Bamanga Tukur casting his vote at the convention, Saturday in Abuja. (Photo Courtesy vanguard.nig)
One of the aides to Bamanga Tukur, Malam Ahmed Shuaibu Gara, said yesterday that Babangida’s comments on the PDP consensus arrangement were belated and unfortunate. In an interview with Daily Trust, Gara said the emergence of Tukur through consensus was better than a military coup, apparently referring to the manner through which IBB became president in 1985.
He said the 10 other candidates for PDP chairmanship “voluntarily” withdrew for Tukur on the convention day. Gara said, “If that statement that is coming from the former Head of State is on print and not on electronic, I would have said he was misquoted. But the airwaves don’t lie. After listening to what he said, I was shocked.
“If IBB is complaining about the process that brought Bamanga Tukur to office now, then it’s belated. He could have reacted earlier than now. Also, what does he gain to achieve by this statement: that PDP should go back and do another convention or to go back and review the process because the Almighty emperor has spoken?
“I believe the worst consensus in any democratic arrangement is far better and more honourable than a military coup. He is an architect of a military coup; a beneficiary of a military coup. “I will like to say that the last PDP convention that produced Bamanga Tukur is one of the most organised, most keenly contested and most interesting PDP convention in history. The convention that produced about 13 chairmanship aspirants and all of them voluntarily withdrew for Tukur…. This time around, the candidates were given free hand.”
AllAfrica.com
