Below is the full
text of a speech by the new factional chairman of the Peoples
Democratic, Abubakar Kawu Baraje, at a press conference in Abuja where a
new faction of the ruling party was unveiled.
We
address you today as leaders of PDP, who are worried by the increasing
repression, restrictions of freedom of association, arbitrary suspension
of members and other such violations of democratic principles by a
faction of our party led by Alhaji Bamanga Tukur .
While we have
done everything humanly possible to bring to the attention of critical
stakeholders within the party the dangers inherent in the course being
charted by that leadership, it has become very clear that the desperate
permutations towards 2015 general elections have blinded certain people
from the consequences of their actions.
Not only has the
constitution of the party been serially abused by Alhaji Tukur and his
fellow travelers, all the organs of the party have been rendered
virtually ineffectual by a few people who act as though above the law.
Unfortunately, it is obvious that that they get encouragement from the
presidency whose old calculations are geared towards shutting out any
real or imagined opposition ahead of the party’s presidential primaries
for the 2015 elections.
As leaders of our great party, we consider
it a sacred responsibility to save the PDP from the antics of a few
desperadoes who have no democratic temperament and are therefore bent on
hijacking the party for selfish ends. While the list of their
violations of the tenets of our great party is long, we will highlight
just a few: The National Executive Committee of the PDP at its belated
meeting of 20June 2013 approved 20 July2013 for the conduct of a special
national convention.
However, that date was changed to August 31
without reverting to NEC ( the only authority vested with such powers)
by a few people, apparently acting on the authority of the presidency.
Notwithstanding the fact that INEC had noted that the PDP congresses in
nine states were not properly conducted, the illegal delegates from such
states are being paraded at the so-called convention being held today
in a cynical attempt to circumvent the law and further bring the name of
the party to disrepute.
In gross violation of the PDP
constitution which stipulates that the NEC meeting must hold at least
once in a quarter, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and a few people have been
running the party like a personal fiefdom without recourse to that
important decision-making organ of the party. The NEC of the party
accepted the resignation of the former members of the NWC whose offices
were affected by INEC observations based principally on the agreement
that the affected officers would be returned to their respective offices
at the convention.
However, against the decision of the NEC. And
in a not-so-clever bid to exclude some perceived opponents of the few
powerful members who are trying to hijack the party, these positions
have been made Open to some Yes-men within the party.
Notwithstanding
INEC instance that Senator Any Uba is the duly elected candidate of the
party in Anambra State and against the background that he is so
recognized by majority of our party members, the Bamanga Tukur-led
Executives announced a purported suspension of Senator Uba and some
other members close to him in defiance of subsisting court orders.
Despite
that the PDP Constitution is very clear that the state chapter of the
party cannot discipline a national officer, the Deputy National
Chairman, Mr. Sam Jaja, has reportedly been dismissed by some renegades
who have hijacked the Rivers State chapter of our party with the
connivance of the Bamanga Tukur leadership.
The persistent change
in the list of the party’s delegates in many states as part of a
deliberate attempt to rig the party’s nomination of candidates,
especially at the presidential and gubernatorial levels, with a view to
foisting on the PDP some unpopular candidates who are bound to lose at
the polls. The suspension without due process of the Governors of Rivers
and Sokoto states.
Even when the illegal suspension on Sokoto
State Governor has been lifted, the Rivers Governor remains purportedly
suspended for no just cause. The illegal dissolution of the Adamawa
State chapter of the party is a clear abuse of power by Alhaji Bamanga
Tukur thus causing confusion in his home state.
Given the
foregoing, it is very clear that the Bamanga Tukur leadership cannot
guarantee for our millions of party members democracy anchored on free
choice and the rule of law. We have therefore taken it upon ourselves to
rescue the party from their int and dictatorial leadership. It is
indeed noteworthy that from 1999 to date, Nigerians have constantly
voted the presidential candidates presented by our great party but not
only dies such trust come wig enormous responsibility, we recognize that
wee cannot continue to take the people f granted.
From now, the
new leadership of the party under us will strive to build a fairer as
well as a more transparent and accountable PDP that will putty interest
of members and indeed all the people of Nigeria above that of one single
individual.
For all the members of our great party who may have
become disillusioned by the anti-democratic tendencies of the Bamanga
Tukur’s leadership, there is a new lease of life in the horizon. It’s a
new day for the Peoples Democratic Party. As we take over the leadership
of the PDP, our immediate priority is to revive the culture of robust
debate of all contending issues while providing a level-playing field
for all our members.
These were the ideals that differentiated our
party from others and endeared us to Nigerians. We are not, and have
never been a political party where one man would be taking decisions for
all members and where once you do not kowtow before the presidency, you
are deemed a rebel that must be crushed. That is no the PDP bequeathed
to us by our founding fathers. That, I dare say, is no longer what PDP
under our leadership will represent from today.
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