President Goodluck Jonathan says he does not want to be admonished like a schoolchild.
Speaking at a dinner in honour of the National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party in Abuja on Monday, Jonathan however told the PDP executives despite being president he was not above the party.
He said he and other members of the Executive arm of government as well as the legislature were ready to respect party supremacy.
Jonathan said, “The President cannot be a king or maximum ruler, the President is elected by the party and must serve the party not the party serving the President. So, if he is deviating, the President must be cautioned so that all will know that the party is supreme and all must all follow the dictates of the party.
“I am not saying the President should be admonished like a primary schoolchild. Nobody in the party from the President to the least person at the ward will be superior to the party. So, you have a lot of challenges in this direction to make sure that you instil that kind of discipline. We will give you maximum cooperation.”
“The PDP is a political party and as a party, we must have guidelines and no matter the office you are holding, the party must be in a position to discipline or admonish Mr. President if he deviates.
“In South Africa, the African National Congress can admonish the President because the party is superior. And that is why in the gathering of the party, the party chairman takes precedence in order of protocol. It shows that the President himself is under the chairman.
Jonathan said he would not take issue with those criticising his administration, saying, “when you are in the ruling party, you must show more maturity”.
The President said, “We must all work to create an avenue where the party will source funding so that if you are the chairman of the party, members of the working committee, you can manage the party without excessive influence of people.
“Even though we expect all moneybags to be in PDP, but we don’t want the moneybags to influence the activities of the party and to stop that of course, we must come up with programmes that will make the party self-sustaining in terms of financing.”
The PDP Chairman, Alhaji Bamagar Tukur, said the party could not be repositioned without internal democracy and discipline.
He urged all party faithful to ensure that they do not work in cross purpose with the government.
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