POLITICS

Atiku, Wike, Okowa, Tambuwal Shun PDP Reconciliation Meeting

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar; his vice, former governor of Delta State, If­eanyi Okowa; former governor of Riv­ers State, Nyesom Wike, and former governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tam­buwal, invited to a meeting to jump start a reconciliation process after the 2023 election on Tuesday were absent.

Speaking at the event where 183 members were invited, the National Organising Secretary (NOS), Umar Bature, said that the party’s leader­ship carefully and deliberately called for the meeting to douse the pressure or tension within it as a result of the aftermath of the 2023 elections.

He pointed out that the gathering was not a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, but one to jump start a reconciliation process.

“This party 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. Let me acknowledge that this meeting is not a NEC meet­ing but an interactive meeting with the aim to jump start a reconciliation process.

“Let me give a preview of our performance in the last election. 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, and Sokoto states will be in our fa­vour”, he said.

Disclosing what was dis­cussed at the meeting, Bature said, “As the Acting National Chairman said, we started these meetings with the ex-of­ficio where we briefed them on our performance in the 2023 election and gave an update on the level of party manage­ment. We also discussed the challenges of state chapters. We also looked at the issue of vacant positions within the state chapters and other various organs of the party because of swinging mem­bership. Some people went to other parties and all that. We sought suggestions on how to improve the party.

“We are here today and ev­eryone knows what happened in 2023. We contributed both individually and collectively. 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 either negative or positive.

“Everybody had a role to play. When you rise to speak, please, tell us the role you played. You can accuse any­body here for 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 to other organs like the nation­al caucus, NEC for the way forward for the party. I believe there is hope for the party be­cause our membership is still very strong.”

Speaking on the issue of sus­pension, the NOS said, “We are conscious of the issues because we went to Port Harcourt and I am sure, that will come up here. I will explain why we went to Port Harcourt. We believe there are people here who will accuse some of our elders of certain roles they played. In my state, somebody suggested that we should suspend a member but I said no. He is free to go to anywhere he wants to go. Suspending him means you are acknowledging that he has done something bad to the par­ty. Suspension is not an answer to a bad behaviour towards the party.”

The National Acting Chair­man of the party, Amb. Umar Damagum, said, “This meeting will give us the opportunity to review the outcome of the last general elections and to share ideas about how to strengthen the party to face the challenges ahead.

“We have had series of meetings with the members of the National Ex-Officio, state Chairmen, select BoT and members of the National Assembly. This is a continua­tion of that meeting and it was borne out of what has hap­pened during those meetings and we said there was need for us to call this one.

“This meeting is going to be an interactive session and I want us to be conscious of the fact that while making your contributions we should be mindful of the fact that we are one family. Anybody that is in this hall today is here by the virtue of the fact that he/ she meant well for this party. I want to enjoin us to contribute in a manner that will not hurt the sensibilities of others. We are one family and so we shall remain.”

The Acting Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BOT), Senator Adolphus Wa­bara, said that the court will give the party its stolen man­date.

He said: “As our acting na­tional chairman mentioned, they stole our mandate. We hope the tribunal and the courts will give us back our stolen mandate. Much as some of us may disagree with the synopsis, because we are still in court, we should mind what we are going to say today so it doesn’t work against us in the court. Let us watch how we attack ourselves. There will be time for that. The BoT waits to take some advisory decisions but then this is not the time.”

Prominent members at the meeting were former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Udom Emmanuel; former Kaduna State governor, Ahmed Makar­fi; ex-Minister of Police Affairs, Maina Waziri; BoT member, Bode George, among others. ­
 
    

You may also like

Leave a Comment