National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus yesterday said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has become a lame duck after former President Olusegun Obasanjo wrote a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari asking him not to seek reelection, according to breaking times.
Secondus, who spoke when he and members of the party National Working Committee (NWC) met with former Ministers under the platform of PDP in Abuja, pointed out that APC has failed woefully to lead the country.
He urged PDP politicians, who are interested in contesting for 2019 elections to do, as the party has opened its door for all, adding that PDP will ensure it conduct transparent primaries guided by the constitution of the party.
The National Chairman charged the former ministers to mobilize their constituents ahead of the 2019 elections, adding that this is an opportunity for PDP to get back to power.
He said: “The NWC is also putting all the necessary strategies together, and we assure that come 2019, that Nigerians will vote for PDP. APC has failed woefully. Our nation is in a situation where PDP must save this nation from total collapse, the government of APC has become lame duck after the former President Obasanjo has released a political tsunami and verdict on the government.
He charged the former ministers to have confidence in the leadership of PDP as the party is ready to interact at any level.
He said: “Those of you who are interested to vie for one office or the other, we want to assure you that our doors are very open.
“The best way to go from where we found ourselves today is to make sure that we conduct very transparent elections, be it the congresses or the primaries. I want to assure that the old system of imposition or any other thing that will go contrary to our Constitution will be far off from the NWC members, we will not go that way.
“We will go strictly and abide by our Constitution and our rules. That is the promise of the NWC. Our laws must be obeyed, our rules must be obeyed, we must follow them precepts by precepts in order to restore confidence to our people.”
Secondus disclosed that the party intend to devolve power, because over the years, so much powers have been concentrated at the center.
“And we discovered that the only way to do it is to devolve power to the grassroot. And our slogan explained it all, power to the people. So the people can decide not the people in Abuja or NWC.
“Let the people at the various constituents and states decide who will represent them, it will make the election easy for us,” he said.
The Chairman said that the NWC is also putting all the necessary strategies together, and “will we assure that come 2019, that Nigerians will vote for PDP. APC has failed woefully. Our nation is in a situation where PDP must save this nation from total collapse, the government of APC has become lame duck after the former President Obasanjo has released a political tsunami and verdict on the government.”
He said that it is time for the PDP to brace up and work together, adding that “the former ministers are factors, men and women of integrity who have worked for this nation. So we charge you to move to your constituencies and reignite the party and assure them that power belong to the people, it is at the grassroot.
“We shall be engaging most of you even at emergency level. As we move, it will be so dynamic in nature. This party belongs to all of us. We have opened the party up, no one single party owns this party. No one single individual can direct, it must be collective leadership. That is what is going to give us victory.”
Responding, the Chairman of former Ministers Forum, Kabiru Turaki said that with the kind of leaders the party has, “the war to bring back what rightly belongs to us has started.
“We said it that there are only two political parties, PDP and the rest. Even the ones that people thought were political parties, people have realised that they are mere associations and clubs that have come together, wreaking havoc on our democracy. Nigerians have seen them for what they are.
“I want to call on you to open your doors very wide, because all those that are real politicians, all those that are democrats will come back home and we are ready for them.
“As you begin your crusade of saving democracy in Nigeria, crusade of saving Nigeria from hunger, from poverty, from insecurity, from hopelessness and joblessness, it should be at the back of your mind that the colossal knowledge, experience and technical know how at the disposal of the former ministers is there for you to tap.”
Meanwhile, the Chairman, National Reconciliation Committee of the PDP and governor of Bayelsa state, Henry Seriake Dickson has called for more understanding and solidarity amongst all aspirants of the party.
Dickson, who made the call on Thursday at the party’s Secretariat in a meeting with some of the aspirants in the last convention, recalled the good times enjoyed by members of the party, including those who have defected to the opposition and compared them to the ills that befell Nigerians today.
He charged the aspirants to be steadfast beyond their tales of grievances and seek for ways to proffer solutions on which the party can move forward.
He further appealed to members to halt their moves from defecting to other opposition parties, but should concentrate more on promoting PDP ahead of the coming elections.
He pointed out that PDP is the most gender-sensitive party from inception that take cognisance of women in nation building
