Tambuwal backs gov over suspension from PDP
MEMBER of the Nigerian Governors' Forum (NGF) and Governor of Sokoto State, Aliyu Maagatakarda Wamakko, has joined many citizens who believe that the body was getting undue attention at the expense of more important issues confronting the nation.
Addressing party supports at the Government House on Wednesday night, Wamakko, who belongs to the Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State-faction of the NGF, said the body was not provided for in the nation's constitution and was not part of the major challenges facing the country.
He wondered why the Presidency was devoting much attention to its affairs instead of tackling issues relating to the needs and aspirations of the citizenry. The governor, who returned to the state after a visit to the Netherlands, described his suspension from the People's Democratic Party (PDP) while he was away as illegal and of no effect whatsoever.
Meanwhile, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, while also addressing the party supporters, said that as a lawyer, he had checked and double checked but found no constitutional justification for the governor's suspension from the PDP.
He described the party in the state as one united political family under Wamakko and that, "as the leader of our movement, anything that touches him touches us."
According to him, the governor pandered to the wishes and aspirations of the people, that was why party leaders from ward to state level, including members of the National Assembly from the state except two, who were absent for good reasons, were present at the gathering to show solidarity with him.
He assured the governor of absolute support and urged him not to waver in steering democracy and justice because he would be protected by God.
According to Wamakko, "the action is a display of ignorance of the rules involved and total disregard to the provision of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Section 40," adding that those behind the so-called suspension were "mere opportunists" and sycophants who do not mean well for the PDP and Nigeria.
He challenged them to come forward and tell the public whether they had done more for the PDP than himself. Enumerating his contributions to the party, he said his efforts have propelled him to 100 per cent electoral victory since taking over in 2007, whereas the party hitherto did not have even a counsellorship seat in the state.
The governor, who rode into the Government House with Tambuwal, said he was not fighting the PDP but for justice. Therefore, he called on President Goodluck Jonathan to direct the convening of the party NEC meeting immediately to remove Dr. Bamanga Tukur as chairman because he was destroying the party.
According to Wamakko, Tukur's sins included incompetence, running the party from his private house, failure to go round the states on a "Thank You" tour after coming into office and failure to visit any of the states for on-the-spot assessment of the party's position in order to proffer necessary guidance, as well as running the PDP as his private business.
He also called on the President to sack his political adviser, Ahmed Gulak, for allegedly lacking the requisite credentials, as well as call Chief Edwin Clark to order, as his utterances were capable of ridiculing the presidency and messing up the country.
He further called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of Mr. Asari Dokubo over his recent press conference so as to reassure Nigerians that nobody was above the law in the country.
The Guardian