Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Post-Convention Reconciliation Committee, Seriake Dickson, has charged the national leadership of the party to commence ground work that will reposition the party to spearhead broadbase coalition that will defeat the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019.
Dickson who is also the governor of Bayelsa State, stressed that the manifest destiny of PDP is to form a coalition to rescue the country.
Dickson who stated this while submitting the report of the reconciliation committee to the National Working Committee of PDP in Abuja, stressed that the party needs to pay special attention to the South- West region ahead of 2019.
Dickson had led a post convention reconciliation committee which met with aggrieved aspirants and members of PDP. However, some of founding members of the party who still felt aggrieved with goings on in the party, especially former ministers, Jerry Gana and Tunde Adeniran, have moved to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) which is being touted as the rainbow coalition ahead of the 2019 general election.
But presenting the report to PDP national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, the Bayelsa governor said part of their recommendation, having met party chieftains across the country, is for the party to assume the broad base coalition that will sack the APC in 2019.
He also told the party to caution its leaders against making inflammatory statements that could affect the reconciliation process within their fold.
His words: “We have summarized some of our observations as follows; the first issue arises from our interactions and in view of what has gone on between the convention and now, and in light of the wishes of majority of this country, the hope and confidence that they have continued to place on our party, the committee is of the view that our party under your leadership should begin the ground work and making preparations that will enable our party to lead a broad based coalition which will defeat the APC in the 2019 general elections.
“This means our party leaders should be temperate with their words considerate in their actions. This means that our party should not join issues with persons who disagree with us, especially those who may have taken some actions different from what we have discussed while we were meeting.
“The party should begin to build alliances and begin to make inter personal contacts, even now. Everybody that has to be contacted should be contacted, including those who left for one reason or the other because the manifest destiny of our party in the democratic history of our country in view of 2019 general election, is to lead a broad base coalition. In that coalition all Nigerians of goodwill who believe in salvaging our country, will be brought together.”
He urged the NWC to immediately constitute all standing committees including a strategy committee that will begin to carry out preparations for the party for the task ahead.
He further cautioned that party leaders and members must adhere to rules and processes. Noting that PDP has a better democratic posture than other parties.
In his response, Secondus assured that PDP under his watch is ready to join hands with other parties to ensure that the country is rescued from the APC.
OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja
