Reconciliation moves by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Tuesday, suffered a setback as the Party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, his running mate, Ifeanyi Okowa, as well as former governor, Nyesom Wike and his Integrity Group (G-5) team were visibly absent.
Recall that the PDP went into the last general elections with a divided house, after it failed to resolve issues that arose from the nomination of its presidential and vice presidential candidates as well as a call by aggrieved members led by the G-5 governors for the removal of former national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu.
The PDP’s national organising secretary, Umar Bature, stated that the conference was called to ease tension and spark internal party reconciliation following the election.
Bature while advising members to exercise caution while blaming others because they contributed to the outcome of the 2023 general elections, stated that the Party would not apportion blame, suspend or expel anybody for participating in pro- or anti-party activities during the elections.
“This party believes that Atiku Abubakar won the election, but we are in court, and without prejudice to what the court will decide, we will keep it aside. Let me acknowledge that this is not a NEC meeting, but an interactive meeting with the aim of jump-starting a reconciliation process.
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“We are here today and everyone knows what happened in 2023. We contributed both individually and collectively. If you rise to speak, I beg you to spell out your own role in the 2023 elections, either positive or negative before you jump to accuse someone else, either negative or positive.”
On his part, Umar Damagun, acting National Chairman of the Party said the meeting was in continuation of the National Working Committee’s consultation with critical stakeholders, in a bid to chart the way forward for the Party after the last election.
He said, “This meeting will give us the opportunity to review the outcome of the last general elections and to share ideas about how to strengthen the party to face the challenges ahead.
“We have had a series of meetings with the members of the National Ex Officio, state Chairmen, select BoT, and members of the National Assembly. This is a continuation of that meeting and it was borne out of what has happened during those meetings and we said there was a need for us to call this one.”
Information Nigeria reports that it is not the first time the PDP will be calling for the reconciliation of its members after the 2023 general elections, which it went into with a divided house.
