Having been declared the winner and new National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the Elective National Convention that took place at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasingba, Ibadan, Oyo state, Barr. Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, pledged to carry out the assignment put on his shoulder, dutifully.
Three positions were up for contest: Chairman, Deputy National Organizing Secretary, and the National Youth Leader. That of the Youth Leader was not contested, while Turaki defeated his opponent Sen. Yakubu Lande.
In his acceptance speech, Turaki said, “This is the day that God has made for us. On behalf of myself and other members of the newly elected National Working Committee of our party, the Peoples Democratic Party, I stand before you today and all Nigerians to thank you for the confidence reposed in us. I want to tell you that the confidence reposed in us will not be taken for granted.
“As a very big and onerous responsibility that you have put on our shoulder, on behalf of me and my colleagues, I want to pledge that whatever the case may be, we shall carry out the assignment you that have put on our shoulders.
“In 1998, INEC registered three political parties: the Peoples Democratic Party, the Alliance for Democracy (AD), and the All Peoples Party (APP). APP became ANPP and further divided into ACN and CPC and found its way into what is now called APC. AD became AC, then became ACN, and now APC. Today, as I talk to you, the only political party that maintained and still maintains its logo, its moto, its texture, its density is the PDP. This has been possible only because it is the party for the Nigerian people.
“I want to say to you members of the PDP and indeed you Nigerians outside there that we are returning the party to you people.
“There will be no.kore impunity. There will be no more suppression of the will of Nigerian people. We shall open our ears wide open. We will listen to you to determine what you want, and what you want is what we shall give you. Gone are the days when monkey would work and baboons would chop. Of baboons want to chop, then baboon mist be seen as working like monkey.
“Number 2: on behalf of myself and my colleagues, I want o assure our teeming supporters and you Nigerians outside there that from this moment on, we will ensure that in whatever we do, there is fairness, there is transparency, equity and there is justice.
“This is because, he who comes to equity must come with clean hands. And that is what we will do. We are not under any illusion that the task before us is not a simple one. Our party is at crossroads now but we are up to the task.
“We are up to the challenge. Very soon, we shall be rolling out what our guiding principles will be, and modus operandi as they use to say.and when we do that, we shall be hitting the ground running from day one.
“But we want to assure our teeming people outside there; those that feel that they have been aggrieved, that we don’t care whether those grievances are genuine or not. Those that have now engaged in siddon look and those who have left the party, we will receive you back.
“The task of rebuilding, reuniting, rebranding this party is the duty of all of us. So, we will ensure that nobody is left out. We will go out; we will come to your homes.
“We will come to your cities. We will appeal to you to come back because the task ahead of us is to strengthen our democracy. We need the cooperation of every leader in this task.
“As a very senior member of the Bar, let me say this to.my Constituency. Our Judges, just as you are asking the politicians to to respect your rules and to respect positions of your constitution, we Nigerian politicians will also be pleading with you, respect your rules and respect the principle of stare decisis.
“We feel that it is not necessary for any Judge that upholds the tenets of the Constitution, to be strictly guided by the decisions of the Apex Court.
“The Nigerian Judiciary and the Nigerian Judges have no business getting involved in matters that are exclusively political. Don’t get involved in matters that are purely political.
“Whatever that belongs to God, give to God. And whatever that belongs to Caesar, give to Caesar. When we do that, this democracy that a lot of our founding fathers had fought hard for is a great task.
“Even some of them have lost their lives. So, please, do not either directly or indirectly; wittingly or unwittingly, put yourself in a situation, whether rightly or wrongly, you may be assumed, again either correctly or incorrectly, that you are part and parcel part of the process to protect the Nigerian democracy. I thank you all”, Turaki said.