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General News of Thursday, 5 August 2021

Source: www.premiumtimesng.com

Atiku denies involvement in PDP crisis

Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar

Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has dismissed insinuations that he was fuelling the leadership crisis rocking the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Mr Abubakar, who was the PDP presidential candidate in the 2019 election, was among the party leaders allegedly pushing for the resignation of Uche Secondus as the party’s national chairman over incompetence.

The leadership crisis in the main opposition party deepened on Tuesday with the resignation of its seven national officials from their positions.

Also, a member of the Board of Trustees (BoT), Joy Emordi, on Wednesday, dumped the party for the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Mr Abubakar said rather than fuelling the crisis, he had ensured unity among the leaders of the party.

He explained that he was lately involved in reconciliation efforts within the party across the country and had backed reconciliation processes aimed at diffusing tensions in the party.

He called for calm and for combatants to sheathe their swords and give the reconciliation mechanisms of the party a chance

The former vice president said the main opposition party could not afford internal division at the time Nigerians need a reliable alternative to the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration come 2023.

“The PDP is greater than our individual ambitions. We have to consolidate the party first before we talk about our ambitions. We have to be careful not to play into the hands of the ruling party. We can’t afford a one-party system in Nigeria that denies our people a viable alternative for true change in 2023.

“Those who want Nigerians to continue with the current hardship in the land will be eager to fuel the crisis in the PDP for their political advantage,” the former vice president said in a statement by his spokesperson, Paul Ibe, on Thursday.

Mr Abubakar noted his role in ongoing reconciliation processes aimed at diffusing tensions in the party.

His stance was disclosed the day the party’s BoT members met at its national headquarters in Abuja to assess the cause of defections of governors and other party members in recent times.

PRESS RELEASE

PDP: Atiku calls for calm, urges reconciliation process be given a chance

Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar has called on PDP leaders to unite for the sake of the party’s interest and the country.

Reacting to the current frictions in the PDP, Atiku said the party cannot afford to be divided at this critical point in time when Nigerians are desperately yearning for change in the face of their miserable living conditions.

According to Atiku, an opposition that is looked up to as an alternative cannot afford to be fighting itself and lend its hands to the ruling party for its own destruction.

He urged the party’s faithful to understand that the price of having a fragmented PDP is too high to pay, but above all, a betrayal to the memories of the founding fathers of the party.

The former Vice President dismissed insinuations that he was fuelling the crisis in the party.

He explained that he was lately involved in reconciliation efforts within the party across the country and has backed reconciliation processes aimed at diffusing tensions in the party. He called for calm and for combatants to sheath their swords and give the reconciliation mechanisms of the party a chance.

He noted that the interest of the PDP far supersedes that of any individual, insisting that the party will overcome its current travails for as long as all hands are on deck.

“The PDP is greater than our individual ambitions. We have to consolidate the party first before we talk about our ambitions. We have to be careful not to play into the hands of the ruling party. We can’t afford a one-party system in Nigeria that denies our people a viable alternative for true change in 2023”, the former Vice President said.

The former PDP presidential candidate warned that lack of unity and internal cohesion could help the ruling party more than the PDP, and that “those who want Nigerians to continue with the current hardship in the land will be eager to fuel the crisis in the PDP for their political advantage.”

He added that PDP leaders should put personal differences aside and work for the good of the party, adding that “divided soldiers cannot fight a war and win.”

To ensure that the PDP does not repeat the mistakes of the past, Atiku Abubakar said that all contending issues in the party must be resolved through constitutional means.

Signed:
Paul Ibe
Media Adviser to Atiku Abubakar
Vice President of Nigeria, 1999-2007
Abuja.

5th August 2021.