Nnamdi Felix/Abuja Amid the confusion of members battling to outdo one another in the quest to grab the ruling Peoples Democratic Party ticket to actualise their respective aspirations, Bamanga Tukur, the erstwhile chairman of the party, plots to return to the office from which he recently resigned Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, chairman of the Nigerian Railway Corporation and Ambassador extempore, was pressured to resign from office as the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, last January follwing massive fracturing that wrecked the party and led to the defection of five governors elected on the party’s platform, to the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC. However, following the decision of a federal court in Abuja last October, nullifying the resignation of former deputy governor of Adamawa State, Mr. Bala James Ngilari, the former national chairman of the party has kick-started moves to return to office as the party’s national chairman. [caption id="attachment_15384" align="aligncenter" width="300"] •Bamanga Tukur: plots to return to office[/caption] The court had held that Ngilari, who was deputy to the impeached governor of Adamawa, Admiral Murtala Nyako, did not validly resign from office, and thus, ought to have taken over the reins of leadership in the state immediately his boss was ousted from office. It thereafter ordered for his swearing-in as the state’s substantive governor. Savouring that decision of the court and what promises it holds for him, Tukur caused multiple actions to be instituted challenging his resignation and the appointment of his successor, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu. One of such cases instituted early November with suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/729/2014 was filed before a federal court in Abuja by one Mr. Emmanuel Onu, who prayed the court to declare that the purported resignation letter of Bamanga Tukur presented by President Goodluck Jonathan to the party’s National Executive Committee, was in clear violation of Sections 47(5) and (6) of the 2012 Constitution of the PDP. Mr. Onu urged the court to declare the appointment of Mu’azu as the chairman of PDP invalid as it is in non-compliance with laid down procedure of Section 45(1) and (2) of the 2012 constitution of the PDP and the provisions of Section 85(1) and (3) of the 2010 Electoral Act as well as Section 223(1) of the 1999 Constitution. Furthermore, he urged the court to order for the immediate re-instatement of Bamanga Tukur as the national chairman of the PDP or in the alternative order the deputy national chairman to pilot the affairs of PDP until the due process of electing a valid national chairman is complied with. The court was also asked to stop Mu’azu from parading himself as the national chairman of the PDP and to also order INEC to stop further correspondence with Mu’azu in that capacity. On the political turf also, moves were made by stakeholders and supporters of the former national chairman from the North-West zone, who called on President Jonathan to, as a matter of urgency, remove Alhaji Adamu Muazu from office as the party’s national chairman over what they called incompetent leadership that has led to the present conflict ravaging the party following the November 1st ad hoc delegates election across the states. Spokesperson of the stakeholders, Alhaji Ibrahim Suleiman Zango, made their request known to the President last Wednesday in a statement he issued Kaduna, adding that the current conflict between PDP senators and the Presidency was a result of Muazu’s inability to resolve the issue as the chairman of the party amicably. He explained that the current political instability in PDP could spell doom for the ruling party in the forthcoming 2015 general elections if not properly managed and handled by a competent leader like Tuku, and also noted that Mu’azu was unconstitutionally imposed as leader of the party to replace Tukur without proper consultation with stakeholders of the party. The group also blamed Mu’azu for the massive defection of PDP members in the National Assembly to the opposition APC which, according to them, was as a result of the incompetent leadership of Muazu and his failure to reconcile aggrieved members of the PDP and urged the President to immediately return Bamanga Tukur to his position as the party’s national chairman as failing to do so could cause Jonathan to lose the Presidential election in 2015. The national leadership of the party was rattled by these plots to sack the national chairman and went into an extensive interaction with the plaintiffs in these suits. Inside sources claim that a very rattled Mu’azu mobilised his foot soldiers adequately and succeeded in getting Onu and Ndubuisi to withdraw their suits. In their notice of discontinuation and withdrawal of their suits, they stated that it was in the overriding interest of the party and the fresh evidence and letter from the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, confirming the appointment of Muazu as the acting national chairman of the party. They however denied any form of inducement being behind their discontinuance of the suits: “We have filed different notices of discontinuance of the suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja and the court has officially served all the parties in the suit, thereby bringing to an end the legal challenge over the appointment of Adamu Mu’azu. We