PDP: Reawakening impunity as a trigger to self-destruct

By Isah Odaudu…

The Uche Secondus led National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the PDP caucus of the National Assembly held a meeting at the Transcorp Hilton today (Friday) at which very far-reaching decisions were made.

Chief among the decisions was a resolution to grant automatic tickets to serving members of the National Assembly in States where the party is not holding sway, while allowing the governors in PDP-controlled states decide their preferred candidates.

This is clearly a return to the days of impunity which led to the ouster of the party from power in 2015.

Quite expectedly, a number of Party faithfuls are waiting for the formal announcement of this decision so that they can ditch the party, which is only just recovering from the hemorrhage it experienced a few years ago.

Coming at a time when the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is opting for an all-inclusive democratic process, it is clear that the APC will be the net-gainer in the end.

Read also: Nigeria; A Nation In Need Of Free Speech

In Kogi State for example, the PDP will fail woefully in the event that it goes against its guidelines and constitutional provisions for party primaries as guaranteed by the Nigerian Constitution.

The present occupant of some of the elective political offices especially Senator Atai Aidoko Ali will not be allowed to return, as the people of Kogi East Senatorial District are tired and fed up with kindergarten representation.

Elsewhere in the West, an aspirant had already issued a statement thus: “If the PDP National working committee will not conduct free, transparent and credible primaries as laid down in the guidelines of the party, and imposes Dino Melaye on us as a candidate in Kogi west senatorial district, as they now plan, l will not sit and watch anyone destroy the excellent work we have labored to do along with others in Kogi state to be sacrificed for his personal ambition.

“I will not hesitate with my massive supporters to pull out of PDP before the entire building collapses in the state. I came into House of Representatives initially in 2011, through ACN which was a non existing brand in my constituency, I’m prepared to start a new journey”.

The above is not just a mere threat but a wake up call to the party hierarchy and its leadership to rescind from this unpopular decisions as it is capable of truncating the effort made so far to redeem the party’s image.

Imposition and all forms of impunity must be jettisoned by the NWC if we must make progress as a party as we cannot afford to repeat the failure of the general election in 2015 that ousted the party from the grip of the national government.

The grim reality is that we are drifting off the radar of political renaissance for possible return to power with this
political gangsterism and imposition.

We must make hay while the sun shines

..,Odaudu writes from Lokoja, Kogi State

 

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