President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday appealed to all the Peoples
Democratic Party aspirants who are aggrieved as a result of the outcome of its
primaries across the country not to leave the party.
He said the party leadership was working hard to resolve the conflicts
thrown up by the primaries in many states.
Jonathan spoke at the PDP Fund Raising Dinner, held at the old Banquet
Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Many state chapters of the party are currently enmeshed in controversy
over alleged cases of imposition of candidates, either by state governors or
the national headquarters of the PDP.
The situation has led to many party stalwarts leaving the party or
threatening to leave.
Among those who have left to join the opposition All Progressives
Congress were Jonathan’s former Minister of State, Industry, Trade and
Investment, Samuel Ortom, after he failed to clinch the party’s governorship
ticket in Benue State.
Jonathan, however, said it was better for aggrieved party members to
remain in the system to correct whatever they felt was wrong in the party than
jumping ship.
Although he said conscious efforts were being made to resolve the
post-primaries crisis in some states, the President admitted that all the cases
might not be resolved to the satisfaction of all the parties concerned.
He, however, said the party would be guided by the issues raised when
preparing for the primaries of the 2019 elections.
He said, “We all appreciate that throughout the congresses where
primaries were conducted, there have been some outstanding issues. The party is
working to resolve these issues. Definitely, in such a situation, all may not
be resolved to the satisfaction of everybody.
“But my plea to party members is to remain committed to the party; stay with
the party.
“I know other parties are wooing some of you to contest elections on
their platforms, but if you believe in democracy then you will contribute to
strengthening it.
“The only way you can strengthen democracy is for you to stay in your
party.
“If there are some issues you feel are not too correct, it behoves on us
to stay together and correct them. That is the only way we can grow democracy.
“If out of anger or frustration, you leave the party because you didn’t
get what you wanted, then you are not contributing to the growth of democracy.”
The President said the major task before the ruling party was to ensure
that the country remain united.
While thanking those who donated the over N21bn realised at the dinner,
he said the money was needed to build a formidable party.
He observed that if parties were tied around individuals, there would be
dictatorial tendencies in such parties.
He promised that the money realised would be judiciously utilised, like
his administration had done with the different funds raised earlier.
Describing his administration as business-friendly, he promised donors
of more policies that would promote enterprise and industry.
But some of the aggrieved chieftains of the party including a former
national chairman of the party, Senator Barnabas Gemade, a former governor of
Oyo State, Adebayo Alao-Akala, who recently left the party, said they could
only return to the PDP if the problems that led to their defection were tackled
objectively.
Gemade, who left the PDP to protest what he said was a primary skewed in
favour of the incumbent Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam, told one of our
correspondents in a telephone interview that nobody had appealed to him.
Asked if he would yield to President Jonathan’s appeal not to leave the
party, he said, “Nobody has made any appeal to me. I won’t be able to make
comment on something that has not happened.”
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Politics