{"id":1036,"date":"2013-03-27T03:36:01","date_gmt":"2013-03-27T03:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigerian-newspapers\/tukur-jittery-as-jonathan-backs-anenihs-peace-tour\/"},"modified":"2013-03-27T03:36:01","modified_gmt":"2013-03-27T03:36:01","slug":"tukur-jittery-as-jonathan-backs-anenihs-peace-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/tukur-jittery-as-jonathan-backs-anenihs-peace-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"Tukur jittery as Jonathan backs Anenih\u2019s peace tour"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Opponents renew anti-Amaechi battle ahead NGF election<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was designed to bring peace and harmony, but the reconciliation tour in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seems to be opening another battle front.<\/p>\n

National Chairman Bamanga Tukur, who has just concluded a peace tour, is said to be jittery over the ongoing tour by Board of Trustees Chairman Tony Anenih.<\/p>\n

President Goodluck Jonathan is said to be strongly in favour of Anenih\u2019s mission rather than Tukur\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Anenih will today in Minna meet with the Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, who has been passionate about the need for the President to respect the one-term pact he allegedly entered into with PDP governors.<\/p>\n

Tukur and his strategists are believed to be comfortable with the intervention of Anenih in rebuilding PDP.<\/p>\n

It was gathered that some Tukur strategists had made him to erroneously believe that Anenih might take over the control of the party, if he succeeded with the rescue mission.<\/p>\n

A source, who spoke in confidence said: \u201cThere is a sort of cold war between Tukur and Anenih over the peace and reconciliatory moves. The reunification was actually the idea of Anenih, but having been fed wrongly that the BOT chairman might hijack the party machinery, Tukur came up with a crash programme on reconciliation tours.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Anenih avoided unnecessary controversy by coming up with a well-tailored work plan on how to woo strategic stakeholders back into the party.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is now clear to all leaders of the party that Tukur\u2019s peace moves have failed. Instead, the party is now more divided than before.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Anenih is moving about with BOT leaders, Tukur and some members of the National Working Committee (NWC) are jittery.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe position of Anenih is that the party is bigger than all members. His plan is to reconcile and reposition the party for Tukur to manage. He is not competing with anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked why Anenih embarked on reconciliation tours simultaneously with Tukur, the highly-placed party source said: \u201cMost of our governors and leaders have rated Tukur\u2019s tours as mere jamboree and the high rate of boycott was evident.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a big difference between Tukur\u2019s peace plan and that of Anenih. Beyond mouthing reconciliation, Tukur did not offer anything to the aggrieved. He never placed anything on the table, not even in his home state of Adamawa.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn his part, Anenih and his BoT members listen to the aggrieved party faithful and agree with them on solutions which could reunify the party. He has been holding frank talks with concrete offers to assuage frayed nerves.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn most instances, Anenih adapts solutions to the peculiar challenges being faced by PDP members in each state.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother defect in Tukur\u2019s efforts is not carrying key party leaders and all NWC members along. \u201cAnenih is not isolating any leader or group in the party,\u201d the source added.<\/p>\n

The Nation learnt that President Goodluck Jonathan is in support of the peace meetings being held by Anenih than those conducted by Tukur.<\/p>\n

A Presidency source said: \u201cWe have seen evidence of success in Anenih\u2019s efforts than that of the party leadership. For the first time, governors like Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano) and Babangida Aliyu (Niger) are receptive to genuine reconciliation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a matter of fact, Anenih has been carrying the President along on his reconciliation trips and terms agreed to with the stakeholders. He enjoys the tactical backing of the President.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anenih and other BoT members have gone to Lagos, Akwa Ibom, Kogi, Kaduna, Kano and Jigawa states. \u201cAnd for every tour and issues arrived at, Jonathan gives Anenih the go-ahead to salvage the situation,\u201d the source added.<\/p>\n

Anenih is set for a major challenge in the reconciliation, with today\u2019s likely meeting with Aliyu in Minna.<\/p>\n

Aliyu, who is leading a powerful caucus in the party, spark the controversy the alleged one-term secret pact between President Jonathan and PDP governors.<\/p>\n

Also, Aliyu has been passionate about power shift to the North in 2015.<\/p>\n

Although the Presidency is believed to be uncomfortable with Aliyu\u2019s revelation, it has not officially confirmed whether there was any pact or not.<\/p>\n

Instead, there have been attempts to threaten Aliyu and persuade him to recant.<\/p>\n

A source in Niger State, who confided in our correspondent, said: \u201cThe BoT delegation has been scheduled for a meeting with the governor on Wednesday (today).<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely, all issues, including the controversy over one-term pact, will be reviewed. At the end of the day, these leaders will find a way of dousing the tension.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all eager to know what Anenih and other leaders are coming to discuss with Aliyu, who is technically being blackmailed since he spoke on the one-term pact.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Posted in Nigerian Newspapers. <\/a>A DisNaija.Com<\/a> network.<\/p>\n

Source: The Nation Newspaper<\/p>\n

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