"...only PDP convention can remove me" - Bamanga Tukur dares President Jonathan

Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, the National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday evening said he will not throw in the towel yet as being speculated.

In a statement he personally signed on Monday evening, Tukur declared that not even President Goodluck Jonathan can ask him to resign from his position unless there is a national convention.
In the three paragraph statement titled, “Convention, Not Jonathan Can Remove Me”, the PDP national chairman said since his appointment was done through a properly convened convention, he can also only be removed through the same process.

The statement said “I am an elected national chairman, I have my certificate of return,” said Tukur.

“I cannot resign. The convention brought me, so it has to take the convention that brought me for me to resign,” he added even as he insisted that “not even the president can ask me to resign”.

Reports indicated that nine out of 12 members of the party’s National Working Committee refused to show up for the emergency meeting called by the national chairman earlier today, another indication of the increasing isolation of Tukur ahead of the party’s National Executive Committee meeting scheduled for next Thursday.

The meeting, it was believed, was called ahead of the NEC meeting by the embattled national chairman to shore up support for his bid to remain in office.

Reports indicated that members of NWC of PDP, the administrative organ of the party had at a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan last week complained about the autocratic administrative style of Tukur.