PDP in coma – Mark

President Goodluck Jonathan and Senate President, Sen. David Mark

AS the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, continues to bicker over its poor performance at the last general elections, Senate President, David Mark, yesterday, warned that the party will die if the leadership, stakeholders and members did not urgently nip in the bud all internal squabbles and media hostilities.

The Senate President said the party is already in coma and haemorrhaging, warning that further squabbling by its leaders would lead to the death of the party.

Mark painted the sad picture when the Chairman of the PDP post-election assessment committee, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, visited him.

Mark spoke as the national leadership of the party said that the PDP has overcome the shock and trauma it suffered at the polls and urged members to embrace peace and work with the Ekweremadu committee.

PDP in coma, bleeding

Senator Mark expressed worry over the continued acrimony among factions in the party and warned that, “unless we halt the bleeding and find the necessary therapy, we may be heading for the final burial of the party”.

His words: “The party is already comatose and we should do all we can to resuscitate the party rather than this unnecessary rancour and buck-passing. The emerging factions are absolutely unnecessary. The combatants must sheathe their swords and embrace dialogue. My appeal is that we should not do anything further that would damage the already fragmented house.

“Everybody should come together and rebuild the party. We have gotten enough bruises. We need not inflict further pains on ourselves with continuous bickering. Enough of this blame-game. We should return to the drawing board and need not wash our dirty linen in the public any more.

“I believe a useful lesson has been learned from the PDP electoral misfortune. As for me, it is time to put on our thinking caps and chart a new course. I trust Senator Ekweremadu that he and his team will do a good job and unearth the remote and immediate causes of our misfortune and make recommendations that will enhance the future of the party. I have worked closely with the Deputy President of the Senate over the years and I know his capability and capacity to handle issues.”

Senator Mark, however, called on all stakeholders to rise above the present circumstances and work hard to rejuvenate the party, adding that the new status of the party as an opposition will be a challenge that must be faced with all honesty, sincerity of purpose and dedication to duty.
He said he had the belief that democracy and the nation would be better for it, “if we play credible opposition to ensure good governance and delivery of dividends of democracy to Nigerians.”

We’ve overcome post-election shock– PDP

Meanwhile, the national leadership of the PDP said that it has recovered from the shock and trauma it went through following its massive loss at the 2015 general polls.

Apart from losing the presidency to the All Progressives Congress, APC, the ruling PDP lost its 16-year dominance of Senate and House of Representatives and control of its traditional states like Plateau, Niger, Kaduna, Benue, Bauchi, and Jigawa. Now it has 46 senators to APC’s 60 and the same scenario applies in the House of Representatives.

In a statement in Abuja at the end of the party’s National Working Committee, NWC meeting, PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, said that the timely intervention of President Goodluck Jonathan paved the way for the party’s quick recovery from the trauma.

Jonathan’s intervention

The NWC also hailed the President for his mature and timely intervention in ending the bickering among leaders of the party as a result of the outcome of the 2015 general elections.

Metuh who noted that the leadership of the party will abide by the counsel and has instructed all its executives at all levels to comply accordingly, however urged members, stakeholders and leaders who have complaints about the election and the way forward to submit such to the Post -election Assessment Committee headed by Ekweremadu.

According to him, the leadership of the party has asked all members to join forces to ensure that the core values and  vision of the founding fathers were sustained, even as it directed all organs of the party to focus only on party administration in a manner that would rekindle zeal and commitment among members and supporters at all levels.

Regrets

Metuh said: “The leadership of the PDP regrets any embarrassment the avoidable skirmishes may have caused the members of our great party, especially our founding fathers and teeming supporters across the country. We are aware that this unfortunate development is a consequence of post-election trauma arising from our first ever defeat. We however note with relief that we have now overcome this challenge.

“The National Working Committee assures that in the new spirit of harmony in the PDP family, the re-engineering process which began on Tuesday with the inauguration of the Post-Election Review Committee will be vigorously sustained to restore the lost glory of our great party.

“We therefore urge all our members to ensure that they henceforth guard their utterances and actions no matter the provocation and distortions in some section of the media while channelling their energies and ideas towards the rebuilding process.

The way forward

“In this regard, all members who have reports, grievances and suggestions on the way forward should transmit same to the Post-Election Review Committee for an all inclusive roadmap in the overall effort to regain power in 2019.
“Our members should be wary of the activities of some mischievous persons within and outside the PDP family who are bent on frustrating this peace effort. Such individuals and groups have found the social media a veritable tool for their mischief through distortion of facts, false allegations and fabrications against our party.”