New PDP Chairman, Mu’azu to PDP govs: I won’t interfere in state affairs

A former Bauchi State Governor, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, was on Monday in Abuja inaugurated as the new  national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party.

His inauguration at the Wadata Plaza national headquarters of the PDP  authenticates The PUNCH exclusive report on Monday that he had been chosen as a consensus candidate for the post by PDP governors, who met  late  Sunday night with President Goodluck Jonathan.

Mu’azu replaces Dr. Bamanga Tukur, who resigned last Thursday following pressure on him by the  PDP governors to do so. The PUNCH had also exclusively reported Tukur’s resignation.

During his inauguration which was not attended by Tukur,  Mu’azu lamented that all was not well with the PDP.

Lamenting that he had watched  “the dwindling fortunes” of the PDP  from 2003 to date, he    pledged that  as a means of halting the trend, he would not interfere with state structures of the party which are controlled

by governors.

He  said he was aware that  constant  disagreements between the national chairman of the party and  governors, were usually caused by the  interference in the running of the party at the state level.

As a practical demonstration of his promise, he disclosed that he had already entered into agreement with his state (Bauchi) Governor, Mallam Isa Yuguda.

Turning to the PDP governors present during his inauguration, Mu’azu said,  “I won’t tamper with any of your structures, including that  of Yuguda. I won’t tamper with any of your structures.”

 Mu’azu,   a former governor of Buachi State,  however, pleaded with the governors  “to allow the (state) chairmen of the PDP   to register everyone interested in joining the  party  in their states.”

He  thanked    Yuguda  for moving the motion for his nomination as   national chairman,  saying it was     rare in the history of the PDP.

   “I thank Yuguda for accepting me as the chairman of the party,”   Mu’azu, said.

Stressing his  committment to restoring the lost glory of the PDP,   he begged for the support of   members of the party.

He said   “ I have helplessly watched the dwindling fortunes of our party from 2003 to date. From controlling a record of 28 states in 1999 down to 23. This situation is unacceptable and it must change.”

The PDP currently controls  18 states due to the defection of five of its governors to the All Progressives Congress.

Mu’azu, who noted that the party had for several months been on the front pages of newspapers    for negative reasons, said he was optimistic that it would surmount all its problems.

He said that the era of questionable primaries by the PDP  were over.

The ex-governor said, “The beginning of credible, free and fair elections starts with credible, free and fair primaries.  The PDP as the leading party, must therefore, lead the way for other parties to follow. We cannot and will not condone questionable primary elections.

“In the last few months, the PDP has occupied front pages of our newspapers with negative headlines. Most political analysts predicted that the end of the gains had come.

“Over the years, the PDP has developed  an  internal conflict resolution  mechanism. So why false prophets were predicting   its collapse, insiders knew that the crisis was  a storm in a teacup.

“Today, we have shown to the  world  an instant cure for what looked like a terminal disease. Indeed, we have demonstrated our political maturity  and sagacity as the number one party in Africa.

“There is no doubt that all has not been well with our party. However, the crisis that has rocked the party is a common phenomenon with large parties.”

At the inauguration,   President  Goodluck Jonathan commended Yuguda for agreeing to work with Mu’azu.

 He said  that he had thought that it would be difficult for a governor  to work well with  a national chairman from his  state .

The President, who spoke last at the event, said he once believed  that it was better to have a national chairman of the party from a zone where it  did not have many governors.

He  said, “We needed someone who can build the party, who can reach out to the people and  be friendly with them; someone who can bring the party together.

“A lot of things has been said about you (Mu’azu). You don’t have tribal sentiments and you are not a slave to your tribe.

“We need somebody who can build the party and not fighting and fighting every time.”

He said the party lost elections in some states due to the inability of its leaders in such states to settle their rifts.

Jonathan said he was happy that Yuguda moved the motion for Mu’azu’s nomination.

He said, “We are happy that your governor was the one who moved  the motion for your nomination.

“Our governors don’t want their states to produce the chairman. We even thought of taking the office to a state  without a governor  from our party. But we are happy that history has been made.”

Earlier, the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, Chief Godswill Akpabio,  had  said  that the President should lead the party at the national level while  the governors took charge at the state level.

He  said it was unfortunate  that governors were being blackmailed by people whose names he did not mention.

Akpabio, who is also the governor of Akwa Ibom State, told  Mu’azu  to realise that  banana peel  was capable of causing problems for him.

 “You must beware of banana peel. We agree that crises have  always been the main problems between  the PDP  executives   and   governors,” he said.

 Also, the chairman of the Board of Trustees , Chief Tony Anenih, said the board would make sure that Mu’azu succeeded  in his new job.

He said, “I want to commend the Bauchi State governor. He has demonstrated a high level of maturity with his action and I know that the whole PDP in the state will work together for the success of the party.

 “For the BoT, we want to assure that we would work with you and offer credible advice in order to make sure that you succeed in your work.”

Others  who witnessed the event were  the Vice-President,   Namadi Sambo;  the Senate President,   David Mark,  the  Deputy  Senate President,  Ike Ekweremadu,  and  the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha.

Some  members of the PDP  Board of Trustees and former national chairmen of the party, were also in attendance.  The  Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mallam AminuTambuwal, was  absent.