As part of its desperate bid to re-launch itself into national
reckoning, the People’s Democratic Party is making subtle moves to bring
back ex-governors and other party heavyweights who defected to the
governing All Progressives Congress to the party.
Among those being targeted by PDP are ex-Vice
President Atiku Abubakar; Senate President Bukola Saraki; ex-governors
Rabiu Kwankwaso, Danjuma Goje, Aliyu Wammako, Governor Aminu Tambuwal,
several APC Senators, members of the House of Representatives and
others. However, according to reports, none of the leaders or members of the National Assembly has yet agreed to the overtures. It was gathered that the PDP leadership is desperate to have the
ex-governors and defectors back in the fold and has resorted to tracking
the movement of the targeted APC leaders abroad for further talks. The party is said to be focusing on the North-East, North-West and
North-Central even as it does not want to lose its grip on the
South-South and South-East. It is also said to be weighing the option of conceding the party’s presidential ticket to the North-East in 2019.
“We are determined to bring back our top leaders who defected to APC.
We want to heal wounds, we are already reaching out to some of these
ex-governors and leaders,” a member of the party’s National Working
Committee (NWC) said. “So far, none of them has made any commitment. Some of them have
become disenchanted with PDP to the extent that they don’t want to hear
the name of this party again. “Others are demanding reforms in PDP before they can even contemplate thinking about their return to our party. “We are leaving all options open and we are reaching out to top
leaders, ex-governors and the grassroots. We will return PDP to its
original ideals.” It was learnt that the absence of ex-President Ibrahim Babangida;
ex-Minister of Finance, Mallam Adamu Ciroma; ex-Vice President Namadi
Sambo and influential party leaders from the North at the party’s
National Conference on
Thursday jolted the NWC and left them with the
impression that North is not about to forgive the party yet. Another source said: “I think the challenge facing PDP now is that
Southern elements have hijacked the structure of the party and no one is
happy about it. “Certainly, they must restructure the party to create a sense of
belonging for all. So far, what we see is the same South-South and
South-East elements trying to play on the intelligence of the North
again. “Let them come up with terms which will guarantee fairness and
Justice for all. For instance, why will PDP not respect its zoning
formula on party offices? “Why can’t an acting National Chairman emerge from the North-East to which it was originally zoned? “If PDP is seeking equity, it must do so with clean hands.”
0 Comments