We’ll restructure PDP, Turaki vows

•Nigeria too great to be where it is-Labaran Maku
•Obasanjo, associates, eulogise Jerry Gana at 80

The newly elected National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, has promised to reposition the party in readiness to wrest power from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027, affirming his commitment to restructure the party to ensure that there is transparency, fairness, equity and justice in all its processes.

He noted that the era of imposition of candidates was over, saying the new PDP would allow people to decide who they want during party primaries and elective processes.

Turaki spoke on Sunday night in Abuja, where friends, associates, political leaders and statesmen paid glowing tributes to former Minister of Information and Culture, Professor Jerry Gana to mark his 80th birthday and unveiling of a book entitled ‘Jerry Gana, Stewardship and Integrity’, written by Simon Musa.

The 425-page book has four parts, covering Gana’s birth, early life, as well as his family and public life as a politician and an administrator.

The PDP chairman, who described Jerry Gana as a man of integrity, said all candidates need to be on the ballot paper under the platform of the party’s nomination by the people and integrity.

He said: “Prof. Gana is a man of credibility and integrity, a politician’s politician, an icon, an enigma and an institution.

“The new PDP will ensure that there is transparency, there is fairness, there is equity, and there is justice in whatever process we do.

“If you have integrity, like Professor Jerry Gana; if you have credibility, like Prof. Jenny Gana; if you have a brand, like Prof. Jerry Gana, that is all you need in the new PDP to make it to the ballot paper,” he stated.

Turaki also described Gana as an institution, “somebody who had made success in academics, made success in public life, made success in politics, made success in family life, made success in private life, made success in virtually everything that he ventured to do”.

Former Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, eulogised Prof. Gana as a model to the nation while also lamenting the leadership challenge in the country, noting that Nigeria is too great to where it is at the moment, emphasising that the nation is in need of great leaders to turn around the fortunes of the country.

“Our nation is in need of leaders. The emphasis of public service should be to build a nation. It’s not about ourselves. It’s about the future generation. This country is too great to be where we are. We need people who will serve, who will be role models, who will leave a legacy that is beyond Nigeria,” he stated.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who spoke virtually, described Jerry Gana as a man of integrity, very thorough, and intelligent.

He noted that all sorts of things happen in politics, while many wrongdoings are concealed under the guise of politics, adding, however, that Gana does not cover up any form of misconduct.

“He is a man of clean, clear ideas; a man of clean, clear behaviour and clean, clear relationships, and for him, whatever task you give to him, he will try to do it to the best of his ability. So when he says to you, if you are a teacher, you teach well, he means it, and if you make him a teacher, he will also teach you well,” Obasanjo stated.