The embattled national chairman of Peoples Democratic Party,Ahlaji Bamanga Tukur today got support from his state as Adamawa State PDP Stakeholders rejected demands by the PDP’s Elders Forum led by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in its effort to resolve the current crises being faced by the party.
Aggrieved break away leaders of the party including 7 governors had demanded the sacking of Bamanga Tukur as national chairman of the party as one of the conditions that must be met before they could return to the party.
At a news briefinng in Abuja today the stakeholders also rejected the demand for the reinstatement of the dissolved Adamawa State executive of the party.
Former PDP governorship aspirant for Adamawa state, Umar Ardo who spoke on behalf of the stakeholders said while they were desirous of getting the crises in the party resolved in the most satisfactory way, ” we caution that constitutionalism and rule of law as against selfish interest must be uppermost in the minds all those involved in resolving the crises.”
“It is against this backdrop that we find some of the demands of the so-called New PDP led by Abubakar Baraje, and reiterated by President Obasanjo, as ludicrous and un-implementable.
” Specifically, we refer to the demand for the reinstatement of the dissolved Adamawa State executive of the party. In other words, so as to accommodate the selfish interest of Gov. Murtala Nyako, PDP should recall back the Mijinyawa Kugama-led State EXCO, which was dissolved October last year.
” This was an EXCO that was never elected in the first place but was an imposition on party members by Gov. Nyako in which his kinsman from his ward was pronounced Chairman. It was accordingly declared unconstitutional and illegitimate by INEC.
“In seven separate letters to the National Leadership of the party, from March 2008 to April 2012, INEC has been imploring the PDP’s NWC to conduct congresses in the state to legitimize the state EXCO, but all to no avail.
” For 5 years the people of Adamawa have been battling to remove this illegal yoke imposed on us by a corrupt and supine state government but were frustrated by no other persons than Abubakar Baraje and his ilk while they held sway at Wadata Plata.
Now, having attained this feat in October last year, the PDP Stakeholders in Adamawa cannot standby and watch the party in the state return to those old dark days again just because Gov. Nyako is crying”, Ardo said.
“Already, our case on the matter is pending in court; it is because of the political solution found for the state that made us to step down the legal fight. But if this political solution is disrupted by the current so-called peace discourse we will not hesitate to rush back to court to enforce rule of law and constitutionalism in the party in the state.”
