President Goodluck Jonathan has appealed to
aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party,
PDP, who lost at the primaries to remain in
party in the interest of democracy.
Mr. Jonathan made the appeal on Saturday
night while speaking at the PDP fund raising
dinner held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said that the leadership of the party was
working to resolve all outstanding issues in
the congresses and primaries.
“We all appreciate that throughout the
congresses where primary elections were
conducted there have been some outstanding
issues.
“The party is working to resolve these issues;
definitely, in such situation all may not be
resolved to the satisfaction of everybody,” the
president said.
“But my plea to party members is to remain
committed to the party; stay with the party.
“I know other parties are wooing some of you
to contest elections on their platforms, but if
you believe in democracy then you will
contribute to strengthen it.
“The only way you can strengthen democracy
is for you to stay in your party,” he added.
Some prominent leaders of the party have
either left, expressed intention to leave, or
expressed their dissatisfaction at the manner
of conduct of primaries in their states.
In Benue, a former PDP National Chairman,
Bernabas Gemade, has already joined the All
Progressives Congress, APC, after expressing
anger at how Governor Gabriel Suswam
picked the PDP senatorial ticket of his zone to
displace the former who is the incumbent. Mr.
Gemade is expected to be the APC candidate
in the zone.
In Oyo, former governor Alao Akala and his
supporters have joined the Labour Party after
expressing their dissatisfaction at the PDP
governorship primaries that produced Teslim
Folarin as candidate.
In Lagos, the immediate past Minister of State
for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, has rejected
the primaries that produced Jimi Agbaje as
the PDP governorship candidate. A similar
situation is playing out in Nasarawa where
immediate past Information Minister, Labaran
Maku, has rejected the PDP governorship
primaries.
Mr. Jonathan, however, told the aggrieved
members that if there were issues they felt
were not too correct, it was better for them to
stay within the party to correct them. He
added that staying together to settle those
issues was the only way democracy can grow.
“If out of anger or frustration, you leave the
party because you didn’t get what you
wanted, then you are not contributing to the
growth of democracy,” he said.
Mr. Jonathan thanked members of the party,
the business community and other supporters
of the PDP for contributing to the growth of
the party.
While recalling the “generous donation” of
the business community to support victims of
the 2012 flood and to the Victim Support Fund
in September, he assured them that their
donations would be judiciously utilised.
The president also assured the business
community of more policies and programmes
that would promote enterprise and industry as
well as expand the economy.
Citing a beneficiary of the YouWin
programme, who donated N1 million at the
dinner, the president stated that the party had
made some Nigerians millionaires and
billionaires.
He said the PDP-led federal government was
working hard to make more young
millionaires through the YouWin programme
and the recently launched Youth Employment
through Agriculture Programme (YEAP).
He assured Nigerians that the PDP would do
everything possible to keep the country
united.
Earlier, the PDP National Chairman, Adamu
Mu’azu, congratulated successful candidates
of the party for the 2015 general elections and
urged them not to let the party down.
He urged the candidates to carry their fellow
party members along during the campaigns.
He appealed to aspirants who lost at the
primaries to put the past behind and join
hands to take the PDP to victory.
The chairman of the fund raising committee,
Jerry Gana, warned members of the party
against complacency in the 2015 general
elections.
Mr. Gana, a former Minister of Information
and member of the PDP Board of Trustees,
declared that the 2015 elections would be
competitive.
He stated that though the party had done well
under President Goodluck Jonathan, members
must campaign and communicate his
achievements to the electorate.
“The 2015 elections will be very competitive.
Do not take it for granted. We must never
underestimate the opponent,” Mr. Gana said.
“PDP has advantage because it has done very
well in its 15 years in power at the centre.
“Besides, our presidential candidate is very
good and is one of the best in the world in
terms of delivery of democracy dividends.
“But doing well or having good candidates is
not enough; we need to tell the electorate
what we have done as a party.
“We must endeavour to effectively
communicate our achievements and
candidates to the people; the elections must
be issue-based and the PDP is noted for that,”
he added.
Mr. Gana warned the leadership of the PDP at
all levels against imposition of candidates on
Nigerians.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that over
N21.2 billion was raised at the dinner which
was well attended by past and present
government officials, politicians and captains
of industry.
The fund, according to the PDP National
Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu, would be used to
complete the party’s new headquarters
building and run its affairs.
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