PDP Stakeholders Map out Plans to Reclaim Power

Hopes of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rediscovering its winning magic may become a reality if the report by a steering committee on plans to reposition the party is anything to go by.

PDP crisis

As part of the strategies to rediscover some PDP stakeholders converged  in Abuja yesterday to analyze identified challenges that contributed to the abysmal performance of the party in the last general elections.

The steering committee christened, ‘Restart PDP Project’ yesterday said it had concluded its report and submitted same to the National Working Committee

The report identified some of the problems to include intra-party crisis caused by manipulations and impositions of candidates, seizure and manipulation of party structures by  governors, lack of internal democracy and poor reward system in the party.

Addressing, Journalists during the meeting in Abuja, a member of the steering committee, Chief Emmanuel Nwosu, said the Restart PDP Project has come up with a blueprint to reposition the party for greater success.

He said the report of the steering committee covered four key areas that are agitating the minds of almost every party member. Among the findings made by the committee were that

“Nobody wants to be removed from popular vote. You can see that part of the major problems that brought down the PDP was the imposition of candidates. A popular candidate whom the people want will be removed and somebody who is unknown is put in his  place. The result of all these is our poor outing in the election. But we are confident that our party is about to come back in full force.

Details of the proposed roadmap include the convening of an emergency special convention for the sole purpose of amending the party constitution, commencement of digital membership registration and to fix timetable for a credible party congresses from ward level to the national level.

On whether the steering committee has the support of the PDP NWC, Nwosu said: “ Anybody who is honest about the PDP getting back to power will support this. The NWC has received our report  and almost every leader of this party has a copy and we have not had one single dissenting voice. I believe that the NWC  is in tandem with us.”

“As at today, we have gotten a 100 per cent acceptance by party members both at the leadership and grassroots levels and we have not one dissenting voice on the articulated action plan.

“Almost everybody is in support of the idea that is why you could see the large number of members participating. Some are even at the airports on their way coming.

“We are putting together a national summit which will bring together party members from every local government area, and during the summit, we will ratify the document for implementation.”

On the issue of insecurity which formed part of the factors the All Progressives Congress (APC) cashed-in on to unseat PDP, the party chieftain said the fact that the insurgents have continued with their terrorist activities even close to three  months after APC took over power is enough to realise  that it was wrong for them to politicise the matter.

PDP Stakeholders Map out Plans to Reclaim Power