Ex-President, Goodluck Jonathan, has said that the Peoples Democratic
\nParty, PDP, is a party Nigerians still believe in.<\/p>\n
He said it is because of such belief in the party that many stakeholders
\nand even well-meaning non-party members phoned him to express their joys
\nover the Supreme Court\u2019s judgement that brought to termination the
\nleadership crisis that has rocked the party for long.<\/p>\n
Jonathan gave the statement at the expanded National Caucus of the party
\nheld on Monday night at Wadata House, Abuja.<\/p>\n
According to him, \u201cNigerians still believe in the PDP because when the
\nSupreme Court judgment was given, I was so surprised because some of the
\npeople called and sent text messages to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are not even politicians but they are so happy that PDP has come on
\nstream because they were worried that PDP will go down.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, if people who are not even members of PDP are so happy that PDP has
\nnow gotten a platform to operate in spite of the negative propaganda
\nagainst us, it means people still believe in PDP.<\/p>\n
\u201cPDP is a party that Nigerians still believe in,\u201d Jonathan said. \u201cThe
\nfirst thing we need to do is to rebuild the party because, when the party
\nis strong, everything will be added to that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether you have individual or group interest, as a politician, you must
\nserve. These are very basic things, but first and foremost, we must
\nstrengthen the party.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet us cooperate with the Caretaker Committee and make sure that PDP is
\nvery cohesive. And when that happens, people who stepped aside may step
\nback.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe may not even need to go on a voyage of discovery to discover people.
\nBut they, themselves will come back because a strong party acts like a
\nmagnet. It will attract all the people that are interested,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In his remark, Chairman of the PDP National Caretaker Committee, Sen.
\nAhmed Makarfi, said only a miracle would stop PDP from regaining power in
\n2019. Makarfi said the meeting was convened to chart the way forward for
\nthe party.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe call this caucus before the meeting of other organs. You are our party
\nleaders. \u201cImmediately judgment was delivered, I said no victor nor
\nvanquished, and we mean it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does not mean taking what belongs to people and giving to a few people.\u201d<\/p>\n
On his part, Chairman of the PDP Governors\u2019 Forum and Governor of Ekiti
\nState, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, urged party members and leaders to return to
\nthe \u201chome\u201d and mobilise Nigerians at the grassroots.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this party must win, if PDP must get the confidence of Nigerians, if
\nthis party must be restored, our leaders must go back home and work,\u201d
\nFayose said.<\/p>\n
Also speaking, the Deputy President of the Senate, Mr. Ike Ekweremadu,
\nsaid the time had come for the party to work together and deliver good
\ngovernance to the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cTime to work is now; we must go back to the drawing board. We must not
\ndisappoint Nigerians. It is time for fence-mending and reconstructing
\nNigeria for real change.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all believe in the party that was why we stayed. We need everybody in
\nthis party to rebuild the party,\u201d Ekweremadu said.<\/p>\n
The Board of Trustees Chairman, Alhaji Jubril Walid, said it was time for
\nthe party to build a new Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Those present at the caucus meeting include; David Mark, Remi Bakare,
\nStella Omu, Godswill Akpabio, Nyesom Wike, Sule Lamido, Ahmadu Ali and
\nalso Uche Secondus.<\/p>\n
Others were Olisa Metu, Jonah Jang, Jerry Gana, Grace Bent, Gabriel
\nSuswam, Emmanuel Udom, Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu and Darius
\nIshyaku The other persons were Jonah Jang, Tom Ikimi, Vincent Ogbulafor,
\nAhmadu Ali, Jim Agbaje, Solomon Ewuga, Liyel Imoke, Ibrahim Mantu, Emeka
\nIhedioha, Dimeji Bankole.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the former Chairman of the Party, Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff was
\nabsent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ex-President, Goodluck Jonathan, has said that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is a party Nigerians still believe in. He said it is because of such belief in the party that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n