Tukur Must Go campaign: Presidency, National Chairman’s Loyalists Finger South-South Pro-Jonathan Gov

Abuja - The campaign for the removal of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has been traced to a South-south governor, who is also a dependable ally of President Goodluck Jonathan.

 Presidency hawks and loyalists of the embattled national chairman identified the governor as the brain behind the anti-Tukur campaign when they stumbled on some documents on why a change must be effected in the party the authorship of which they traced to the said governor and are rooting for him to be sanctioned.

The situation is said to be so bad that it has degenerated to a cold war between the governor and one of his colleagues, who is also an ardent supporter of President Goodluck Jonathan.
But it was learnt last night that some governors under the platform of PDP and party leaders were trying to build a consensus on retaining Tukur.
It was gathered that the activities of the governor had been under close scrutiny for some time now to establish precisely where his loyalty belonged in the crisis tearing the party apart.
It was gathered that some forces in the presidency were surprised that the governor could work against the interest of President Jonathan, who has not hidden his desire to ensure that Tukur remains in office.
A top source said: “We thought the anti-Tukur’s project was dead with the defection of five governors to APC only to be faced with the antics of some PDP governors who are obviously acting a script to hijack the party for their presidential ambition.
“These few PDP governors are behind the present anti-Tukur’s plot. And it is unfortunate that security reports have implicated a South-South governor as the brainchild.
“This is why they make a mountain out of a mole hill of the forthcoming NEC meeting. These few governors however cannot succeed because it looks impracticable and strategically defective to change PDP leadership in what I may call an ‘election’ year.
Sources further claimed that there was a hidden agenda to cause confusion in the party, ease out Tukur and stop the president from securing a second term ticket.
One source said that while there are a few others rooting for the retention of Tukur, they cannot go far and expressed surprise at the ‘overnight ambition’ for the presidency by some people.
“These are the elements magnifying the crisis in the party for selfish reasons”, the source said.
It was also gathered that the need to build synergy among PDP governors, especially Sule Lamido of Jigawa State and his Niger State counterpart, Babangida Aliyu as well as leaders on Tukur’s retention, partly formed the basis for the shift of the National Executive Committee meeting of the party from January 16.
A source said: “We are already trying to build consensus among governors and party leaders on why Tukur must remain in office in the larger interest of the party’s success in 2015”.
Arrowheads of the campaign to retain Tukur are the Governors Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa), Isa Yuguda (Bauchi), Idris Wada (Kogi), and the Acting Governor of Taraba State, Garba Umar.