PDP Must Reverse Decline In South West – Atiku

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, has decried the decline of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-West and said that the trend must be reversed. He noted that in 2009, PDP had five of the six governors in the zone, 14 of the 18 senators, 46 out of the 71 House of Representatives seat, 102 members of the states house of assembly, and 115 local governments. Atiku worried that the fortunes of the PDP in the South West took a startling reverse from 2011 such that today, the party has no governor in the region, has only one senator, seven members of the House of Representatives and only 18 members in all the states house of assembly. He expressed dismay that not a single local government administration is PDP-controlled in the entire region. Atiku traced the PDP’s failings in the South-West zone to the undemocratic and overbearing tendencies of the national leadership towards party members in the zone. “The national leadership of the party needs to respect the democratic wishes of party members in the zone and discourage the deliberate creation of factions, and upturning the results of duly conducted elections at the various congresses and the national convention,” Atiku said. He referred the PDP leadership to a group of concerned professionals with PDP interest from the zone. West. which carried out a study in which a state-by-state analysis of the crises in the party was made. Atiku said the body made far-reaching recommendations in their document which was submitted to the leadership of the Party. “If the party leadership had paid attention to some of their recommendations, the outcome of the election in Ondo State could probably have been different.” He said. Atiku said recent events have shown that the leadership of the PDP has demonstrated insufficient sincerity in resolving the numerous crises which are pitching the party members against themselves. Political maneuvering that relies on the politics of patronage and arbitrary application of sanctions will not sustain the popular will of the people through which the party can recover the lost ground, he warned. Courtesy: leadership.ng