Tukur: I Have Done Nothing to Warrant My Removal

The embattled National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, has said that he has done nothing to warrant his removal from office by his critics, insisting that he would continue to serve the interest of the party to the best of his ability. Tukur further stated that no matter what anyone might say, the reconciliation initiative championed by his leadership was the only solution to the sustained rumblings among members of the ruling party. However, Tukur’s insistence did not stop a closed-door meeting yesterday between President Goodluck Jonathan and the Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Tony Anenih, presumably to brief the president on his one-on-one meetings with aggrieved governors of the party, especially from the north, who might defect from the ruling PDP. Tukur, on the other hand, vowed to continue to conduct the party’s affairs with transparency and openness, as according to him, all aggrieved party members have easy access to reach out to the national headquarters and hold the leadership in confidence on their points of grievances. Tukur said every action he had taken since he became the chairman was in the interest of the party, and in line with the set agenda of reconciliation, reformation and rebuilding of the party at all levels in Nigeria. Tukur, in a statement issued yesterday from London where he went for the Easter break and for his medical check-up, stressed that there was nothing he had done wrong to any member of the party to warrant a gang up against him. According to him, “Some members may not like the idea of ensuring openness and transparency in the manner we conduct our affairs. But the truth remains that openness and transparency remain the best tools for the party’s progress.” He said he had remained resolute in ensuring that all members of the party were carried along in all PDP programmes and policies.