As part of moves aimed at uniting aggrieved members of the party, the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, on Tuesday, met with a committee made up of prominent members, including former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, immediate-past governor of Akwa Ibom State, Udom Emmanuel.
The committee raised by the PDP National Working Committee met with the acting National Chairman, Umar Damagun, Deputy National Chairman (South), Taofeek Arapaja, among other NWC members.
In his opening remarks, Damagun said the purpose of the parley was to review the outcome of the 2023 general elections and share ideas on ways to strengthen the PDP for future challenges.
He said, “We have had a series of meetings with 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 has 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 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.”
Damagun urged the stakeholders to be civil in their utterances, reminding them that the PDP remained one family regardless of the differences members have from time to time.
Also speaking, National Organising Secretary of the party, Umar Bature, said the purpose of the meeting “is to douse tension within the party as a result of the aftermath of the 2023 elections.”
“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 to jump-start a reconciliation process.”
Giving a preview of the performance of the PDP in the 2023 general elections, Bature said, “In the state Houses of Assembly, 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 anyone
Meanwhile, former governors of Rivers, Enugu and Sokoto states, Nyesom Wike, Ifeanyi Ugwuannyi and Aminu Tambuwal, respectively, who were invited to parley failed to turn up and were not represented.
But a former National Chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, who was also absent, sent his apologies, explaining that he was outside the country.
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.
The meeting was attended by former Kaduna State governor, Ahmed Makarfi, ex-Minister of Police Affairs, Maina Waziri, BoT member, Bode George, among others.
