- Party claims Atiku won 2023 presidential polls
- Confident of winning governorship cases in Kaduna, Nasarawa, Ogun, Kaduna, Sokoto
The crisis rocking the People’s Democratic Party before and after the 2023 general elections is far from over as some of its aggrieved former governors led by the past governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike were conspicuously absent at a reconciliatory meeting aimed at uniting the party.
Besides Wike, former Governors Ifeanyi Ugwuannyi of Enugu and Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto States, who were invited to the parley failed to turn up without sending their apologies.
Another aggrieved former governor, Samuel Ortom of Benue State, was reportedly in custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Makurdi.
The ex-governor, according to reports, was invited by the anti-graft body for questioning over his tenure in Benue State which lasted eight years.
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde was also absent.
However, a former National Chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, sent his apologies as he was said to be outside the country.
The meeting was attended by former Kaduna State Governor, Ahmed Makarfi, ex-Minister of Police Affairs, Maina Waziri, BoT member, Bode George, among others.
The party had convened the meeting on Tuesday as part of moves aimed at uniting its aggrieved members.
The PDP top echelon had met with a select committee made up of prominent members, including former Senate President Bukola Saraki and immediate past Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Udom Emmanuel, among others.
The committee, carefully selected by the National Working Committee, met with the Acting National Chairman of the party, Umar Damagun, and the Deputy National Chairman (South) of the party, Taofeek Arapaja, among other members of the working committee.
Welcoming members to the parley, Damagun said the purpose of calling on the party chieftains to the meeting was to review the outcome of the 2023 general election and share ideas on ways to strengthen the PDP for future challenges.
He said, “We have had a series of meetings with the members of the national ex officio, state chairmen, some Board of Trustees members as well as members of the National Assembly. This is a continuation of that meeting and it was borne out of what happened during those meetings that we called this one. The whole idea is to unite the party.
“Initially, the meeting was supposed to be for only the founding fathers of this party, but we realised that after almost 20 something years of the existence of this party, a lot of other people have also graduated to be founding fathers. From our first set of governors, who may not really be the founding fathers, we have had leaders who have contributed their own quota to be recognised as members of this great party and leaders in their own right.”
He called on the invited stakeholders to be civil in their utterances, reminding them not to forget that the PDP remains one family regardless of the differences members share from time to time.
Also speaking, National Organising Secretary of the party, Umar Bature, noted that the purpose of the meeting was “to douse tension within the party as a result of the aftermath of the 2023 elections.”
According to him, “The PDP believes that Atiku Abubakar won the election but we are in court and without prejudice to what the court will decide, we will keep it aside. This is not a National Executive Committee but an interactive meeting with the aim of jump-starting a reconciliation process.”
Giving a preview of the performance of the PDP in the 2023 general election, Bature said, “In the State House of Assemblies, we have 342 members; we have 116 members in the House of Representatives. In the Senate, we have 36 members, and we have 13 governors. We believe strongly that the ongoing tribunal cases in Kaduna, Nasarawa, Ogun, Kaduna and Sokoto states will be in our favour.”
He called on the committee members not to be quick at pointing accusing fingers at one another, saying, “If you rise to speak, I beg you to spell out your own role in 2023 elections, either positive or negative, before you jump to accuse someone else. Everybody had a role to play. When you rise to speak, please tell us the role you played. You can accuse anybody here of playing pro or anti party activities. The aim is when we are through, we will have an idea of what to do with the party before we move on to other organs like the national caucus, NEC for the way forward for the party.
On his part, Acting Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees and former Senate President, Adolphus Wabara, urged members to be careful with their utterances, particularly on issues relating to the election petition tribunal.
