Former Vice President and one of the founding fathers of the ruling crisis-ridden Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Friday declared that he and his group in the New PDP were only interested in one thing: to rescue and reconnect the party with Nigerians, as was envisaged by its founding fathers.

Atiku, the Turaki Adamawa, told The Guardian in an interview that “the PDP has been going in the wrong direction for far too long” and given what was happening in the other political parties (the quest by their leaders to strengthen them), “you would agree with me that it has become necessary for some of us to rescue the party and put it back track. And that is exactly what has happened.”

He frowned at what he described as the “poor manners” the party was being run, noting that the most important challenge to all concerned members was how to engender an orderly process of running the party.

“Doing this would require that we put the structures of the party in their proper positions, so that at the end of the day, all members of the party can set the template for an action plan.

“Essentially, what we are saying is that we want to correct the situation where only one man sits to direct the party and he alone puts members in line,” explained.

On the insinuation that the new PDP was working with opposition parties, Atiku said such an allegation was merely a convenient argument by those misdirecting the affairs of the party.

“But you ask yourself: who are those destroying the PDP? Are they those who have turned the party into a non-democratic structure or those who want to rescue the party and reconnect it with the Nigerian people?” he quipped.

He added: “We have exhausted all efforts to avoid the current division and factionalisation. The PDP is stronger as a united party, but the party leadership doesn’t give a hoot about destroying the democratic principles on which it is founded, to satisfy the ego of the President.

“Peaceful negotiation is always welcome. We headed to the court to make a point. The PDP is bigger than any individual and, therefore, if they want to rebuild the party, it must return to the original objectives for which it was founded.”

The former vice president berated those alleging that the new PDP was fighting for Northern Presidency in 2015, stressing that part of the problems faced by the country was the creeping tendency by some people to play the ethnic card whenever the need for rigorous assessment and dissection of its political problems arose.

He lamented that such attitude to national political problems was taking a toll the country’s ability to move forward as a united entity.

“Unfortunately, these divisions are not about bridging the gap between the rich and poor, or opening the doors of our schools to our children, so that they can get access to good and qualitative education that will guarantee them a brighter future.

“The divisions are about whether the presidency is for the North or the South. And I think the nation made a decision about this in 2011 and it is unfortunate that those who benefitted from the decision in 2011 are the same ones who are singing the tune of ethnic politics,” he bemoaned.

•Excerpted from a Guardian report. Photo shows Atiku.

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