2019: PDP Commences Action to Get Atiku Back

Yemi Adebowale

In a renewed attempt to reposition the party ahead of 2019 general elections, the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has started moves to reach out to its founding fathers and other aggrieved members, including ex-military president, Ibrahim Gbadamosi  Babangida, former Vice Presidents Dr. Alex Ekwueme and Atiku Abubakar .

In a communique issued at the end of its meeting on Friday in Abuja, the BoT resolved to fix  larger meeting of board on the 14th January 2016 to elect a substantive BoT chairman and therefore advised all BoT members to attend the meeting.

The  BoT which is  an advisory body of the party said though it supported the fight against corruption by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, the act of selective justice could not take the quest to rid the nation of corruption to the desired state.

Rising from its meeting, the BoT said it resolved that a larger meeting of BoT be convened on January 14, 2016 to elect a substantive chairman of the board, who will take over from former minister of Defence, Alhaji Haliru Bello, who is holding sway in an acting capacity.

Speaking to newsmen shortly after the meeting the Secretary of the BoT Senator Walid Jubrin said the party was ready to dialogue with the party’s founding fathers in order to ensure their return to help restore the glory days of PDP.

“As the conscience of the party, we are trying to dialogue with the aggrieved people, we are ready to dialogue with the founding fathers of this party, immediately after our meeting on the 14th of January and having come with a new chairman.”

Although Jubrin was not specific in mentioning names of, sources informed about the matter told SIGNAL that the likes of former Vice Presidents Alex Ekwueme and Atiku Abubakar who played key roles in the foundation process of the PDP are being reached out to. Also being considered for his ‘father-figure’ effect is former military president General Ibrahim Gbadamasi Babangida (rtd).

Speaking further, Jubrin noted that “We are going round this nation, we are going first to discuss with our founding fathers, all those who are within and those who have left this party and try to lure them and bring them back to the party because we have all the opportunities now to win again all the elections up to 2019.

“And so we will not play with any member of the party, and we want all party members to be cooperative with all organs of the party, we are a special organ of the party, we are the conscience of this party.

“If we do not come out and do something now, God will not even forgive us, we must come out and tell the truth and look at the matters as they are; whoever, erred, we must bring him to book, we must advise well, our is advisory but we are given specific functions to do when there is situation of this nature we must come to it.

“We want to be fair to all, so that on the 14th January we will gather and  do the right thing and will fear nobody, whoever erred, it is our duty to say the truth”, he said.

Jibril said,  “I don’t believe the party is in shambles, the party is alive and kicking very well. We have many aggrieved people in the party and people who have left this party ‎because of one reason or the other”.

The PDP chieftain while expressing support for the effort of the Buhari’s government on the fight against corruption frowned at the apparent one-sided pattern of the trial, saying that a practice will not take the country anywhere.

“We in the PDP do not support corruption, whoever erred in corruption in Nigeria should be dealt with, but we don’t want selective justice. Anybody that goes wrong, it is not only in PDP that you have corrupt people, and this Dasukigate, is one aspect that this party will not go against.

“We will not go against it provided that all the people that are alleged to have done bad are brought to book. We are with anybody that will rid Nigeria of corruption, we do not support corruption but as much as we agree that we should deal with corrupt people, it should be fair. Let us put our search not only in PDP, but among all Nigerians, not only among the parties, even in the private sector you have corrupt people.

. “The procedure of electing a new chairman will be discuss on the 14 January, if Bello wants to contest he is so much welcome to contest”, he said.

Commenting on the sack of the PDP acting national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus by Abuja High Court, Bello said “We have decided that all legal matters will be looked at on January 14, so we are not in a hurry to discuss any legal matter now. But on the January 14, there are many of them, they will be looked at and bring sanity to the PDP”.

On the  controversy ‎that ensued over the party’s national convention which the National working Committee (NWC) slated for March 19, 2016, the BoT scribe said that the NWC could act for the National Executive Committee (NEC), adding that NWC did not err in fixing a date for national convention.

“When you read the constitution of our party, the NWC can act on behalf of the National Executive Committee (NWC); thereafter present the issue to the NEC and then to the national convention. So if NWC has proposed dates for congresses up to the national convention, it is not bad at all. It will be brought before NEC and it will go to the national convention for approval. I don’t think they have gone out of their bound at all”, he explained.

__________ 

Follow us on Twitter at @thesignalng

Copyright 2015 SIGNAL. Permission to use portions of this article is granted provided appropriate credits are given to www.signalng.com and other relevant sources.