Bamanga Tukur hails Jonathan, Govs, PDP Members
GOVERNOR Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State yesterday said that all lingering problems in the party between some governors and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP would soon be resolved.
Answering questions from Journalists in Abuja yesterday at the end of a meeting of the PDP Special National Convention, governor Uduaghan noted that opposition was good for the country and nation's democracy, but was quick to add that the PDP was not in any way threatened by the coming together of opposition political parties to form the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Meanwhile, the PDP National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur has described the outcome of Thursday's National Executive Committee, NEC meeting of the party, as indication that PDP should be seen as a strong and peaceful political association of likeminded Patriots.
He however thanked President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice President Namadi Sambo; Senate President David Mark; other members of the National Assembly; Members of NEC, Board of Trustees, BoT, the governors as well as all for the support he got at last NEC meeting where he survived plots to remove him.
According to a statement by his Special Assistant, Media, Prince Oliver Okpala, the PDP National Chairman who noted that they were Nationalists united in their resolve to take Nigeria to greater heights irrespective of minor political differences, said, ''the PDP by the successful hosting of the NEC Meeting has proved that it is a political institution which has come to stay in Nigeria's political hemisphere and it cannot disintegrate as doomsday prophets are bound to conjuncture and surmise.''
Speaking further, Uduaghan said, ''We had our emergency NEC meeting yesterday which was very successful and we have a national convention which is coming up on the 20th of July to regularize elections that INEC has issue with at the party level. The party is still very much intact and very very strong for that matter.
On aggrieved governors, the Delta State governor said, ''Some of these governors that people are saying are not pleased with the party, virtually all the governors were there yesterday. May be one or two were not there because they traveled.
''As a PDP Governors' Forum, within ourselves, we are doing a lot of reconciliation. You would have noticed that even the coming back of Wammako had a lot of input from us. We had to appeal to the leadership of the party that the suspension should be reversed and the party graciously agreed to reverse it. So, whatever is left, we are handling it at that level.
On APC, he stressed, ''I don't think the party has ever been threatened. Like the President said, it is good that we have a stronger opposition but it is not that there is any threat.''