The national president of the Popular Democratic Party (PDP), Iyorchia Ayu, warned party members not to work against the party, saying that whoever does so will face the consequences.
Mr Ayu stated this at the party’s National Labor Committee (NWC) reconciliation meeting with Ekiti state party stakeholders on Monday in Abuja.
He said the PPD had been losing elections because the party’s leaders and supporters had been fighting each other, adding that that situation must end.
“Once the party decides on the candidate, it is the responsibility of each member of the PDP family to fight for that candidate because you are not only fighting for that candidate, you are fighting for the PDP.
“So, you have a responsibility to support him. Anyone who does otherwise will be considered working against the PDP. It will be considered anti-party.
“The mood of the PDP today is that anyone who works against the PDP will not leave simply because we do not want our party members to fight against party members.
“We lost the elections because the leaders in various states and the supporters were divided, with the PPD winning or losing against the PPD. That trend has to end.
“We are very confident that the reconciliation process that we are going to carry out in practically all the states will allow us to unify the party at the district, local government and state levels.
“We believe that, as a family, as a party today, no individual can go out and win an election, even if you are governor.
Governors must work with their colleagues, key stakeholders from the neighborhood. All other match leaders in every state must be prepared to work as a team player, because match politics is like soccer, not tennis.
“Only when you work as a team do you have the assurance of victory,” Ayu said.
He said that the NWC, in its first meeting, resolved to reconcile the members of the state chapters, having between issues to have a united and formidable force in 2023.
Mr. Ayu said that the reconciliation process that the NWC initiated with the state of Ekiti will be extended to other states, “as the PDP believed that dialogue with critical stakeholders was necessary to win the elections.”
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“The essence of any political party is to win elections, not just participate in elections.
“The party started with the note of winning practically every election we participated in, so we built our strength from capturing 21 states in 1999 to approximately 28 states in 2007.
“It is often believed that if we put our house in order, we can still get back on those winning paths.”
At the meeting were members of the PDP NWC, governors of Rivers, Oyo, Benue, Abia and Sokoto states, as well as former Ekiti governors, including Ayo Fayose, According Oni; and the former lieutenant governor, Olushola Eleka.
Others were 17 PDP gubernatorial candidates for state elections held in June 2022.
(YAYA)