The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has vowed to form broadbased coalition with other political parties to defeat the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019. This was the position of the party’s National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus and Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State yesterday. Dickson, who is the party’s Chairman of the post-convention National Reconciliation Committee, said PDP should begin to build alliances and begin to make interpersonal contacts. The governor spoke when he submitted his committee’s report to Secondus. Dickson said: “PDP National Working Committee and its leaders must be temperate, not join issues with ourselves and even those who have left the party.
“The manifest destiny of PDP is to lead a broadbased coalition to sack APC and, to achieve this; everybody is important and must be brought on board because the umbrella is large enough for all. “There is no party as democratic as PDP in Nigeria, but I must concede that we are not where we should be.
But by deepening internal democracy and returning the party to the Nigerian people, the party will regain its pride of place and wrest power from the APC. “In that coalition, all Nigerians of goodwill who believe in salvaging our country, will be brought together.” Dickson further cautioned against inflammatory statements that could affect the reconciliation process within their fold.
Two founding fathers of the party, Professors Jerry Gana and Tunde Adeniran, led some PDP members to the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The governor also advised the leadership of the party to pay special attention to South-West. He described the South-West as too strategic not to play a strategic role in PDP, adding that there should be deepening of “our interaction in the South-West to send the message that PDP has interest there and let them know no zone will be left out.”We recommend closer interaction with the leaders of the South-West to build confidence in the region.
“We believe the National Convention has come and gone, but we recommend that the party deliberately create positions for women in PDP because the party is the most women and youth friendly. Mr. Chairman if we do this, it will reassure our women and youths that they are the future of our party,” he said.
The governor further cautioned that party leaders and members should adhere to rules and processes, noting that PDP has a better democratic posture than other parties. “We have to deepen democracy and offer our platform for those who want to run on the party platform,” he advised. Secondus who commended the committee for the report, said the APC has become a threat to national security. He noted that PDP has been rebranded and repositioned, adding that the recent PDP rally in Jigawa, an APC state, was a testimony to the fact that Nigerians now own the PDP. “The APC is a threat to national security.
The APC-led Federal Government is broken. The APC has so disunited our people and Nigerians no longer trust it. Only the PDP rekindles hope; the party represents the labour of our heroes past; only PDP can secure and keep this country united. “That is why our emphasis is on returning the party to Nigerians, especially women and youths. I want to seize this opportunity to call on all Nigerians, including those who have left us to return to the party.
“PDP belongs to all Nigerians and our party is the only party that is not owned by an individual or a cabal. We shall provide level-playing field for all aspirants to actualise their ambitions unhindered. “We are ready to bend backward to accommodate everybody, including those who have left us.
The PDP is ready for a robust arrangement to lead other political parties to form government at all levels to banish hunger, insecurity, nepotism and clannishness from Nigeria!
“The 2019 election is a referendum on the survival of the country. APC and INEC will try to rig, but they cannot succeed. Nigerians will resist them,” he said. He assured the governor that the committee’s report would be adopted and stand as point of reference for the party. “Let me assure you that those things you recommended will be adhered to,” he added.
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