Northern governors apologised to me – Tukur

Jonathan consults with Akpabio, Uduaghan, Obi over NGF crisis.

The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Bamanga Tukur, said three northern governors who had kicked against his style of leadership apologised to him at a meeting in Abuja on Thursday.

The governors, Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Musa Kwankwaso (Kano) and Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto) visited Mr. Tukur at his private residence in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The governors and two others, Babangida Aliyu (Niger) and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), had also visited some former Nigerian leaders, including Olusegun Obasanjo, Shehu Shagari, Ibrahim Babangida, Abdulsalami Abubakar and former Vice President Alex Ekwueme.

They also visited President Goodluck Jonathan a fortnight ago.

On one occasion, the governors demanded Mr. Tukur’s exit, saying that his leadership style was not good enough for the ruling party.

The governors who belong to the Governor Chubuike Amaechi faction of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, visited Mr. Tukur barely four days after the PDP national chairman, at a press conference in Abuja, said he hoped they would make the outcome of their visits known to the party.

In a statement signed by his media aide after the meeting with the governors on Thursday, Mr. Tukur said they apologised to him over the actions, adding that as a father he also forgave them.

The statement said, “Three out of five northern governors of the PDP, namely Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano); Sule Lamido (Jigawa); and Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), had a closed-door meeting with the National Chairman of the PDP, Dr. Bamanga Tukur, that lasted for several hours and the governors apologised on behalf of the other governors notably, those of Adamawa and Niger states.

“And it was resolved that they have returned to the leadership of the party and that all that happened in the past which involved grievances, accusations and counter-accusations were done because of gap in communication amidst disinformation from some quarters between them and the leadership of the party.

“Having listened to the national chairman, they are now properly informed about the happenings in the party and promised that from henceforth, they will work in harmony and unity with the leadership of the party. They also pledged their loyalty to Dr. Tukur.

“The National Chairman, after listening to them also promised as a father to forgive and forget all that had happened and assured them that the leadership of the party would work with the governors. He stressed that any member of the party that feels aggrieved should utilise all the internal mechanisms and platforms set out by the party.

“The chairman said that their visit was a confirmation of the consultations adopted by the leadership of the party to ensure total reconciliation of aggrieved members as set out by the National Reconciliation Committee headed by Gov. Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Jonathan reportedly met with three governors at the Presidential Villa on Thursday.

The governors are those of Akwa Ibom, Godswill Akpabio; Delta, Emmanuel Uduaghan; and Anambra, Peter Obi.

Mr. Obi is a member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) while the other two are members of the Peoples Democratic Party.

It was not clear why the president held the meeting with the three governors who belong to the Jonah Jang faction of the crisis-ridden Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF. However, sources claimed that it was part of the moves to resolve the crisis in the Forum.

Mr. Obasanjo had on Monday night met with some of the governors but failed to put a truce in place in the NGF as both Mr. Jang and Mr. Amaechi continue to claim chairmanship of the forum.

Mr. Nyako had on Tuesday, after a meeting with Mr. Jonathan said that Mr. Amaechi would not step down.

He said some of the governors would not accept Mr. Jang as the NGF chairman because he is “a yes man.”