The National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur has made passionate appeal to aggrieved members of the party who had defected into different camps of the opposition to return to fold, just as he marks his 77birthday today with party faithfuls in Abuja.
Tukur said the National Working Committee (NWC) of PDP would make special arrangement for members willing to rejoin the party to feel comfortable on their return, promising to engage them in the ongoing reform within the party with special roles to be assigned to them.
He said, “For us as to be one, indivisible and indissoluble political party ruling Nigeria since1999, it may be necessary for me to beg our members who are aggrieved and hence left the party into different strange camps to come back home. It is time tore-build Nigeria and all hands are needed to do so.
“The umbrella is big enough to accommodate all of us. So our members who left us should please come back into the party so we can resolve our differences and begin to move on as one people for one Nation Nigeria”
Tukur said he accepted the onerous challenge of leading the ruling party not to acquire fame or fortune, but to give back to Nigeria much of what the country had offered him all along to become who he is today.
He made this known in a message to party members on the celebration of his 77 birthday, just as he drummed support of party members and Nigerians in general for the government of President Goodluck Jonathan to enable him succeed in his Transformation Agenda.
The Tafidan Adamawa reiterated that the PDP would soon set machinery in motion to engage its founding fathers, elders and stakeholders in rebuilding the party through his12-point agenda of Reconciliation, Reformation and Re-building based on equity and justice, such that PDP would continue to remain in the saddle with spread to all parts of the federation.
Tukur allayed fear of Nigerians on the Security challenges facing Nigeria at the moment, stressing that the PDP has always been in league with Federal Government and security agencies in their efforts to mitigate the problem and return Nigeria to the path of peace.
He said the PDP under his leadership had resolved to focus attention on Energy, Environment Sustainability/food security and Education, while it would use Diplomacy and Dialogue as tools for guaranteeing National Defense.
According to him, the PDP has started repairing its umbrella to accommodate more Nigerians willing to be members, noting that the ruling party had set machinery in motion to reconcile members, most especially in states facing the problem of fractionalization.
Tukur dismissed the idea of automatic ticket for any of its members in 2015 and the media hype on issue of power shift, insisting that merit, good record of performance and credibility of political office seekers would henceforth be the yardstick for determining access to power at all levels in Nigeria, in line with the new thinking of the ruling party.
Tukur disclosed that the PDP would henceforth take the fight against corruption more seriously starting with close monitoring of performances of its members in elective offices in order to ensure better performances on their parts.
Tukur stressed, “Our opponents misjudge us always and they scream even when we sneeze or cough. Yes, they have the right to do so because we are the ruling party. But that again calls on us to be more up and doing for the opposition not to be justified by the manner we conduct our affairs.
“If we must rule, then we must rule well. In ruling well, we must collectively guide against abuse of public office such that no member of our party would be called to question on issue of dereliction of duty or financial recklessness. This is necessary because we want to continue to see the PDP retaining its status as the number one political party in Africa.
“I want to assure every member of the party that fresh water has started springing in PDP and that is foretelling a brighter hope for the party in the future elections, 2015to be specific. Our members and the rest of Nigeria should continue to pray for us as we embark on operation restore hope for our great country”.
