An immediate past member of the Peoples Democratic Party Board of Trustees (PDP BOT), Haruna D. Saidu, has carpeted the spokesperson of the party in Kebbi State, Sani Dododo, who railed against the endorsement of former Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Alhaji Tanimu Kabiru Turaki (SAN) as a consensus national chairmanship candidate of the PDP.
Saidu, in a weekend statement, said Dododo was not speaking for the leaders and members of the PDP in Kebbi State, dismissing the state spokesperson’s latest ‘outburst’ as inconsequential.
Dododo had on Saturday told newsmen in Birnin Kebbi, capital of Kebbi State that the PDP in the state has rejected the reported nomination of Turaki as the party’s National Chairman, adding that the party in the state had dissociated itself from what it described as the imposition of Tanimu.
According to Dododo, said the decision was sequel to speculations that the former minister had been solely appointed to contest for the position of PDP National Chairman without consulting stakeholders in the North-West Zonein line with the party’s zoning arrangement.
He “We support the position of the North-West Elders that they should be allowed to select the candidate for the position of the National Chairman of the party,” refuting that Tanimu did not consult PDP members in the state before declaring interest in the position.
“The elders in the North-West should be allowed to sit down, deliberate, and produce a candidate that will represent the zone in line with the party’s zoning system,” he added.
Reacting, Saidu, who is a former PDP Chairman Kebbi State, described Dododo’s statement as hollow and inconsequential.
“It cannot diminish Turaki’s towering image or the collective resolve of the PDP faithful who stand solidly behind him. The Kebbi PDP family rejects Dododo’s divisive antics and calls on all members to ignore the rantings of a frustrated political itinerant,” Said said.
He said the statement was utter dismay and ill conceived, mischievous, unfounded, and reflective of his trademark character assassination antics.
Saidu recalled the spokesperson under the umbrella of Senator Adamu Aliero defected to the PDP only a few years ago after years of virulent opposition to the same party and its leaders, saying Dododo’s joinng of the PDP was not based on conviction or ideological alignment, “but of political survival after being thoroughly discredited within both the APC and the African Democratic Congress (ADC). His appointment as the state publicity secretary of the PDP was a calculated infiltration a mole planted to sow discord, spread falsehood, and undermine genuine party cohesion.”
He said Dododo antecedents in politics was noted with “controversy, running down decent men, and has never been associated with constructive engagement. While in the APC, he disparaged respected PDP elders such as Dr. Bello Halliru Mohammed and several other party stalwarts. Today, after opportunistically crossing over, he is again deploying the same poisonous tactics against those who have laboured for decades to keep the PDP strong and united in Kebbi and across the North.”
According to the former chairman, “Dododo’s recent vituperation against Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, SAN a statesman, loyal party man, and tested leader is a classic example of an undertaker at work. Dododo seeks to paint Turaki as a “rejected stone” in Kebbi politics when, in reality, Turaki remains the party’s most consistent financier and stabilising figure in the state for over twenty years. Such a malicious statement cannot stand the test of truth or integrity.
“The PDP in Kebbi State knows its true leaders and heroes. Whenever the name PDP is mentioned in Kebbi, two illustrious figures stand tall Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, SAN, and Dr Bello Halliru Mohammed, former acting national chairman of the party. Alongside eminent personalities like General Ishaya Bamaiyi (rtd), General Sarkin Yaki Bello (rtd), and several others, they have stood firm (gidigba)in defence of the party’s ideals even in its most trying moments.
“For Dododo, whose political history is littered with betrayals, failed alliances, and a desperate search for relevance, to purport to speak for Kebbi PDP is the height of delusion. His reckless comments neither represent the will nor reflect the position of the PDP family in Kebbi State. They are nothing but the personal hallucinations of a man seeking to validate his newfound assignment as a spoiler and hatchet man.
“Dododo’s outburst against Turaki betrays frustration and fear of irrelevance. Having found no foothold in the APC and ADC, he now hides under the PDP umbrella to settle old scores and curry favour from those threatened by Turaki’s rising national profile.”
