Acting chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Ambassador Umar Ilya Damagum, Thursday, described PDP as the party to beat come 2027 general elections.
“As one of the oldest parties in Nigeria, our party has been tested for 27 years, and till today, we are still the party to beat. That, I can guarantee you.”
Damagum stated this in Abuja while inaugurating the South-south zonal committee of the party at the Wadata Plaza.
At the ceremony, the acting chairman reminded members that the party’s decision to inaugurate a caretaker committee stemmed from the expiration of the tenure of the zonal committee.
He urged them to help usher in new, soon-to-be-elected executive committee of the zone.
He said: “I enjoin you to shun partisanship, be diligent in the execution of your duties, and come up with an all-inclusive executive committee in the zone.
“I also want to use this opportunity to tell Nigerians that this party, the PDP, is still the party to beat. It is a party that has been tested for 27 years and one of the oldest parties.
“All these shenanigans you see around, the APC, the others, have not been more than 10- year- old and if you’ve grown up to be up to 27 years and still standing, still counting, then there is no guarantee more than that.
“The PDP is the guarantee for Nigerians to change the course of what is happening today.”
Speaking at the occasion, Bayelsa state governor, Duoye Diri, described the inauguration as a right step in the right direction.
Diri, who tasked the party to brace up for vibrant opposition noted that what is happening within the party implies that it has to be fixed and conquer its own internal issues and challenges, in order to be able to compete with others.
“For me, I want the PDP to be competitive with other political parties. We are indeed the oldest political party in Nigeria, so we have no reason to be accusing outsiders.
“Let us look inwards and fix our challenges, and I’m sure by the time we do that, we will be out there to be very competitive. The political will is with the people, the members of the party, and we are all members of the party. So, the moment we all come to that resolution, that we need to fix our party, there can be no one person that is bigger than the party. That’s my take.”