The leadership of the
Peoples Democratic Party (
PDP)
has told the leaders of opposition parties who are behind the formation
of the new mega party, All Progressive Congress (APC) that they are
merely chasing shadows in the plans to upstage the
PDP during the 2015 general elections.
The party also debunked reports that some of its state governors are planning to join the yet to be registered APC.
The party added that it was confident none of its members occupying
elective position will dump its fold and join APC as such would amount
to abandoning a moving train to join a static one whose destination is
uncharted.
The PDP National
Publicity Secretary,
Olisa Metuh in a statement issued in Abuja in response to news of
imminent exodus of its members to APC described the reports as false and
intended to deceive Nigerians.
He insisted that all governors elected on the platform of the PDP are working with the party leadership and President
Goodluck Jonathan and that there is no cause for any one of them to contemplate leaving the
ruling party for the APC that is yet to have an operable structure.
Metuh said the fact that the PDP took the high moral ground of
decency to congratulate the opposition on the formation of the APC does
not cover the new party’s inadequacies and its destiny to fall apart in
no time.
“Nobody leaves a moving train to join an inoperable one. That the PDP
took the high moral ground of decency that we are known for, to
congratulate the opposition parties on the formation of their new party
does not cover its inherent inadequacies.
“So there is no PDP governor that will leave a stable and national
party such as the PDP to join the APC. All our governors are working
with the
National Chairman
and the National Working Committee and the President and there is no
reason for anyone of them to contemplate leaving PDP for APC.”
The PDP also dismissed claims by the opposition that there is disunity in its ranks.
Instead, the statement said, PDP governors have been paying courtesy
calls on the leadership of the party and have been making public
statements that they are with the party leadership and the President in
his transformation agenda.
“Those who continue to cast aspersions on the PDP and to suggest that
there is crisis in the party are completely deluded. For the avoidance
of doubt, there is no crisis in the PDP. We are all working together.
“The governors have been paying courtesy visits to the
National Chairman and the National Working Committee and they are working with the President on the transformation agenda, ” the statement said.
Stating that the opposition elements will soon realise that they are
merely chasing shadows, the PDP said it enjoys an overwhelming support
from the people and will win more states in the 2015 elections in spite
of the APC coming to the political scene.
Meanwhile, insinuations are on the air that the PDP is perfecting a
plot to checkmate the new opposition party by ensuring that the planned
merger did not come to fruition.
There are fears that some PDP governors who are dissatisfied with
goings on in the party may cash in on the lingering intra-party crisis
to join forces with the APC.
A source within PDP told Sunday Independent that some strategists of
the party met in Abuja last week where the merger was widely discussed.
The meeting according to the source resolved to reach out to the
President and persuade him to see reasons why there is need to checkmate
the opposition.
To achieve this objective, the strategists are planning to convince
the President on the need to mandate the anti-graft agencies to beam a
searchlight on the activities of the governors who are members of the
new arrangement on the assumption that they are the major financiers of
the merger.
Their thinking is that with the anti- graft agency beaming its
searchlight on the governors, many of the governors may develop cold
feet about the new party while those who are nursing the intention of
joining will have a rethink.
However, effort to get the PDP to confirm or deny the allegation
proved abortive as several calls put across to Metuh were not replied.
But speaking on the development, Chairman of the Conference of
Nigeria Political Parties (
CNPP)
Balarabe Musa said he did not doubt PDP taking such action. “It is
possible that PDP can do that, the party is mindless and very intolerant
of the opposition. They don’t have the culture of democracy”.
Chairman of the Congress for Progressive Change (
CPC),
Tony Momoh one of the merger partners said whatever anybody does to
undermine the ongoing merger of the opposition parties which is aimed at
rescuing the nation from poor and bad leadership would amount to
anti-people.
Momoh said in a democracy anybody who acts in panic can not be said
to be practicing true democracy, adding that the best thing for the PDP
to do in the present circumstance is to sit back and see how many of its
members it would be able to retain at the end of this merger.
Momoh added:“PDP should go back and see how many of its members it
would be able to retain at the end of the exercise and not to be
thinking of acting in panic.
“The PDP can’t stop this movement, it is a great project and I can
tell you many of their members believe in the ideals of this movement
and we will soon see an exodus from the
ruling party.”
On its part, the Action Congress of
Nigeria (
ACN) said the PDP would not dare such evil plot.
Speaking to Sunday Independent, the National
Publicity Secretary of
ACN, Lai Mohammed said: “Let them try it, let them unleash
EFCC or any anti-graft agency on the governors and they will see our reaction.”
Mohammed said we are in a democracy and every Nigerian has freedom of
association and choice, adding that the ACN or any member in the merger
will not panic over any step that may be taken by the ruling party.
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