Jonathan, Tukur are squatters in PDP —Lamido

GOVERNOR Sule Lamido of Jigawa State has described President Goodluck Jonathan and Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, as squatters in the party, adding that they want to take over a house that does not belong to them.

Lamido, who vowed to resist such a move, insisted that he would not be forced by anyone to defect to any other political party, especially the All Progressives Congress (APC) as is being speculated by a section of the media, as a result of the present crisis in the PDP.

The governor made this vow on Saturday, while receiving some of his supporters from Kano State who came to pay him a solidarity visit at the Government House, Dutse.

He assured the supporters that he had no intention of joining the APC or any other political party, while noting that the present crisis in the PDP was a family issue, which he said was common in politics in any part of the world.

“This is a family affair and it will be resolved internally,” he said.

Lamido, a member of the G7 faction of the PDP governors, also noted that he and his colleagues made a mistake by supporting Alhaji Tukur to become the national chairman of the PDP in 2012, adding that he regretted their action.

“At the time Tukur became chairman, we were already governors. He contributed nothing to us; we are the ones who favoured him after he was rejected by his zone and defeated by Babayo Gamawa in a shadow election conducted in the North-West zone. We said, don’t worry let us meet in Abuja. We met in Abuja; we supported him and we made him the national chairman.

“At that time, Nyako, Kwankwaso, Wamakko, Babangida Aliyu, Amaechi and I were already in office, having won our second term elections. What did Bamanga contribute to us? Who favoured who between and us?” he asked.

 “There is no way someone who was favoured and is squatting would be allowed to claim a house and attempt to send owners of the house out of their own compound. When the PDP was formed and registered, where were Tukur and Jonathan?”

Lamido maintained that “there is neither retreat nor surrender in the present PDP crisis, until all our demands are reached and justice, the rule of law and due process are maintained in the party,” he said.

He noted that the Abubakar Baraje-led faction was the real PDP and that Tukur and his people were opportunists who should not belong in their positions.

Speaking earlier, leader of the Kano delegation, Alhaji Sa’idu Dala, told the governor that they came to show their loyalty to the Baraje-led faction of the party.   

Alhaji Dala explained that “we are supposed to visit the Kano office, but the tenure of Kano executive has expired and we do not recognise the so-called sole administrator sent by the un-recognised leadership (Tukur faction). That is why we came to Jigawa to reaffirm our support and loyalty to Baraje’s PDP leadership and our leaders, Sule Lamido and Rabi’u Kwankwaso.”