The National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party and Imo State stakeholders have resolved that the presidential candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar, and his running mate, Ifeanyi Okowa, will wade into the crisis in the state.
The decision was reached during a meeting at the instance of the NWC to resolve the growing crisis in the state chapter of the party, including repositioning it for better electoral outings ahead of the next election season for the state.
The newly constituted Presidential Campaign Council at the state level had pitched some chieftains of the party against the State Working Committee over charges of exclusion.
A statement by the Special Assistant to the PDP National Chairman on Media and Communication, Simon Imobo-Tswam, on Tuesday, stated that Atiku would meet party stakeholders from the state, including former governor Emeka Ihedioha and the party’s National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, to soften the ground for the mediation.
Imobo-Tswam added that the National Chairman of the party, Sen. Iyorchia Ayu, who disclosed this after the meeting, regretting the loss of Imo to APC through a Supreme Court judgement, pointed out that recovering Imo for the PDP was a priority to the present leadership of the party.
Ayu said, “Unity is crucial. And it’s only with unity that we can regain or recover Imo. And the route to that recovery is by winning the presidential election next February. Once we win the presidency next year, you will need to work less for the governorship victory.
“In Ekiti, we were disunited and we lost. Disunity led to our defeat. We had success in Osun because we were united. It’s the same thing in Imo. If we refuse to unite, we will have the Ekiti debacle. But if we unite now, the Osun experience awaits us.”
“After elections in February, the NWC will give Imo closer attention. For now, focus on winning the presidency. Don’t dissipate energies on what is trivial or far away. Together, we are stronger.”
