Following the alleged forced resignation of former National Chairman of the Poples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, the Party has appointed the former Governor of Bauchi State, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, as its new party chairman.

Mu’azu is to replace the former chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, whose resignation was announced President Goodluck Jonathan

Mu’azu is said to have been selected as the consensus candidate after a meeting between President Jonathan and the governors of the party at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, yesterday.

At the meeting which was reported to have ended at 1:22 am this morning, it was revealed that majority of the governors in attendance had rejected the choice of Mohammed Wakil by the President and his wife, Patience, due to his alleged inability to carry people along when he was a principal officer of the House.

Meanwhile, strong indications have emerged in Abuja that ousted former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, has been penciled down by President Goodluck Jonathan as the next Minister of Defence.

President Jonathan, had last week revealed that he was going to reward the former chairman with a very tough appointment.

Dependable sources also disclosed that contrary to the belief that Tukur was asked to resign as PDP chairman as a result of growing disaffection among members of the party, President Jonathan only told the former chairman to step aside to enable a wholesome resolution of perceived grievances of various camps who cited Tukur as the problem.

According to a source,“the fact that the north eastern part of the country has been the hotbed of terrorism, leading to the declaration of a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states last April, with some elders of the area, who are allegedly sponsored, claiming that the military onslaught on Boko Haram has ulterior motive” is also said to have played a role in the President’s decision.

“With Bamanga Tukur as Minister of Defence, and overseeing the quest to have a terror-free society and revival of peace and security in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, the so-called elders and groups who are politicizing very serious security threats to the nation and its citizens will be made to understand that government’s intention in the North-East is noble,” the source added.

If he takes over as the minister, Tukur would become the second PDP chairman to be appointed Defence Minister after the appointment of former chairman, Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed, to that position in the past.