PDP must lobby the South West, Says Dickson as he submits reconciliation report

The Bayelsa State Governor and Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Reconciliation Committee, Hon. Seriake Dickson has mandated the National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus and his National Working Committee to ensure that they develop strong alliance with the South West.

The governor further challenged the NWC to reach out to all former members of the party and also be at the fore front of the coalition that will kick out the All Progressives Congress (APC) come 2019.

Governor Dickson gave the charge, Thursday at the PDP Headquarters while submitting his Committee’s Report to the NWC.

The governor eulogised the dedication of members of the committee for service to the party and while assuring their loyalty to the NWC saying, ‘‘we will not stop serving until we salvage our country.’’

Dickson is the longest serving Committee Chairman in the party, having served in that capacity since the days of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, as chairman

The Governor said that his committee swung into action even before the convention, formulating the template, laying the foundation and after the convention, the committee criss-crossed the nation and interacted with leaders and critical stakeholders of the party who also raised some concerns that were captured in the report.

According to Dickson, the committee recommended that the PDP returns the party to the people, constitute all its standing committees, deliberately carve responsibilities for women and youths, deliberately give a sense of belonging to the South West leaders in the party, constantly woo those who had left the PDP to return to its fold and above all, lead a coalition of all other parties to win more states and the centre.

He said: ‘‘PDP National Working Committee and its leaders must be temperate, not join issues with ourselves and even those who have left the party. The manifest destiny of PDP is to lead a broad-based coalition to sack APC and to achieve this, everybody is important and must be brought on board because the umbrella is large enough for all.

‘‘The National Working Committee of our great party should constitute all statutory committees urgently and in the composition, women, youths and leaders should be involved in the committees.

The South West is too strategic not to play a strategic role in PDP. We recommend closer interaction with the leaders of the South West to build confidence in the region.

‘‘We believe the National Convention has come and gone but we recommend that the party deliberately create positions for women in PDP because the party is the most women and youth –friendly. Mr. Chairman if we do this, it will reassure our women and youths that they are the future of our party.

“There is no party as democratic as PDP in Nigeria but I must concede that we are not where we should be, but by deepening internal democracy and returning the party to the Nigerian people, the party will regain its pride of place and wrest power from the APC. ‘’

The party’s National Chairman thanked Governor Dickson and his committee for doing a wonderful work and pledged to implement all the recommendations of the committee.

He said the APC has become a threat to national security and declared the resolve of his leadership to galvanise Nigerians to displace the APC. He boasted that the PDP under his leadership has been rebranded and repositioned, stressing that the recent PDP rally in Jigawa, an APC state was a testimony to the fact that Nigerians now own the PDP.

‘‘The APC is a threat to national security. The APC-led Federal Government is broken. The APC has so disunited our people and Nigerians no longer trust it. Only the PDP rekindles hope; the party represents the labour of our heroes past; only PDP can secure and keep this country united.

That is why our emphasis is on returning the party to Nigerians especially women and youths and I want to seize this opportunity to call on all Nigerians including those who have left us to return to the party.

‘‘PDP belongs to all Nigerians and our party is the only party that is not owned by an individual or a cabal. We shall provide level-playing field for all aspirants to actualise their ambitions unhindered.

‘‘We are ready to bend backward to accommodate everybody including those who have left us. The PDP is ready for a robust arrangement to lead other political parties to form government at all levels to banish hunger, insecurity, nepotism and clannishness from Nigeria!

The 2019 general election is a referendum on the survival of the country. APC and INEC will try to rig but they cannot succeed. Nigerians will resist them.’’

Highpoint of the presentation of the report was the inauguration of the Dickson-led Committee as a standing committee by the National Chairman.