Chairman Bamanga Tukur
Mr. Obasanjo had in a January 7 letter
to
Mr. Tukur announced that he was
withdrawing from the activities of the
PDP
for as long as Mr. Kashamu, whom he
accuses of being a “wanted habitual
criminal”, remains a leader of the
party in
the south west, the former president’s
geopolitical zone.
In a letter to Mr. Tukur on Tuesday, Mr.
Obasanjo said he would remain a
“card-
carrying member” of the governing
party,
but will no longer participate in the
party’s functions at all levels.
“Politics played by any national
political
party must have morality, decency,
discipline, principles and leadership
examples as cardinal practices of the
party,” the former president’s letter,
published on Saturday, read. “I have
attached here recent documents that
clearly indicates that you extolled PDP
zonal leader in the South West of
Nigeria
and an indigene of Ogun State, who is,
to
say the least, not a credit to the party
as
a member let alone being a zonal
leader.”
Mr. Obasanjo, a native of Ogun State,
as
Mr. Kashamu, said while he believed
that
a truly national political party should,
as
a microcosm of a nation, bear all
forms
of characters as members, he however
found no justification in extolling a
“known criminal” wanted abroad on
drug-related charges.
“Since I stick in my practice of party
politics to the hallowed and cherished
principles enunciated above, I take this
opportunity to let you know that while I
continue to remain a card-carrying
member of PDP, I cannot and I will not
subscribe to a wanted habitual
criminal
being installed as my zonal leader in
the
party; a criminal for whom extradition
has been requested by the US
government,” Mr. Obasanjo said.
Mr. Kashamu dismissed Mr.
Obasanjo’s
letter as a “cocktail of lies” and a
“campaign of calumny” inspired by the
former president’s loss of political
relevance in the Southwest.
“Let me state from the outset that
contrary to Obasanjo’s claim, I am not
the
leader of the party in the South West,”
he
said in a statement on Saturday. “I am
just one of the party’s foot soldiers in
the
zone and it is in that capacity that I
am
made the chairman of the Organisation
and Mobilisation Committee for the
party
in the zone.”
Mr. Kashamu said it was
“preposterous”
to be referred to as the leader of the
party
in a zone that parades Bode George,
Shuaibu Oyedokun, Lekan Balogun,
Iyiola
Omisore, Teslim Folarin, Yekeen
Adeojo,
Clement Awoyelu, Ayodele Fayose,
Bode
Olajumoke.
He denied being wanted in the US.
Officials close to President Jonathan
and
Mr. Obasanjo said the president
contacted
the former leader by phone after being
informed of Mr. Obasanjo’s letter to the
PDP chairman. He denied
responsibility
for Mr. Kashamu’s appointment, a
decision he blamed on Mr. Tukur, who
has been at the centre of the PDP’s
months of intractable internal crisis.
Coming about a month after Mr.
Obasanjo penned a scathing letter
accusing Mr. Jonathan of being inept
and
corrupt –allegations the president
rejected in his reply-, the telephone
communication over Mr. Kashamu
appears partly a fence-mending move
by
the two leaders as their party’s
troubles
escalate in the face of credible threat
from
the opposition All Progressives
Congress,
APC.

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.

Obasanjo withdraws from PDP

Obasanjo withdraws from PDP •Writes
Tukur, copies Jonathan •PDP govs give
conditions for peace.

President Olusegun Obasanjo has fired
another letter, this time, to the National
Chairman of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, in
which he gave a notice of his
withdrawal from the activities of the
party.

Obasanjo also sent a copy of the letter
to President Goodluck Jonathan as
National Leader of the party. A copy of
the letter was obtained by the Saturday
Tribune.

The former president, in the letter, said
he was withdrawing from all activities of
the party because the PDP had been
negating the principles of morality,
decency and discipline in its decisions,
especially as they affect the South West
where he comes from.

The letter, dated January 7, 2014,
according to a source at the national
secretariat of the party, was received in
the office of Tukur on Wednesday, 8
January, 2014. It is believed that
President Jonathan also got his own
copy on Thursday.

Obasanjo accused the party leadership
of imposing someone (names witheld),
who he described as a criminal wanted
abroad, on the party as its South West
zonal leader and proceeded to add that
he was forwarding with the letter,
“recent documents” on the alleged
activities of the person.

Efforts to get copies of the “recent
documents” by Saturday Tribune from
both the PDP national secretariat as
well as from Obasanjo’s side were,
however, not successful but a source at
PDP’s national secretariat confirmed
that the letter came with attachments.
He did not give further details.
The three paragraph letter reads:
“While I believe that a good and truly
national political party must be a
microcosm of the nation in its
membership, made up of all sorts of
characters from near-saints to near-
satan, I also believe that on no account
should a known habitual criminal that is
wanted abroad to face criminal charges
levelled against him be extolled as a
political leader in a respectable and
wholesome nation-building political
party.
“(...Names witheld) has been so extolled
in PDP in South-West geo-political zone
which I personally find unsavoury.

