{"id":2470,"date":"2013-04-21T07:36:01","date_gmt":"2013-04-21T07:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigerian-newspapers\/adamawa-pdp-crisis-takes-new-turn\/"},"modified":"2013-04-21T07:36:01","modified_gmt":"2013-04-21T07:36:01","slug":"adamawa-pdp-crisis-takes-new-turn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/adamawa-pdp-crisis-takes-new-turn\/","title":{"rendered":"Adamawa PDP crisis takes new turn"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The initial optimism that the solution to the crisis bedeviling the Adamawa State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was at sight may be a forlorn hope if the hard-line posture of a faction loyal to the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, is anything to go by, reports Remi Adelowo<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The crisis that has been rocking the Adamawa State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last one year may not be over soon.<\/p>\n

For some time now, the state Governor, Muritala Nyako, and the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, have been embroiled in a bitter contest over the control of the party apparatus in the state.<\/p>\n

Trouble erupted about a year ago when Tukur, shortly on assumption of office, dissolved the state executive council of the party led by Alhaji Mijinyawa Kugama. Expectedly, Nyako kicked against this decision.<\/p>\n

He was reported to have described Tukur\u2019s action as \u2018unwarranted and a clear attempt to denigrate his status as the leader of the party in the state.\u2019 Tukur, on his part, refused to back down. And thus the battle line was drawn.<\/p>\n

Worried that the crisis, if unchecked, could jeopardise the future of the party in the state, President Goodluck Jonathan, set up a committee headed by the Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, to find a lasting solution to the issue.<\/p>\n

With the caliber of the members of the committee, many PDP stakeholders in the state and beyond were confident that the Lamido panel would do justice to the matter. After about five months, the committee finally submitted its report to the President.<\/p>\n

The recommendations<\/p>\n

In one of its recommendations, the committee proposed the retention of the ward and local government executives, pointing out that these arms were not dissolved by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party from the outset.<\/p>\n

Perhaps to prove its neutrality, it further recommended the harmonisation of the two main factions in the party-the Mijinyawa Kugama and Joel Madaki executives, while urging the factions to work together in the interest of the party.<\/p>\n

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The discordant tunes<\/p>\n

These resolutions led to mixed reactions from the factions battling for the control of the party.<\/p>\n

The state Secretary of the Madaki-led faction, Alhaji Tahir Shehu, dismissed the recommendations as ambiguous and failing to address the core issues that led to the crisis in the first place.<\/p>\n

Giving an insight into the issue, Shehu said the NWC of the party had assigned the Ambassador Umar Damagun-led caretaker committee to conduct fresh congresses at the ward, local, and state levels.<\/p>\n

He disclosed that prior to the party congresses, the NWC had written a letter to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, notifying him of the dates slated for the conduct of the ward, local and state congresses. The letter, he reportedly said, was signed by the National Chairman of the party, Tukur, and former National Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola.<\/p>\n

Shehu was also reported to have said that the caretaker committee has since completed its assignment and subsequently handed over the party\u2019s control to the Madaki-led executive. He picked holes in the Lamido Committee\u2019s position that the NWC did not dissolve the wards and local government executives of the party with the Kugama-led state executive.<\/p>\n

In a counter-response, Shehu\u2019s counterpart in the Kugama-led faction, Chief Phineas Pwanohoma Elisha, said the recommendations of the Lamido Committee has affirmed the announcement of the party\u2019s Deputy National Chairman, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja, which rescinded the earlier decision of the NWC, which had dissolved the Kugama-led executive on October 17 last year.<\/p>\n

He added that the NWC announcement did not dissolve the ward and local government executives alongside the Kugama-led executive. Elisha, however, extended an olive branch to the Madaki faction, while promising that his group was prepared to obey the decision of the Lamido Committee.<\/p>\n

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Madaki faction not shifting ground<\/p>\n

The Madaki faction, believed to have the backing of Tukur, has spurned the olive branch of the Kugama faction. Pointedly accusing the Lamido Committee of bias, its secretary, Tahir Shehu, said the proposed harmonisation of the factions was not only partial, but lopsided in favour of the Governor\u2019s camp.<\/p>\n

He further accused the Lamido panel of not giving a fair hearing to his faction. He was quoted thus: \u201cRight from the time the Lamido Committee was formed, we officially wrote them that we wanted to pay them a courtesy call, but he (Lamido) refused.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was why when the committee concluded its report, we sent a protest letter that we did not accept its recommendations. The committee did not hear from anybody on our side. How can we then recognise a committee that is one-sided?\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Madaki faction is talking tough, the Mijinyawa-led executive, in its quest for peace in the party, has reportedly conceded existing seven vacancies of party positions to its rival.<\/p>\n

Sources in the party revealed that real reason of the crisis in the Adamawa PDP runs deep. For Tukur, he is alleged to have an axe to grind with Nyako over the latter\u2019s lack of support for his (Tukur) chairmanship aspiration, accusing the Governor of only backing him following the President\u2019s insistence.<\/p>\n

In the run-up to the national convention, which threw up Tukur, the North East caucus of the party had, at a mini-convention held in Bauchi, nominated Dr. Musa Babayo as its candidate for the national chairmanship of PDP. An intense horse trading embarked upon by the President\u2019s loyalists eventually paved the way for Tukur\u2019s emergence as National Chairman.<\/p>\n

Also linked to the non-resolution of the crisis is the alleged plot by Tukur to ensure that his eldest son, Awwal (who is currently his father\u2019s special adviser), emerges as the next Governor of the state in 2015. \u201cTaking control of the party structures in the state now is vital to realising this objective,\u201d said a source in the party.<\/p>\n

The personality clash between Tukur and Nyako had pitched majority of the latter\u2019s colleagues against the National Chairman, whom they accused of running the party like a private estate.<\/p>\n

The Governors viewed the development as a \u201csignal from Tukur, and by extension the Presidency to undermine their influence in the party and clip the wings of recalcitrant governors.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the thinking of these Governors, if Tukur is allowed to have his way this time, he will be emboldened in the future to mete out the same treatment to other governors who \u201cfalls out of line.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the hard-line stance of the Tukur-backed Joel Madaki faction, it remains to be seen how the crisis in the Adamawa State chapter of the PDP will be resolved.<\/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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