Northern governors did not apologise to Tukur on party matters – Sokoto governor

 

Festus Owete

Governors only apologised for the absence of Messrs Nyako and Aliyu from the parley.
The three northern governors that visited the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Bamanga Tukur, at his Abuja home on Thursday did not apologise to him over their stance on issues affecting the party, a media aide to one of the governors has said.
The governors – Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Musa Kwankwaso (Kano) and Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto) – paid a visit to the PDP chair in Abuja during which they had a closed-door meeting for several hours.
The trio as well as their counterparts, Babangida Aliyu (Niger) and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), had visited some of Nigeria’s former leaders over the urgent need to save its nascent democracy.
They had severally criticized Mr. Tukur’s leadership of the PDP and demanded his resignation to enable the ruling party flourish.
A statement signed by Oliver Okpala, media aide to Mr. Tukur after the Thursday meeting claimed the three governors apologised to him after which he forgave them.
It also said that the governors promised that from henceforth, they would work in harmony and unity with the leadership of the party.
“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,” Mr. Tukur’s aide had said.
However, Sani Umar, the media aide to Mr. Wamakko denied that the governors apologised to Mr. Tukur over their stance on the leadership of the party.
Mr. Umar said in a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES on Friday that the governors only apologised to the PDP national chairman over the absence of Messrs. Aliyu and Nyako from the meeting.
Also speaking, Halilu Dantiye, the Special Adviser (Media) to Mr. Kwankwaso said he read the statement issued by Mr. Tukur’s aide, but that he would not comment on it because his principal had not asked him to do so.
“I was not at the venue of the meeting because it was a closed-door meeting but the governors have not reacted to it (statement),” Mr. Dantiye said.
PREMIUM TIMES’ efforts to reach the media adviser to Mr. Aliyu on the issue failed.

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