Politics played by any national political
party must have morality, decency,
discipline, principles and leadership
examples as cardinal practices of the
party. I have attached here recent
documents that clearly indicate that
your extolled PDP Zonal Leader in the
South-West zone of Nigeria and an
indigene of Ogun State is, to say the
least, not a credit to the party as a
member, let alone being a zonal leader.

“Since I stick in my practice of party
politics to the hallowed and cherished
principles enunciated above, I take this
opportunity to let you know that while I
continue to remain a card-carrying
member of PDP, I cannot and I will not
subscribe to a wanted habitual criminal
being installed as my zonal leader in the
party; a criminal for whom extradition
has been requested by the US
government. In the meantime, I will
consider withdrawing my activity with
PDP at local, state, zonal and national
levels until the anomalous and
shameful situation is corrected.”

A meeting of South West leaders of the
party, it was gathered, will hold in
Ibadan, Oyo State, today and may also
come up with far-reaching decisions on
the future of the party in the zone.
PDP governors give fresh conditions for
peace
PEOPLES Democratic Party (PDP)
governors have given fresh conditions
for peace to return to the party and for
the chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, to
remain in office.

Part of the conditions, according to
information gathered by the Saturday
Tribune, is for President Goodluck
Jonathan to prevail on Tukur to return
the structures of the party to them in
their respective states as well as make
them the leaders. Only after this would
they agree to resume adequate funding
of the party at all levels as well as its
national secretariat.

Part of Tukur’s ‘sins’ is his alleged
incessant interference in the affairs of
the state chapters, which is said to have
led to the setting up of caretaker
committees for some of the chapters.

The situation did not go down well with
the governors, who saw the action as
erosion of their powers as leaders in
their respective states.
The new development, sources close to
the governors said, followed the
intervention of some respected leaders
of the party who reportedly counseled
them on the implications of removing
Tukur now that the 2015 general
elections are around the corner.

Saturday Tribune, however, learnt that
the development had created a sharp
division among the governors, as some
of them are still insisting that the
embattled chairman must go as earlier
demanded, for them continue to be
relevant in the scheme of things in the
party ahead of the 2015 elections.

The likes of the governors of Jigawa
and Niger states, who were members of
the aggrieved G7 Governors before five
of them defected to the All Progressives
Congress (APC), and some others are
said to have insisted that for genuine
peace to return to the PDP and for the
party to maintain its supremacy come
2015 elections, there must be a
complete change of leadership.

However, one of the aides to Alhaji
Tukur revealed that the cause of friction
between Tukur and the governors was
his insistence that the party must be
returned to the grassroots, and that the
constitution of the party must be
followed to the letter to allow for due
process in election of candidates for
party or elective offices, rather than the
old order of imposition of candidates by
state governors without due process.

Jonathan Remains PDP's Candidate For 2015 Elections - Tukur

The national chairman of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),
Alhaji Bamanga Tukur has declared
that President Goodluck Jonathan
is the party’s presidential candidate
in 2015 general elections.

Bamanga
Tukur disclosed this during the
inauguration of National PDP
Councillors’ Forum in Abuja. He
further told the party faithful not to
be deterred by people leaving for
other parties saying that even if
they leave the PDP the party
remains.

He further maintained that
PDP remains the strongest and
biggest party in Nigeria and Africa
insisting that the party is
insurmountable.

He said, “Don’t be deterred by
some people saying they are
leaving the party. People leaving
the party are individuals not the
party. It doesn’t mean if they leave
the party the party leaves. No, the
party remains. PDP is the only
party in Nigeria that fields a
candidate in every election that is
held. Don’t be deterred; don’t be
afraid, you are part of the ruling
party.”

He further tasked the councillors on
the role they have to play in making
sure that Jonathan wins the 2015
election.

In his remarks the former
governorship candidate of the PDP
in Edo State Major General Charles
Arhiavbere(rtd) said the
inauguration showed that the
members of PDP are solidly behind
President Goodluck Jonathan even
as he advised the executives to
reach out to the 13 states including
Edo State that is not under PDP
and bring them under the umbrella
of the party.

Speaking on the letter written to
President Jonathan by former
president Olusegun Obasanjo, the
former governor of Bayelsa State,
Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha said
that Obasanjo should play a
fatherly role and stop acting the
way he was doing. He maintained
that Obasanjo’s present style was
what made the former head of state
late General Sani Abacha to put
him in prison.

He said, “That was exactly what he
was doing till Abacha put him in
prison, the same style, he has
started again. Anyway I don’t think
he has advisers. If he has advisers
they will call him to order . He is
not the only statesman we have in
this country. Yes, I respect him as
former president. He has
contributed also to the sustenance
of democracy even in the military,
he played a significant role. We
acknowledge all that but power is
transit. When you finish your tenure
you hand over the baton to others
and support the person in power
and not to pull him down,” he
added.