By Soni Daniel, Regional Editor, North

ABUJA — Second Republic lawmaker, Junaid Mohammed, has asked President Goodluck Jonathan to swallow his pride and sack the controversial National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, or be ready for its collapse.

Mohammed, who spoke exclusively to Vanguard in Abuja, noted that the President was undermining the interest of the party by defiantly keeping Tukur against the popular wish of the majority of the members, among them, governors, who have broken out and formed a parallel party.

Mohammed, who is the leader of the Coalition of Northern Politicians, Academics, Professionals and Businessmen, noted that it was wrong for the President to continue to pretend that all was well with the party when indeed it was sinking.

Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and President Goodluck Jonathan

The former lawmaker, however, described the crisis rocking the PDP as a blessing in disguise to the North, as it would pave the way for the emergence of a northern President in 2015.

He said: “As far as we are concerned, the ongoing crisis in the PDP is a blessing in a way to the North because the Jonathan administration has not done much to uplift the interest of the north, which is already down with unresolved security challenges and economic stagnation.

“For those of us in the north that are already down, we need not fear any fall. That is why we see the implosion in the PDP as a good omen that will lead to the ouster of PDP and Jonathan and usher in a new President of our choice.

“The President and his faction of the PDP have been holding the nation to ransom since 1998 and we heartily welcome any change that would give the nation and its people a new lease of life.”

But to salvage the party from its precarious state, Mohammed advised that Tukur must give way and allow a nationalist to take charge.

Mohammed challenged the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State to summon a meeting of the governors elected on the platform of the party with a view to resolving its crisis if indeed he had the magic want to unite the party.

He noted that Akpabio’s failure to rise to the occasion of the split in the rank of the governors was a clear indication that he did not have what it takes to be made the chairman of the forum.

“This is the critical moment for those who claim to be leaders of the sinking ship called PDP to come out of their hiding and resolve the lingering self-imposed crisis on their hands. If they fail to show up now and be counted, they should hide their faces in shame forever,” the analyst cautioned.

The PDP broke into two factions last Saturday following a dubious convention, where the names of contestants and list of party delegates were shielded from the members until the preferred candidates and delegates were heralded into the venue of the vote.

Many party members suspected to be independent-minded were not allowed access to the venue while the whole process leading to the emergence of the ‘new officers’ were shrouded in secrecy.

Angered by the development, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar and seven governors, walked out and formed the new PDP, which has also approached a Lagos Court to stop the product of the convention and the national chairman from parading themselves as members of the National Executive Committee of the PDP.