FOUR northern governors who are at loggerheads with the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have
stated their conditions for ending the crisis rocking Nigeria’s ruling party.
Topmost among their conditions is the demand that party chairman, Bamanga Tukur, adopt the recommendation of the Sule Lamido-led presidential reconciliation committee on the Adamawa PDP crisis.
The four governors spearheading this demand include Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State, Sule Lamido of Jigawa State, Aliyu Wamako of Sokoto State and Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State.
The governors also listed among their complaints, the hounding of certain party members by the National Working Committee of the party, demanding that the issue must be addressed and that the leadership roles of the governors as the chief executives of their respective states should be clearly defined by the party leadership.
Although the governors have not indicated any intention of jumping ship as party members in the PDP, they are of the opinion that peace will remain elusive in the party for as long as their demands are not met. In fact, observers believe that the governors may be seeking the removal of party boss Bamanga Tukur.
“The entire problem started with the Adamawa issue, the decison to put the Lamido committee was a collective one by all stakeholders and now after they have toiled and come up with a recommendation, he spurned it, the recommendation was not even considered not to talk of being debated,” a source recently revealed to a national daily. Sources indicate that the governors hold deep grudges against the leadership of Chairman Tukur for this and many other ‘flagrant disregard’ for the position as party leaders in their respective state, actions by Tukur which President Jonathan himself is reported to be against.
The issue of the travails of Rivers State Govenor Rotimi Amaechi is of particular note, and prominent Nigerians, including former leaders as Abdusalami Abubakar and Ibrahim Babangida have admonished that the feuding parties sheathe their swords for peace within the party.
Positive conclusions were reportedly reached at a meeting with the former military leaders in Minna, where participants agreed to make further consultations to reach a lasting solution. Other leaders involved in peace negations include Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Chief Solomon Lar, and Theophilus Danjuma. Although it remains uncertain if the party chief himself, Bamanga Tukur, and the rest of the official party leadership are willing to budge from the current positions.