We’ve to rescue Nigeria’s major political parties –Tukur

Elder statesman and former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Bamanga Tukur, has called on the leadership and members of major political parties in the country to eschew bitterness and rancour as they engage in internal manoeuvring for power, to ensure the protection of the nation’s democracy.

Tukur said his plea was as a result of the current bad blood, rancourous disunity  and widening cracks in the two major parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and main opposition PDP.

He said it was  disheartening to see party leaders deliberately creating  disunity among members to gain undue personal advantage to the detriment of the organisation.

“ Just because their bid to occupy some political positions are threatened, they keep inciting all kinds of thuggery, invectives and instability as well as brigandage. This is not the way to go!”

He said being an elder statesman who was no longer involved in partisanship, he was deeply unsettled and disturbed by current events in the PDP and APC.

Tukor stated this in a statement by his spokesperson, Oliver Okpala, expressing worry that if the current spate of disunity and acrimony in these parties continue, the nation’s  democracy would be greatly endangered.

“Without unity and cohesion amongst the leadership of political parties, democracy cannot thrive. Democracy only thrives when there is peace, stability and proper functioning of internal conflict resolution mechanisms of political parties. The current humongous crisis in the two major political parties in the country is indeed a cause to worry.

“The current situation where leaders of political parties are only interested in enriching themselves to the detriment of the party that they should be serving is a dangerous  trend that must be stopped. This love for money, filthy lucre and lack of genuine interest in party sustenance spells danger for the system” he maintained. It is  a fearful thing that some political leaders have constituted themselves as blocks of charlatans in the major parties for selfish and mercantile interests.”