The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur has drummed support for the National Confab as proposed by the government of President Goodluck Jonathan, stating that the PDP would savour every means to make the Confab produce a good result.
President Jonathan had on Monday inaugurated a 13-man National Advisory Committee on National Conference, charging them to produce a blue print and procedures for convocation of the Conference.
The Chairman said the PDP was excited by the government’s desire to bring all ethnic nationalities in the country to a round table to discuss the progress and future of their country.
He said President Jonathan deserves kudos for bringing the issue of National Confab to a front burner, having responded positively to the timeless yearnings of Nigerians for it.
Tukur in a statement he personally signed said the idea of National Dialogue was in line with the Triple ‘D’ agenda; Dialogue, Defence and Diplomacy already being pursued by the PDP.
He noted that the Triple ‘D’ Agenda was part of the 12-point Agenda by PDP which “I had vowed to pursue with vigour to revive our party and in the long run put our country on the path of sustainable growth and development.
He said the PDP would mobilise Nigerians from all walks of life including the opposition groups for the success of the National Confab, which according to him, offers a life time opportunity for Nigerians to re-lay the foundation of the country to make it emerge as the true giant of Africa.
The PDP chairman expressed surprise on the pocket of criticisms that greeted the President’s declaration of the National Confab, describing those who condemned the idea as hypocrites on the basis that many of them had severally advocated the convocation, while mounting pressures on the President to that effect.
Tukur, however, appealed to members of PDP to align with the President on the National Confab Agenda, as he seized the scope to appeal to aggrieved members to return to PDP “For us to forge a common endeavour towards rebuilding the our party and our country in particular”
He added, “Yes we seem to be at crossroads in PDP and that is normal in democracy. However, what is not normal is if we resolved to permanently stand apart with little regards to our memorable starting line, past efforts in building the party as well as our common aspirations in raising PDP to be the most formidable among all.
“Let me reiterate that I am not the cause of the crises in our party as the National Chairman. From the moment I came in as the Chairman, my desire and focus has been on reconciliation and party reformation. Some entrenched interests opposed that. They, therefore, left us with an impression that PDP does not need a reform. Why must we keep on operating without reforms? For me, such kind of attitude is not encouraging.
“As I speak, the Democratic Party in the United States with assurances from President Bill Clinton has promised to assist the growth of our party and they are serious about it. That is instructive, coming from the world’s most respected political party. But we need reforms to carry us through, and the reforms we must implement.
“For this, I will not shy away from begging our party members to come together so we can enter the National Confab like a team and set examples for the rest of Nigeria. In doing that, we would have demonstrated that we remain the most serious party, not only in Nigeria but in Africa”.