THE South-West zone of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Tuesday endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan to run for second term in 2015.
A motion by a member of the party from Ogun State, Tola Odulaja, which was sequel to an appeal earlier made by Chairman; Caretaker Committee of the party, Ishola Filani, to endorse President Jonathan for 2015, was unanimously adopted.
The endorsement came up during the PDP South-West Stakeholders’ Forum in Lagos.
Giving reason for the decision, Filani said the forum believed that Jonathan has performed creditably well in office and by so doing, deserved the support of the entire PDP and Nigerians to run for second term.
According to him, “Despite the challenges we face as a nation, the Federal Government is responding swiftly and appropriately to them. President Goodluck Jonathan is on a sure but steady footing in laying the foundation for a better Nigeria. Let us do away with lack of continuity, consistency and commitment of the past and rally round the current administration in its efforts to reposition the country.”
Urging the PDP South-West to key into the Transformation Agenda of Mr. President, Filani said: “Come with us, and together, let us key into the Transformation Agenda of Mr. President in the areas of infrastructural and human development, job creation, governance, improved healthcare transportation, among others.
“As we deliberate here today, let the word go out from here and now that, like an iron through the blacksmith’s fire, the PDP is undergoing a process of refinement and will engage polished and better for the challenges ahead.”
The forum also appointed as its grand-patron, former president, Olusegun Obasanjo and 10 patrons, who include erstwhile Minister of Transport, Ebenezer Babatope; erstwhile Deputy National Chairman of the party in the zone, Alhaji Shuiabu Oyedokun; Senator Bode Olowoporoku, among others.
In his address, Filani said their position was a follow-up to the meeting held with President Jonathan on June 6 in Abuja where internal crisis was identified as a major setback affecting the party within the zone.
He said the primary assignment of the forum, headed by Senator Lekan Balogun, was to reconcile all the state chapters of the party, rebuild all the party’s institutions, to reposition PDP for electoral success in the zone and to assist the PDP Zonal Committee in strengthening the party for future elections.
Meanwhile, members of the Arewa Integrity Group (AIG) yesterday called for the removal of the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, on the allegation that he was responsible for the crisis in the party, as well as the suspension of some prominent party members.
Addressing a press conference in conjunction with another group, “Wamakko/Amaechi National Enlightenment Council,” the national chairman, Mallam Abdullahi Ladan, along with the national secretary of the group, Aminu Sokoto, noted that Tukur’s high-handedness and anti-party activities have caused instability in the leadership of the party.
The group said though the decision by the party to lift the suspension on the governor of Sokoto State was commendable, it however, insisted that until the suspension passed on his counterpart in Rivers State, Governor Rotimi Amaechi, was quashed, members of the Arewa group would soon embark on a protest mission.
The group said that lifting the suspension on Wamakko was not enough, adding that the PDP national leadership should as well tender public apology to him.
In a similar vein, former Sokoto State chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Muhammad Arzika Tureta, has hailed the lifting of suspension on Wamakko, saying that this development has brought happiness to the people of the state.
Alhaji Tureta was a member of the House of Representatives and it was during his tenure as chairman that the party began its winning streak in the state when Wamakko was the gubernatorial standard-bearer in 2007.
Tureta said Wamakko had done a lot for the party and did not deserve such treatment, adding that the people were very happy that President Jonathan, as the party’s national leader, had lifted the suspension.
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