….We have learnt our lessons-Mantu
By Daud Olatunji

ABEOKUTA-The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South West has  passed a vote of confidence on the factional national Chairman of the party, Senator Alli-Modu Sherrif as the national chairman of the party.

Alimodu-Sheriff

The South West leaders came two days after the party leaders  in the South East had  passed a similar vote on Ahmed Makarfi-led national exco of the party.

The  meeting was attended by the national chairman of PDP, Senator Alii-Modu Sheriff, his deputy, Dr. Cairo Ojugbo, acting national publicity secretary, Hon. Bernard Niko, former FCT Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Abba Gana, Senator Chris Anyanwu and leadership of the party from Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Lagos, Ondo and Ogun states.

Rising from the expanded South West PDP Committee meeting on Sunday in Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun state, the party acknowledged and affirmed the leadership of the party under Senator Alli Modu-Sheriff and his efforts to reposition it.

Reading the  communique, the National Vice-Chairman/Zonal Chairman, South West PDP, Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, said all hands must be on deck to move the party forward and put it in good stead for the task ahead.

The communiqué further urged members of the party to pray for the quick recovery of President Muhammadu Buhari in order to continue his anti-corruption crusade.

In his remark, Senator Alli-Modu Sheriff said he would continue to work for the progress of the party and return it to the grassroots.

Sheriff, who stated that he would not be provoked by the statement of the party’s Chairman of the PDP Strategy Review Committee, Prof. Jerry Gana, said he would stand in the way of any individual who wants to corner the party for selfish reasons.

In his keynote address at the meeting, the former Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu, attributed the crisis rocking the party to lack of internal democracy, imposition of candidates and impunity of some individuals within PDP.

Mantu, who is the deputy chairman of PDP Reconciliation Committee PDP, hinted that the party bungled the goodwill it enjoyed for 16 years by allowing internal wrangling to fester urging leaders of the party to shelve personal interests and work towards mending the cracks in the party.

He, however, disclosed that the party has learnt its lessons mentioning that machinery has been put in place to address the problems bedeviling the party with a view to restore its lost glory.

“The national leadership is doing its very best to rebrand and reposition our party positively before the Nigerian public in readiness for 2019. In spite of the crack in the family, the leadership is moving steadily in the right direction -encouraging mass participation of members in the activities of the party, thereby giving them sense of belonging”. Mantu stated.

He, therefore, reiterated that leaders and members of the party must come together to settle the differences in the party, if PDP is serious of taking mantle of leadership from the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019.

“All hands must be on deck to ensure total victory in the entire South West and Nigeria in 2019. The tongue and the teeth live inside the mouth and they do sometime clash but none vacates the mouth for the other. We must therefore not allow seeming differences affect our victory at the polls.

“Our detractors had expected the crack in the family to be the beginning of our end. Tell them that the lion was just sleeping in order to conserve more energy and make a minced meat of them in 2019. No matter how much weight an elephant loses, it can never be compared to a cow”. He added.