Crack in New PDP over reconciliation with Tukur

A crack seems to have emerged in the New Peoples Democratic Party as its bloc in the House of Representatives and its leadership differ on reconciliation with the Bamanga Tukur-led PDP.

While the Abubakar Baraje-led New PDP insisted on Sunday that Tukur and other National Working Committee members of the PDP were on a witch-hunt mission, the members of the bloc said they were fully prepared for truce as against leaving the PDP.

The New PDP leadership was reacting to the setting up of a Disciplinary Committee by the   Tukur-led NWC apparently   to try its members for indiscipline.

It said it was amused that Tukur and his “illegal NWC members, who are indeed not ready for peace,” could  decide to come up with such a committee at a time President Goodluck Jonathan was busy holding peace meetings with aggrieved members of the PDP.

The New PDP argued in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, that Tukur’s action showed that he and members the PDP were working at cross purposes with Jonathan.

It said rather than trying others for indiscipline, Tukur and his team should first be arraigned before the committee for   anti-party activities.

The statement reads in part, “To call a spade a spade, it is tantamount to anti-party activities and exposes Tukur’s hypocrisy and vindicates our stand that he is an obstacle to peace in our great party.

“If indeed a disciplinary committee has been set up by Tukur, we make bold to say that he should be the first with his illegal NWC members to appear before it for usurping the office of the national chairman of our party even when he is not legally a member of the party as he did not revalidate his membership during the 2011 revalidation exercise.”