Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar on
Sunday linked the “dwindling fortune” of the Peoples Democratic Party in
the South-West to betrayal of the party’s leadership.
Atiku, in a statement on Sunday, said it
was easy to draw the conclusion considering the party’s easy victory in
the 2011 presidential election in all but one of the South-West states.
The former VP said, “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 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.”
Alleging deceit, Atiku appealed to the
party leadership to ensure sincerity in the application of party rules
and to abandon the “divide and rule policy” in handling its affairs.
He said, “Recent events have shown that
the leadership of the party has demonstrated insufficient sincerity in
resolving the numerous crises, which are pitting 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 eloquent silence of respected
leaders on the various crises is a disturbing sign which leaves the
majority of the members confused.”
Atiku added “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.
“In all we do, the adherence to the
constitution of the party in the conduct of the party’s affairs is the
only hope for sustaining the existence and legitimacy of the party.
“Also, the legitimacy of the party can
only be sustained if the provision of the welfare needs of Nigerian
citizen takes precedence in the heart of the leaders rather than
primordial politicking.”
Meanwhile, a PDP stalwart in Oyo State,
Alhaji Kehinde Olaosebikan, has called for the re-integration of the
party’s estranged members in the South-West as a way of reclaiming the
region.
Olaosebikan made the appeal in an interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja on Sunday.
He said it was important for the party
leaders to fully take advantage of the vacancies that would be filled in
the party in the region to establish a reconnect with the government at
the centre.
He said, “The PDP can regain its lost glory in the South West if all these steps are taken as soon as possible.”
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