Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has said southern leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have reached “far-reaching decisions” aimed at repositioning the opposition party ahead of its national convention scheduled for November in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Speaking after a stakeholders’ meeting on Thursday in Ibadan which was attended by party heavyweights, Makinde dismissed suggestions that the event was centred on the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, stressing that the goal was wider consultation and unity.
“Personally, when people go low, or they go into the gutters, I don’t go with them. Nothing should stop us from consulting. Democracy is about the minority having their say and the majority having their way. That is democracy,” Makinde said.
“We’re democrats, the South has taken far-reaching decisions, and in the days ahead, leading to our next wider consultations will also take place, and we are sure that those that have been saying all around that PDP is dead — that PDP is now a carcass — at least with the calibre of the people that you’ve seen here, sitting governors, former governors, leaders and elders, the former Senate President, chairman of BOT, they are all here and committed to PDP taking back its rightful position in Nigeria.”
The meeting was attended by Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri; Senator Adolphus Wabara, chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees; Enugu State Deputy Governor Ifeanyi Ossai; as well as Chief Bode George, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, former Akwa Ibom governor Udom Emmanuel, Dr. Fred Agbedi, and Senator Ben Obi.
Makinde listed the broad representation at the gathering:“Governor Adeleke is here. He came back into this country, I believe this morning, and then he went straight to Osogbo to address some governance issues. But he said, look, whatever we decide here is with us.
Governor Diri is here, Governor Peter Mbah, who couldn’t make it physically, sent the deputy governor, who is here. You have the chairman of our board of trustees here. You also have at least 12 of the 17 members of the zoning committee from the south.
“ It’s one per state. So you have 12 states here. You have in each zone, you have rep members here, you have senators from each zone in the south, the three zones.
“You have BoT members from the three zones in the south. So, yes, I won’t say maybe the organisers will score 100%. You don’t score 100% in politics. And quite frankly, they are members of PDP. And consultation means you keep reaching out, you keep engaging. So, from this meeting, we will also reach out and engage and even do more.”
He stressed that the immediate task was not zoning or presidential ambitions but rebuilding the party.“Exactly what are we trying to do? We’re trying to get all stakeholders, all tendencies in the PDP together so that we can give a credible alternative to Nigerians in the years ahead.”
On zoning, Makinde said:“It’s a next decision. This consultative meeting is not something that is statutory in the constitution of PDP. But democracy is inclusivity, reaching out and ensuring that all stakeholders are carried along, which is what we’ve done on Thursday.
“We haven’t even gotten there. We need to have a party first before you start talking about presidential candidates, you know, if we don’t have a party, anything that you’re trying to do will fall flat.
“ Our efforts right now is directed towards having a viral and united PDP that Nigerians will be proud of and believe in again. I mean, that is democracy. We will reach out to them. I can disagree with people, but there shouldn’t be anything personal here. It should be about what are we giving to Nigerians because they are watching, you know. We want to rebuild PDP.
“But some PDP leaders loyal to Wike dismissed the Ibadan gathering as illegitimate.
In a statement signed by Imo State Chairman Austin Nwachukwu, Abia Chairman Abraham Amah, Cross River Chairman Venatuis Ikem, Akwa Ibom Chairman Aniekan Akpan, Rivers Chairman Aaron Chukwuemeka, National Vice Chairman (South-East) Chidiebere Egwu Goodluck, and House Minority Leader Kingsley Chinda, the group said:
“The said meeting tagged ‘a summit’ was allegedly convened in the name of the three geo-political zones of Southern Nigeria — South East, South South, and South West.
“It is highly regrettable and indeed deeply disturbing that such a meeting was convened without the courtesy of inviting several State Chairmen from the South East and South South, as well as the duly elected National Secretary and Deputy National Legal Adviser of our great party.
“Even more troubling is the inexplicable exclusion of several national officers, eminent leaders, and critical stakeholders of the PDP. Shockingly, the Minority Leader in the National Assembly and other principal officers of our party from the South-South and South-East were also deliberately sidelined and denied participation in a meeting where such far-reaching and sensitive decisions on zoning, power rotation, and political equity are to be discussed.
“Such a brazen disregard for established structures and statutory organs of the PDP not only offends the spirit of collective decision-making but also risks undermining the very foundation upon which our party was built.”
The group urged the National Working Committee (NWC) and National Executive Committee (NEC) to disregard any outcome of the Ibadan meeting.
The Conference of Professionals in the PDP (CP-PDP), however, defended the southern leaders, saying the meeting was legitimate.
In a statement signed by its chairman, Obinna Nwachukeu, the CP-PDP said:
“We can verify that the zoning committee led by Governor Diri duly invited and had in attendance at the meeting, relevant stakeholders from the South including the four PDP governors, Board of Trustees (BoT) members, the three National Vice Chairmen from the South, serving senators, serving members of the House of Representatives, State Chairmen, former governors and all members of the Zoning Committee from the South for consultation in line with the mandate assigned to the Committee by the party’s NEC.
Any resolution or recommendation reached at the summit would therefore be valid, authentic and recognised by the party.
“It is thus imprudent and highly irresponsible for some individuals to attempt to discredit the valid and lawful activity of a body duly constituted by the NEC by attempting to mislead the public and members of our great party by claiming that the PDP leaders of the South are averse to the summit and that the summit was shrouded in secrecy.
“ Information available to the Conference reveal that these misguided individuals are being teleguided and sponsored by a prominent Minister in the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration who has not hidden his intention to scuttle the scheduled National Convention of the PDP.”
Chuks Okocha
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