PDP is in wrong hands, says Atiku
Former Vice- President Atiku Abubakar yesterday lamented the fate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, saying the party was in wrong hands and heading towards wrong direction.
In a statement made available to a media outfit yesterday, Atiku attributed the crises in the PDP to leadership failure.
He said that the leadership was deliberately creating factions in the party, and upturning the results of duly conducted elections at congresses and national convention.
“I have said it and I will continue to say it that the party is headed in the wrong direction as it moves from one crisis to the other.
“It appears that in the pursuit of our personal ambition, we have continued to trample with impunity on the rights not only of the members, but also on the freedom of Nigerian citizens who deserve a right to choose who should govern them and for how long.
“Recent events have shown that the leadership of the party has demonstrated insufficient sincerity in resolving the numerous crises which are pitching the party members against themselves.
“Political manoeuvring that relies on the politics of patronage and arbitrary application of sanctions will not sustain the popular will of the people through which the party can recover the lost ground.
“The PDP was conceived as a national party not only because of the desire to provide responsive leadership, but also because it is within such a national party that we can guarantee national harmony, promote human development and safeguard the freedom and dignity of all citizens.
“The constitution of the party was designed to promote collective leadership that is inclusive and upholds the principles of justice and fair-play without denigrating the legitimacy of dissent,” he added.
Atiku also decried the dwindling fortunes of the party in the South-West, calling for a halt to the trend.
He said: “The PDP became a very strong political party in the South-West as a result of the efforts and commitment of leaders who commanded the respect of the generality of the people of the South- West.
“By the year 2009, the party had five of the six governors in the zone, 14 of the 18 senators, 46 out of the 71 House of Representatives seat, 102 members of the state Houses of Assembly, and 115 local governments.
“Members of the PDP also occupied all commissionership and special adviser positions, in addition to all statutory board memberships.
“However, the fortunes of the PDP in the South- West took a startling reverse from 2011 such that today, the party has no governor in the region, has only one senator, seven members of the House of Representatives and only 18 members in all the State Houses of Assembly. Of course, not a single local government administration is PDP-controlled in the entire region.
“It is not only in the interest of PDP, but indeed that of the nation that this trend be reversed.
“As a founding member of the PDP, the prevailing situation of the party in the South West is very disturbing. I am sure that our party didn’t come to this sorry state in the region because the party men failed to deliver good governance to the people. Landmarks of achievements by PDP governments dot the region.
“It still remains a paradox to me how the presidential candidate of the party would win massively in all but one state of the South West, yet the party failed to produce a single state governor in the region and could only produce 18 State Assembly members in the same election. My experience in politics tells me that this paradox can only be explained in one way that is the leadership of the party must have abandoned the party and negotiated the victory of the President at the expense of the party.”
On the way out for the party, Atiku said the national leadership of the party needs to respect the democratic wishes of party members in the zone and discourage the deliberate creation of factions and upturning the results of duly conducted elections at the various congresses and the national convention.
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