The defection of the 5 rebel governors from the Peoples’ Democratic Party
(PDP) to All Progressives Congress (APC) will not have negative impact in
the fortunes of the party in the South West only if its leadership acts
fast and put the party’s machinery in the hands of credible and accepted
politicians with value and records of achievements.
A chieftain of the party in the region, Alhaji Kehinde Olaosebikan who
was reacting to the defection at the Nigeria Union Journalists (NUJ) Press
Centre , Ibadan said the leadership of PDP and indeed the Presidency at a
time like this needed to go beyond the rhetoric of defending the party or
dismissing the exit of the sitting governors as inconsequential but take
cogent actions that would depict them as being capable and re assure
members across the country that they are in a safe and progressing ship.
Alhaji Olaosebikan, a former Local Government Chairman and key figure in
the Jonathan Goodluck Campaign Organisation stated that it was high time
the party brought in Senator Rasheed Adewolu Ladoja one of the founding
fathers of the party to fill the yearning gap in the leadership of the
party in the South West.
Apart from the fact that it is only the former governor of Oyo State that
can give the party the needed might in the South West, his return to the
party would also buoy the numerical strength of PDP in the National
Assembly.
As I commend the efforts of our National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur
towards strengthening the party in the North West by putting the party
machinery in the hands of the likes of former Speaker House of
Representatives, Ghali Naaba, Muhammed Abacha and co, the party in the
South West should equally be strengthened in that manner.
More than any politician from the region, Senator Ladoja is capable of
using his political network across Nigeria to bring back a number of
notable former PDP members and use his party, Accord to enhance the PDP
strength in the National Assembly with at least four members of the House
of Representatives.
“My position is that at a time like this, our party leaders should go
beyond the rhetoric of merely defending the party’s position or dismissing
the exit of five sitting governors as inconsequential, they actually need
to take immediate concrete steps and actions that would make the members
feel more comfortable and believing more in their capacity and genuine
interest in the growth of PDP”.
After the North West, the National Chairman and the President, Dr.
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan should work now assiduously on the South West and
do all that is required to unite and strengthen the party for the sake of
the teeming PDP members from the region and balanced development of the
country. This has to be done with dispatch. It is a known fact our people
still love PDP and prefers it to APC, party of pretenders and enemies of
the masses.” Olaosebikan added.