• Let’s say we are not cowards
• Watch ‘faction of fools’ to maintain
• As the party inaugurates the organizing committee of 119 members
• It’s Sacrosanct —Damagm
• Wike, Fayose, Ortom, Ugwuanyi, others give conditions for party survival
On Tuesday, the governors of the Democratic Party of the Peoples (PDP) dared some members who threatened to sink the National Elective Convention of November 15 of November set for Ibadan, the capital of the state of Oyo, warning that they are not cowards and do not fear anyone, no matter how highly located.
The governors took the position when the party opened its organizing committee of the National Convention of 119 members in its National Secretariat Wadata Plaza in Abuja.
The president of the PDP governors forum and governor of the state of Bauchi, Senator Bala Mohammed, while offering the position of the governors, told the meeting that the party must move from a situation in which some members continued to treat others as if they were “cowards” that they should continue to do their way.
The governors promised total support for the convention, adding that any member who wanted to belong to “a faction of fools will allow him to go and do it.” Mohammed said: “We are not cowardly, and we are not afraid of anyone.
We are able to navigate to this party beyond mischief, beyond arrogance and beyond the impunity of others. We cannot continue to participate and allow people to take us to the slaughterhouse. That is our work. And our work is to make sure we don’t go to the slaughterhouse. “
The development occurred when some leaders and interested parties of the party led by the Minister of Territory of Federal Capital (FCT), Mr. Nyesom Wike, the renewed conditions that said they would determine the survival of the “largest party of Africa”, including the requirement that the 2021 zoning agreement should be withdrawn, which gave the seat of the national president to the center-time, must be retained.
Wike and his followers met Monday night at his Abuja residence, rounding in the early hours of Tuesday before the inauguration of the Planning Committee, which took place at 3:00 pm in the National Secretariat Wadata Plaza del Party.
Among those who attended the Wike meeting, which was held at the Minister’s Abuja residence, were former Governor of Benue, Dr. Samuel Ortom; former governor of the state of Ekiti, Ayodele Fayose; former governor of the state of Abia, Okezie Ikpeazu; Former Governor of the State of Enugu, Honorable IFEANYI UGWUANYI; National Vice President (Sur-Sur), Dan Orbih; and a former senator who represents Rivers-East in the National Assembly, George Sekibo. The national secretary of the party, Senator Sam Anyanwu, was also at the meeting with Wike.
However, speaking during the inauguration of the Committee, the national president of the party, the ambassador Umar Ladagum, the Forum of Governors and the Board of Trustees (Bot) of the party, everything spoke hard, warning that no member could lead to the entire hostage party for longer.
Although none of the speakers mentioned the name of Wike, Damagum, for example, he told the session that he had directed the most silent game in the last two years to achieve today’s cohesion, despite the obvious attempts of internal oppositions to weaken the PDP.
“But allow me to be clear; this success has only become possible for silence and tolerance of me. Not because enjoying being belittled, but because in critical moments, I chose the restriction, not by weakness, but as a conscious sacrifice for the survival and stability of our party,” he said.
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Lavagm expressed concern that those determined to destroy the party were also at some point, some of the greatest beneficiaries of the fortune and goodwill of the PDP.
He added: “They tried to sow division and weaken our structures. However, the story will register, and analysts will discuss, but the consensus will continue to be that at a time of great difficulty, this national work committee, under my leadership, maintained the line and did a remarkable job.
Today I say with conviction that the PDP is not broken. The PDP is not defeated. The PDP is marching forward; Stronger, more determined and better prepared to meet our primary objective: to claim the presidency of this great country and rebuild Nigeria of the poor management of the current ruling party. “
Specifically at the Ibadan Convention, Lamagum declared: “As you know, the 2025 National Elective Convention is scheduled to stay in Ibadan, a state of Oyo, from November 15 to 16, 2025.
My position for this committee is simple, as its work carries out, that equity, equity, justice and the unity of purpose are its guiding principles. Let’s put aside personal complaints and ambitions that do not serve collective interest (if it exists). Let’s focus on the general panorama: build public trust by demonstrating to the Nigerians through this convention that the PDP remains the avant -garde of democracy and the plan for due process.
That each member of our party see, in their behavior, the guarantee that PDP belongs to all.
I have no doubt that we will deliver a convention that reaffirms to the PDP as the people’s party, for people and for people. This convention is sacrosantic, it has come to stay!
The former governor of the state of Kaduna and secretary of the Bot, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, who spoke on behalf of the organ, touched the same line as Ladagum and the governors. He said that although the party welcomed consensus and accommodation, doing so should not be interpreted as a weakness on the part of the party leaders.
Previously, Wike and his loyal ones issued a statement after their meeting, highlighting the conditions that said they must be met before the Ibadan Convention to be credible and acceptable to them.
The “eminent leaders and interested parties”, while reaffirming their commitment to the PDP, requested that leadership positions within it “remain open, inclusive and competitive, while guaranteeing regional equity according to the long -standing tradition of the PDP.”
They asked the NWC to urgently hold fresh, transparent and inclusive congresses in the states of Ebonyi and Anambra, in line with the trials of the courts. They also demanded that a “zonal congress of southeast fresh and legitimate” be held.
The interested parties also said that the result of the South-South Congress “valid and legitimate” held in Calabar, the state of Cross River, and recognized by the court, is respected.
In addition, they want the Congress of the Local Government of the State of Ekiti to immediately be carried out in “obedience to the resistant judicial judgment.”
In the zoning of the offices of the parties before the Convention, the interested parties declared: “While we agree with the recommendations of the Zoning Committee, which was adopted by NEC that the status quo remains, in addition, and we very firmly consider that there should not be a form of microzoning for peace and stability within the part.
Consequently, the national president of the party must remain in the center-northern in line with the Zoning Formula of the 2021 Convention. “
The interested parties warned that the breach of the conditions indicated above would make the result of the Ibadan convention null and null.
The statement reads more: “It is pertinent to notice that the breach of previous resolutions and demands will make any alleged national convention valid, since the legitimate members of the party would be deprived of their rights.
The PDP was built on the basis of inclusion, equity and justice. Therefore, to claim its pride as the main opposition and the true alternative for the Nigerians, the party now must exceed narrow interests and adopt collective responsibility.
We, the eminent leaders and the concerned interested parties, remain firm in our loyalty to the party and resolved in our determination to work with all the organs and leaders of the PDP to ensure that the next national convention becomes a basin moment, a time when the unit triumphs over the division, and justice prevails over impunity.
Only then can the PDP speak in one voice, act with a heart and march with a renewed force towards victory. “
The National Convention Organization Committee is chaired by the governor of the state of Adamawa, the honorable Ahmadu Fintiri, while the first vice president is the governor of the State of Osun, Senator Adelala Adelev.
All other PDP governors are also members of the 119 members committee that has many holders of previous and previous offices of the party as members.
In his acceptance speech, Fintiri promised a convention that would be the envy of the Congress of all progressives (APC) and the members of the PDP who defected the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
“I assure you that those who went to ADC will soon strive and even the APC will envy us. We do not take all the fights to the media. We are open and all are free to dispute. Come and buy the form and try your popularity instead of hurrying the media all the time,” added the governor.
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