PDP Convention: Dokpesi waves olive branch to contestants

Against the backdrop of infighting and ongoing hate speeches among the aspirants vying for positions in the December 9 national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the High Chief Raymond Dokpesi Campaign Organization has sued for peace and unity among party faithful.

A statement by the Director General, Engr Mohammed Baba Kachalla, called on the contestants and their followers “to eschew all hate speeches and return to rebuild and restore our party to its former ideals and unite its different interests to unseat the lackluster APC administration at the general elections coming up in 2019.”

The Campaign Organization expressed concern over “growing tendency of members and supporters of different contestants to resort to abuses, denigrate opponents on pages of newspapers and on several social media fora as well as the spread false news capable of undermining the competitiveness of the process and weaken the entire national convention process.”

He reminded party members that the national convention in December 9-10, 2017 is an internal political contest to elect officers of the party that will run the day to day affairs of the PDP at the national level.

According to Baba Kachalla, “the resort to name calling, blackmail and antagonism is an ill wind that does no one any good but rather destroys the internal cohesion of the party and potentially sets aside the familial and cordial spirit needed to carry out the task of  propagating the ideals of the PDP towards winning the hearts of Nigerians.

“We consequently appeal to our teeming members and supporters, especially call on the aspirants to advice their supporters to sheath their swords and stay focussed on the task ahead.

“In making this humble appeal, we are reminded of how many leaders before us had set good examples through their toils right from 1998 to bequeath the PDP as an enviable political platform with a history of respect for democratic ideals and institutional harmony.

“We are aware of how undettered and committed these founding leaders of the party were and relish in the civil tradition  of the G-18 that confronted the military not with vile but with logical arguments.

“These qualities which also embraced an all-inclusive, detribalized political movement which is today known as the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) must be allowed to foster and guide our outlook and actions as we progress towards returning to power in 2019.

“The overriding goal of the PDP since formation has been to bring together all patriotic and like-minded Nigerians into a single formidable political movement, capable of organizing and advancing the cause of Nigeria as one united country.

“We must therefore echew all hate speeches and return to rebuild and restore our party to its former ideals and unite its different interests to unseat the lacklustre APC administration at the general elections coming up in 2019.

“The in-fighting is unnecessary, unhealthy and counterproductive. We must look towards the greater good. PDP must rise again as a family and as a winning platform.”

Leave a Reply