By Dirisu Yakubu – Abuja

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has counseled its leadership to immediately reach out to its members across the country, particularly, former leaders to build a consensus ahead of the 2023 general elections.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

To stand a chance of reclaiming power especially at the centre, issues which led to the defeat of the party in 2015 and again in 2019 should be addressed, he stressed.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the party stalwart tasked the leadership of the party to pay courtesy calls on all aspirants who contested the Presidential ticket but lost to ex-Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, saying their silence in the face of critical national challenges is an indication that “all is not well and we can’t keep pretending about this.”

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Ask to clarify what he meant, he queried: “When was the last time you read comments credited to all those who vied for the ticket in Port Harcourt? Have you heard or seen them play the role of opposition figures by taking the government to the task? They are aware the economy is in the shambles and they know like every one of us that security in the country today is worse than it has been in recent years. But why are they not talking? Are we saying we are not worried as a party that the likes of Ahmed Makarfi, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Sule Lamido, Datti Ahmed and others are keeping mute at a time when silence is very dangerous?”

Decrying the manner some notable leaders quit the party not long ago; the light-skinned fellow noted that the challenges of internal democracy, imposition, and similar vices remain with the party, saying this prompted some founding founders of the PDP to either quit partisan politics or join the ruling All Progressives Congress.

“We lost Yuguda (Isah), Tunde Adeniran, Taoheed Adedoja and even the Director-General of the Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign Council, Otunba Gbenga Daniel. Yes, we won back into our fold big politicians and leaders too including some governors but have we addressed the issues that led to the exit of these people?” he asked.

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That said, the PDP stalwart called on leaders and stakeholders in its chapters in Kogi and Bayelsa to let go of personal grievances, preparatory to the November 16 governorship elections. According to him, the signals from both states are worrisome saying, “the coast may appear clear in Bayelsa because we have been in charge since 1999. But that was because we managed our grievances well. In Kogi, the governor’s poor performance which should ordinarily pave way for us would count for nothing, if things continue this way. Those who lost the primaries are still bitter,” he lamented.

It would be recalled that Ahmed Makarfi, Musa Rabiu Kwankwaso, Sule Lamido, Jonah Jang and Attahiru Bafarawa, former governors of Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Plateau and Sokoto states all sought the party’s ticket but lost to Atiku in Port Harcourt.

Others were David Mark, former Senate President, Tanimu Turaki, former minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Relations and Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, businessman and politician.

Since the conduct of the 2019 elections and the subsequent declaration of President Buhari as winner of the poll, not much has been heard from them by way of media engagement.

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