National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, has said the aggrieved governors of the party who allegedly decided to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC) went too far. Tukur, who is currently in China, stated this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said that the situation was most unfortunate at a time the doors of negotiations and dialogue were kept wide open by President Goodluck Jonathan and the party for all. Tukur, who is in China on the invitation of Chinese government, said he was in constant touch with the presidency and party leaders on the development. He assured party members that the turn of event was normal in a democracy.
He added that the party’s leadership would always put heads together to salvage it and ensure its desire to remain in power.
“There is always a limit to demonstration of anger.
“If anger can cause you to pack all your loads and move into the home of your arch opponents, that to me, is anger so misdirected and it is unfortunate,’’ Tukur said.
“If any one decides to leave the PDP, many more people will join, this happens every time.
“All the same, I seize this opportunity to say to others who want to remain to stay back and join the process of re-building and reforming PDP,” Tukur said. He said that the PDP did not take delight in having its key members defecting into the opposition party.
According to him, those who do so have exercised their fundamental right to association as guaranteed by the law. The PDP national chairman said that the turn of events would not halt the ongoing process of reform within the party and the desire to entrench party supremacy, discipline and cohesion.
He urged willing members of the Baraje-led splinter group of the party to return to its fold, adding that the party would always be eager to welcome them back with happiness.
He charged party members to come together to promote and ensure the success of the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan.
“Let us put behind those secessions of crises and bickering so that the president and leaders of the party could concentrate on governance and delivery of democracy dividends to all, ’’ Tukur said. Tukur is in China to understudy modern day models of development that China can offer on party organisation and good governance.
