Leaders of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday rose from a meeting in Abuja and resolved to urgently identify and find quick solutions to the party’s challenges.

At the inauguration of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Institute (PDI), a policy research and resource bureau of the party, the leaders urged all stakeholders to sacrifice personal interests for the growth of the party.

Notable leaders in PDP were absent at the unveiling of a roadmap for the PDI. The party’s candidate in the 2023 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar; the acting national chairman, Umar Damagum; the BoT chairman, Senator Adolphus Wabara; Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike; and the chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum and Bauchi governor, Bala Mohammed did not grace the occasion, though Damagum, Bala, and Wabara were represented.

Speaking at the programme, former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, noted that the PDI is long due, saying the party must be built on solid ideas before anyone can start talking about 2027 or aspire for any position.

Saraki said: “We cannot have an ambition if we don’t have a party. We cannot have a party if we don’t have ideas. This is where it starts from. This is an important foundation.

“We’ve built this party on ideas, philosophies, and policies. Let us move away from building ideas on personal ambition. We cannot pursue ambition without a party, and we cannot have a party without ideas. This is the foundation that matters.

“Let us desist from talking about who is running for councillor, governor, or president in 2027. Let us talk about what is PDP? What does PDP represent? What are the issues and policies that we must consider? This is what is important for us. This is what Nigerians outside want to know. This is what is important.”

On his part, the Oyo State governor, who doubled as a special guest of honour and ‘chief unveiler’, Seyi Makinde, said the institute will further propel PDP and help showcase what the party stands for.

He warned that If the crisis is not quickly fixed, the country’s problems would escalate. He further observed that as the nation approaches 2027 for another general election, it was clear that the PDP can provide direction for Nigerians.

“What would you want to be remembered for? This is a question every politician who has had to serve in any capacity in our great nation should ask themselves, as players would come and go. The situation is so dynamic, but you have to be remembered for something.

He therefore promised not to “pollute the PDP well” when it is time for him to vacate office at the end of his second and final term as governor in 2027.

Makinde said: “From 2019, I have been benefitting from PDP. So, I want to say thank you to our great party and all the stakeholders gathered here today for giving me the opportunity, not one, but two mandates back-to-back under this umbrella. The only thing I can promise you is that since I have fetched water from that well, which I have been drinking since 2019, I will not pollute the well when it is time for me to exit that position.”

Makinde made the perceivably harmless comments apparently to demonstrate his loyalty and commitment to the PDP while throwing a subtle jab at some PDP chieftains who played destabilising roles against the party at different periods in the past.

Some leading lights of the PDP who built their political careers around the party’s platform had in 2014, defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) where they worked against the PDP, leading to the party’s loss in the 2015 presidential election.

Prominent among the defectors at the time were former Vice President Atiku; two-term Kwara governor and former Senate President, Saraki; and former Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal. However, they all returned to the PDP shortly before the 2019 general election.

Many also believe Makinde’s comments were jabs thrown at the immediate past governor of Rivers State, Wike, while also reinforcing speculations of his intention to contest for president in 2027. The governor has not confirmed or denied the growing speculations.

While unveiling the PDI board, Makinde rued PDP’s loss of power at the national level, describing the party’s 16 years in power from 1999 to 2015 as “Nigeria’s golden years.”

Bemoaning the prevailing economic hardship in the country, the governor said Nigerians have learnt their lessons, as he compared PDP’s “years of plenty with APC’s lean years.”

According to him, the PDP lost in 2015 owing to disagreement among key stakeholders, regretting that the APC has moved the country from the “next level of economic instability to the next level of economic trouble.

“Nigerians are looking up to the PDP to provide ideological direction for the country. They have seen the PDP in government, and they have also seen the APC.”

He also commended party members for setting aside their differences to revive the PDI, which was founded in 2001. He called on members to rally around the party and set aside their differences, saying there was a need for true reconciliation and unity to wrestle power from the APC in Ondo State whose governorship election has been slated for November 16.

Earlier, the acting national chairman of PDP, Damagum, who was represented by the party’s national organising secretary, Umar Bature, said there was a need to reposition and unite the party to play its opposition role.

Meanwhile, Atiku’s spokesman, Paul Ibe, has accused President Bola Tinubu of trying to enforce dictatorship by moving to destroy the party, Labour Party (LP), and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).

Ibe said Tinubu plans to enforce a one-party state in 2027, hence the move to destroy the opposition party. He accused the president of plotting how to return to power in 2027 while ignoring the sufferings of Nigerians.

Speaking yesterday, Ibe also dismissed claims that Atiku was selfish, stressing that the former Vice President is patriotic. He said: “Atiku is not selfish by choosing to run, it’s patriotism.

“Atiku was never selfish, he presented himself for an election, he won PDP’s primary and it was expected that every member of the party including Wike, who is now the man-Friday of APC administration is now being used to destroy the very fabric of the PDP and other opposition parties, that’s selfishness, Atiku was never selfish, he was patriotic and committed to the development of Nigeria.

“What we should be focused on now is that Nigerians are suffering, we need to have a country first before talking about aspirations and ambitions. It’s insensitive to be talking about 2027 but that’s what Tinubu is doing. Instead of governing, all his calculations are towards how to suspend the opposition parties and destroy the PDP, to pave the way for dictatorship and a one-party state; that’s what they are focused on, the reason they continue to fumble and stumble in the act of governance.”

However, a group, the Proactive Coalition of Nigerians (PROCON), has slammed Atiku over his recent policy advice to President Tinubu. Condemning what it described as Atiku’s persistent interference in Nigeria’s democratic process, PROCON said the policy advice is a desperate attempt by Atiku to revive his failed presidential ambition.

Atiku had in a recent statement titled, ‘What we would have done differently’, criticised the way the Federal Government managed the fuel subsidy removal, as well as the fiscal and monetary policies of Tinubu’s administration. The ex-VP outlined a set of policies he could have pursued if he were the President and advised Tinubu to borrow and implement them.

The Presidency dismissed Atiku’s statement, saying Nigerians would have been worse off if the PDP candidate had won the 2023 presidential poll. Responding to the Presidency’s assertion, Atiku claimed that Tinubu did not win the election, alleging that the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate rigged his way into office. Atiku insisted he won the 2023 presidential election.

Weighing in on the matter on Thursday, PROCON, in a statement by its national president, David Onuh, criticised what it described as Atiku’s ‘outdated ideas’.

PROCON accused Atiku of advocating for subsidy removal without addressing structural issues and prioritising profits over people.

According to the coalition, Nigerians rejected Atiku’s leadership style in the 2023 elections because his approach to governance is not compatible with national progress. PROCON urged Atiku to respect the democratic process and allow the current government to implement its vision. (The Guardian)