2019: PDP Senate Caucus Meets Minority Leaders of State Assemblies
\n\u2026 Says PDP Set to dislodge the ruling party
\nFormer President Goodluck Jonathan Tuesday declared that the Peoples
\nDemocratic Party needed a very courageous and committed person at this
\npoint in time to lead the main opposition party as its next chairman.
\nThe Ex-President who spoke ahead of the party\u2019s forthcoming elective
\ncongress in December also stressed that the next chairman must be a
\ncompetent and committed team player who will be prepared to carry all
\nthe key organs of the party along, to ensure that the party always
\nselects the best candidates to stand for elections.
\nJonathan spoke while welcoming to his office High Chief Raymond
\nDokpesi who was accompanied by a powerful delegation of his supporters
\nduring a courtesy call, in continuation of the PDP chieftain\u2019s ongoing
\nconsultation in his bid to lead the party.
\nJonathan said: \u201cI always say that there are two positions we must not
\nmake mistakes in determining who occupies them; the chairman and that
\nof the publicity secretary. I wore the shoe, so I know where it hurts.
\nIf we make mistakes in the election of these two positions, it will
\nspell doom for the party.
\n\u201cWe need a chairman that will encourage us in the interest of the
\nparty and in the interest of the nation. we need a very competent
\nperson, a team player who will not negotiate away our collective
\ninterest because of personal gain. We need a chairman that will carry
\nevery organ of the party along, to ensure that PDP will always
\npresents the best candidates for elections. If you select the best
\nmaterial, your chances of winning elections become brighter.\u201d
\nJonathan also commended the Sen. Ahmed Makarfi-led National Caretaker
\nCommittee of the party, saying that they had done very well,
\nespecially during the period of crisis in the party.
\nJonathan further noted the observations of some people like the former
\nHead of State, Gen Abdulsalam Abubakar who recently faulted the way
\nthe party was carrying on as an opposition party, stressing that it
\nwas an indication that people expect PDP to do more as an opposition
\nparty.
\n\u201cWe must migrate from a ruling party to an opposition party for the
\npurpose of strengthening our democracy. I am not saying that as an
\nopposition party you must be saying whatever you like. No! PDP is a
\nvery mature party. We will not go to the gutters to be seen to be
\ncriticizing the ruling party. But all over the world, opposition
\nparties constructively checkmate the ruling party so that things can
\nbe done properly and there will be good governance. If the opposition
\nparty goes to sleep, the ruling party will be doing whatever it
\nlikes.\u201d
\nHe said further that the party did well within the 16 years it was in
\npower, adding:\u201d Our achievements are well known, they are properly
\ndocumented and we will continue to talk about them. There is no way
\nanybody can bury it.\u201d
\nEarlier, the Ex-President commended Dokpesi for his dogged commitment
\nto the affairs of the PDP, describing him as a man who had always been
\nthere for the party.
\nJonathan who recalled how Dokpesi held a reception in his honour when
\nhe left office,\u00a0also commended him for his open-mindedness in his bid for the
\nChairmanship position saying: \u201cI commend Dokpesi for saying that he
\nwill be ready to accept the outcome of the election whichever way it
\ngoes. That\u2019s a good spirit. I encourage other contestants to emulate
\nhim. The winner must be the party, PDP, and not the individual.\u201d
\nWhile speaking earlier, Dokpesi commended for former president\u2019s
\nresilience and efforts in ensuring that the party\u2019s leadership crisis
\nwas resolved. \u201cI am very positive that this party must come out of
\nDecember elective national convention stronger and united to be able
\nto give the needed opposition to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
\n\u201cAs our leader, you have to look for means to ensure that we come out
\nof the forthcoming convention stronger and united,\u201d he said.
\nMeantime, Minority leadership of the Senate on Wednesday met with the Forum of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Minority Leaders of State Assemblies, assuring that the party was stronger and set to dislodge the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, from power in 2019.
\nBriefing newsmen shortly after the meeting, which held behind closed door in the Office of the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, the Minority Leader of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, said a teeming number of stalwarts of other political parties, from the APC, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, and others were on their way to the main opposition party in droves.
\nHe said: \u201cThese are the Minority Leaders of the PDP in different State Houses of Assembly, who are in Abuja to interact with the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, and the Minority leadership of the Senate.
\n\u201cWe congratulated ourselves that we stood firm and at the end, God gave us victory at the Supreme Court and the party is now waxing stronger.
\n\u201cWe have reviewed the state of the party and reevaluated the situation, state by state, and we found out that the party is stronger than it was. And as I speak, stalwarts and thousands of members of other political parties, starting from APC, all the way down to APGA, are on their way to the PDP
\n\u201cWe also want to urge the leadership of the party at the national level to open the door wide open between now and the next convention to receive them\u201d.
\nSenator Akpabio said the caucus also discussed the guideline for the forthcoming national convention of the PDP in order to make meaningful contributions to the meeting of the National Executive Committee, NEC, of the party, which he said comes up on Tuesday.
\n\u201cAt the end of the day, we shall come out with a strong guideline that will ensure a free and fair electoral process at the convention that can bring out a new leadership that Nigerians can depend on.
\n\u201cIt is very reassuring that, yes, indeed, Nigerians have a shoulder they can cry on, and that is the PDP\u201d he added.
\nSpeaking on behalf of the PDP Forum of Minority Leaders of State Assemblies, the Minority Leader of the Imo State House of Assembly, Hon. Ken Agbim, assured the PDP Senate Caucus of total support and mobilisation at the grassroots to give the party victory in 2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
2019: PDP Senate Caucus Meets Minority Leaders of State Assemblies \u2026 Says PDP Set to dislodge the ruling party Former President Goodluck Jonathan Tuesday declared that the Peoples Democratic Party needed a very courageous and committed person at this point in time to lead the main opposition party as its next chairman. The Ex-President who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5391\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}