Embattled PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur seems to have announced his resignation as the party Chairman. In a move which many political watchers, especially his fellow party men, felt was long overdue, the former Gongola State Governor’s decision, according to reliable sources would be communicated to the President in due course. President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to inform the meeting of the National Caucus of the party tonight in Abuja about the development.
Tukur’s tenure as the Chairman of the ruling party has been pock-marked with spats, controversies, internal wrangling and unrest. He was appointed to the post by President Goodluck Jonathan in May 2012.
A glimpse of what was to be his leadership style was unraveled in his home state, Adamawa, where he unilaterally sacked the council party chairmen without due recourse to the State Chief Executive, Governor Murtala Nyako.
That move was to be the first of a series of unilateral decisions taken by Alhaji Tukur as the murmur of discontent grew into a deafening chant at his perceived autocratic style of leadership within the party.
Matters came to a head with the Governors’ Forum crisis becoming uncontrollable. That precipitated the groundbreaking formation of a splinter group of disgruntled elements within the party, who sought to be known as New PDP. They were headed by Alhaji Kawu Baraje and were made up principally of 7 Governors, known thereinafter in Nigerian political lexicon as G-7.
The subsequent defection of the group of 5 governors; Govs Chibuike Amaechi, Murtala Nyarko, Abdulfatah Ahmed, Rabiu Kwankwaso and Aliyu Wammako opened the flood gates of defections as political chieftains, House of Reps members and Senators defected to the opposition APC.
With the resignation, Tukur has escaped being suspended from the party by the members of the NWC if he had refused to resign.
Tukur was to be suspended by about eight members of the NWC, while the National Executive Committee of the party would ratify his suspension on Thursday.
POSER:
Would PDP now pull back from its recent descent dismemberment?
