The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Wednesday said the party is undeterred by the spree of defections from its ranks. The party also described the members championing the coalition movement as nomadic politicians, who will still run back to it.
The party made this position known at the Consultative Conference of PDP Founding Fathers and Stakeholders with the theme, “Reclaiming Our Legacy, Renewing Our Collective Vision,” held in Abuja at the NAF Conference Centre..
Secretary to the Board of Trustees (BoT) and former governor of Kaduna state, Ahmed Makarfi said the coalition cannot work, asking those championing the course to come under PDP.
He said: “What we are against is a coalition that cannot work. We are saying that PDP is the leading party, leading opposition party. Any such thing should be under the leadership of our party. That is what Nigerians want to hear. And that is the difference in language.
“You see we had internal issues, not because we hate each other. It has to do with the office of the National Secretary. It took legal issue, INEC regulation issues. Legal said look, let’s not work into a trap. What does the law say, what does INEC regulation say.”
“We said lets bury the hatchet. Let’s move to a convention united and elect new national officers that will drive the party. That is on one office, it took us that long.”
Appealing to the party leaders to zone its presidential candidate to the South, Prof. Jerry Gana, said such candidate must be a visionary leader – a tested and trusted patriot, a proven solution-provider, with a huge capacity and character to rescue Nigeria
He said: “In tune with this patriotic wisdom of the founding fathers, we urge all our leaders to support the strategy of bringing out our presidential candidate for 2027 from the southern states. Such a strategy will not only ensure victory at the polls, but promote justice, fairness and equity.
“We appeal to all our leaders to agree at the NEC meeting on Thursday, to convene the National Convention of our great party, so that we can elect a fresh set of party officers, for the next four years.
“In 2027, we must resolve to present a popular, credible and highly experienced presidential candidate: From our renewed foundation, we should conduct a fair process to produce our presidential candidate for the 2027 presidential elections.”
Those who attended the meeting were Governors Bala Mohammed, Caleb Muftwang, Dauda Lawal, acting national chairman Amb. Umar Damagum and Ezekwesili Nwodo.