wish to also express our surprise over the ongoing media propaganda being sponsored by people whose sole aim is to destabilise the party and sneak back to power through the back door using our suit, which has since been withdrawn, in a bid to frustrate the ongoing move by the PDP National Working Committee, led by the game changer, Mu’azu, to rebuild and strengthen our party.” The withdrawal of these cases slowed down the pace of Tukur’s return bid, but for just a brief moment as the former national chairman soon found another willing litigant, Mr. Aliyu Ayuba Jibrin, a House of Representatives aspirant from Tukur’s home state of Adamawa, who approached another federal court in Abuja presided by Justice Evoh Stephen Chukwu, asking the court to restrain Mu’azu from acting as the chairman of the party. He also asked the court to stop the planned national convention of the party scheduled for 10th and 11th of December, where the party is expected to adopt President Goodluck Jonathan as its sole candidate for next year’s Presidential election. Mr. Jibrin further asked the court to grant the same orders which those withdrawn cases had asked for; i.e that Tukur’s resignation is invalid for its non-compliance with the constitution of the party and the Electoral Act 2010 as well as an order setting aside the Tukur’s resignation as the party’s national chairman; and asked that the court stop INEC from recognising Mu’azu as the chairman of the party. Mu’azu’s reaction to the latest suit was swift. The party’s national legal officer, Mr. Victor Kwon, was promptly deployed by the party to challenge the jurisdiction of the court to hear the suit, which seeks to stop the party from going ahead with its planned national convention scheduled for 10 and 12 December, and urged the court to hands-off the suit. They also contend that the plaintiff, Aliyu Ayuba Jibrin, lacked the locus standi to institute the suit. Following the party’s notice of preliminary injunction, Tukur also switched tactics. This time, he chose to come out in the open and trade tackles with his successor. He personally applied to the court to be joined in the suit as a co -defendant and counter-claimant. This is calculated to make him benefit from the suit even if the court holds that Aliyu Ayuba Jibrin does not have locus standi to institute the action. While briefing journalists at the premises of the Federal High Court in Abuja, Tukur’s lawyer, Mr. Adamson Adeboro, stated that Tukur had filed counter claims to the originating summons filed before the court by Aliyu Jubrin. “We’ve filed a counter claim to the originating summons so that my client, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, can benefit from the suit. He pointed out that as at the time the former chairman’s resignation letter of Jan 15, 2014 was authored, that it did not follow due process as there ought to have been a 30 days notice for him to resign from office as the party’s national chairman which was not complied with. “ If the constitutional provisions are not followed, then the entire exeercise is a nullity. He wants the court to come in and determine whether his appointment as the chairman of the PDP for a tenure of four years has expired?” Mr. Adeboro insisted that the former national chairman has a right and a mandate of the party’s national convention to pilot the affairs of the party from 2012 when he assimed office until the completion of his term in 2016 and also supervise the forthcoming national convention. Indications are rife that Tukur’s return bid may be receiving support from the same organ of the party that midwifed his removal in the first place––the party’s Governors’ Forum! Governors elected on the party’s platform have been battling the party for control of their state chapters of the party – to determine who gets what post ahead of the forthcoming 2015 general election. This quest for complete control of the party at state level has pitched the governors against their National Assembly members, with series of court cases trailing the party’s recent ad hoc delegates’ election. The governors have some axes to grind with Mu’azu. At a recent forum of Nigerian Society of Engineers in Abuja, where the former national chairman was in attendance, one of the major players in the ouster of Tukur, Niger State governor, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, confessed his role in the entire crisis that rocked the leadership of the party and accepted being one of the leaders of the political coup against Tukur: “I know I played a major role in your removal but all I want to urge you to do is to please continue the good job you are doing for the PDP and the country.” The governor observed that even though they succeeded in plotting Tukur’s removal from office, the party has not come out of the woods and urged Tukur not to relent with the good services he was rendering to the party for its survival and continuity. The governo,r who is also the chairman of Northern Governors’ Forum, regretted that he and his colleagues had not been able as at now, to bring back Tukur as the national chairman of the PDP to continue his job. Tukur told the gathering that as a true sportsman, he had forgotten the events and had forgiven all those who played one role or the other in the incident. He reiterated his preparedness to continue to support the party and ensure its victory in every election, especially the re-election of the incumbent president, Dr. Jonathan.