Sen. Aduda heads Kogi PDP Caretaker Committee
…as Gov. Adeleke , Saraki others solicit united front to deliver Melaye
By Tunde Opalana
Immediate past Senate Minority Leader who represented the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Philip Aduda has been appointed by the National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as chairman of the Caretaker Committee for the party in. Kogi State.
He was on Monday sworn in alongside 13 other members of the committee at the party secretariat in Abuja.
National Publicity Secretary of the party, Umar Bature said it became necessary to constitute a caretaker committee for Kogi State after the expiration of the tenure of the immediate past state executive in July this year.
He explained that the party decided to shift the conduct of election into state executive offices till after the November 11 governorship election in the state to avoid distraction.
According to Bature, the party leadership avoided rancour that might ensued from nomination for positions , adding that all nine nominated person’s were men without a single female nominee.
“So, we in the NWC just in our wisdom allowed the nine nominees from the nine constituencies to stay and appointed just two versatile party leaders and two women from within Kogi to complete the 14 member Caretaker Committee.
“What we need at this time that we have state governorship election ahead is cohesion not anything that can bring division .
“The state executive will be duly constituted after the governorship election . What we need now is cooperation of all to ensure that PDP win Kogi State”, said Bature.
Inaugurating the committee, acting National Secretary, Arc. Setonji Kosedo who represented the acting National Chairman, Amb. Umar Damagum, said the purpose of constituting the caretaker committee is to put in place a structure upon which the campaign council will stand to function.
The Caretaker Committee chairman, Senator Aduda said the assignment before the committee is a great task which must be accomplished.
He said the task is achievable because the party has a good product in Senator Dino Melaye who is an household name not only in Kogi but in Nigeria.
Charging PDP stakeholders and members to rally round the candidate, Aduda said “this is a deciding moment for all of us and we have no reason to fail.
“I am calling on all of us for a unity of purpose . On our side we are going to embark on reconciliation mission to bring together aggrieved members. It is when this is achieved that a wholesome mobilisation can be successfully done,” he said.
Also at the inaugural meeting of the National Campaign Council for Kogi State, chairman of the council and Osun State governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke inaugurated the 16 sub – committees under him.
“We are working for victory in the coming governorship election in Kogi State, this gathering is another step towards our match to Lugard House in Lokoja. Today we are inaugurating all the sub committees, I want to urge all the members of the committee to be committed to the goal of what we want to do. Our job is to ensure that our candidate senator Dino Melaye is elected the governor of Kogi state.
“As committee members we must commit our energy to achieve success because we mean business, you must be ready to make sacrifice, let us john hands together so that we can take Kogi and move Kogi forward , I am bringing you the template of Imole from Osun State, I am bringing with me the secrets of hard work success story. Let us work and deliver.
“Forget the fact that we are going against incumbent, I have defeated incumbents several times, if we focus our mind and we have faith anything can be done. We must believe in what we are doing,” Adeleke said.
Former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki in a goodwill message said “a Dino as a PDP governor is hundred times better than any APC governor in this election.”
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According to Daraki, the kKogi election is not about Melaye , but for the party as he said “victory for PDP in the coming election is something we must all work to achieve.”
Charging members to close ranks, he said “there is no state that there will not be crisis, post primaries, there is no state after eight years with the kind of governor that you have that after eight years, there will not be crisis in the opposition. But if you sit down and look at where Kogi is today, we all have an assignment and it is not Dino’s assignment.”
