Bamanga Tukur, PDP Chairman

By Chuks Okocha 

An aide of the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, has deplored what he perceives as attempt to taint his reputation as a result of the current trial of his son for alleged complicity in the fuel subsidy scam.

Tukur’s son, Mahmud, managing director of Eterna Oil and Gas was on Thursday arraigned at the Lagos High Court in Ikeja by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission along with Mamman Nasir Ali, son of the former national chairman of the party, Ahmadu Ali, and three others for conspiracy, obtaining money under false pretense, forgery and the use of false documents.

Mr. Bernard Mikko, Special Adviser to Tukur on Monitoring, said it is mischievous to seek to diminish his status because of the perceived ‘sins’ of the son. He argued that apart from the fact that his son is an adult who manages a publicly-quoted firm, the rules and guidelines of all companies are contained in the deeds of association of the company and the Corporate Affairs Commission.

“The anger which Nigerians vent on corrupt officials or persons can therefore be seen from the standpoint of the angst against corruption or that they would have been the beneficiary rather than the person caught. This explains why we are quick to try suspects, especially those linked to top government functionaries in the media and creating frenzy where none exists. Our laws are clear and even a primary school pupil knows we are all presumed innocent until proven otherwise and convicted by a competent court of law.

“The sons of the past and current PDP chairmen are no exception. Mahmud is the son of Bamanga Tukur, the current PDP national chairman but since the reported arraignment of the former, the trial seemed to have not only shifted from the courts to the media, but also shifted from the son to the father,” Tukur’s special adviser said.