OYO State Governor, Seyi Makinde and former Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, on Thursday, appealed to chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party to forge a united front by not allowing their individual presidential ambition to divide their rank.
The two party leaders made the plea at the official inauguration of the Board of Governors and the unveiling of the road map for the Peoples Democratic Institute at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja.
The move comes in the wake of palpable fears that the individual ambition of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed and Makinde may snowball the party crisis and scuttle the ongoing reconciliation by the Olagunsoye Oyinlola-led committee.
In the past few months, the camp of the PDP has been divided into factions loyal to Atiku and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, until Mohammed, who is also the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, also indicated an interest in running for the presidency in 2027.
Both men are seen as the reason the stock of the party hit an all-time low since losing the election in 2023.
Addressing the gathering on Thursday, Saraki decried that the PDP, which was once the darling of the masses, had come a long way and should not be allowed to be sacrificed on the altar of individual aspiration.
He said, “The party was built on ideas, philosophies and policies. Let us move away from building ideas on self-ambition. We cannot have an ambition if we don’t have a party. We cannot have a party if we don’t have ideas. This is where it starts from. This is an important foundation.
“Let us desist from talking about who is running for councillor, or who is running for governor, or who is running for president in 2027.
“Let us talk about what the PDP represents. What are the issues and policies that we must take into account? This is what Nigerians outside want to know.
“That is why I will support this institute. I hope others will support it, too, because this is the foundation.
“I have travelled to several places. When you meet people in similar institutes like this, even in Europe, they (tend to) ask where is ours. They look at us, Nigeria, such a big political party. We don’t have anything like this. It is an embarrassment.
“But today, we are closing that chapter. The message we are also sending to Nigerians is that this is a serious party. We are leaders.
Let PDP lead in that way.”
While appreciating the opportunity of leveraging his political success on the platform of the party, Makinde, who shared the same sentiment as Saraki, encouraged every PDP member to work towards being remembered as one of those who revived its ailing fortune.
“A lot has been said about PDI and how it came to be. But the question I want to ask is, what will you want to be remembered for? This is the essence and the significance of today.
“Abba Moro has said since 1998, he has benefitted from the PDP. For me also, from 2019, I have been benefitting from PDP. So, I want to thank our great party and all the stakeholders gathered here today for giving me the opportunity to get not one but two mandates, back to back, under this umbrella.
“The only thing I can promise you is that since I fetched water from that well, and I have been drinking since 2019, I will not pollute the well when it is my time to exit that office.
“The journey to this day has not been all smooth. But I am thankful that we can overcome all the obstacles along the way,” he said.
He added that since the elections of 2015, things had simply gone from bad to worse.
“As we were taken from the next level of economic instability to renewed troubles, this is where we are now. As we approach 2027, it is clear that the PDP has to provide real hope for Nigeria.
“Our country needs direction. Nigerians are looking up to the PDP to provide an ideological foundation,” he stated.
Continuing, Makinde drummed up support for the PDP governorship candidate in Ondo State, Agboola Ajayi, stressing that the party had a mandate to deliver his victory.
The governor, however, expressed concern that the feat may not be feasible if they continue to work in isolation.
He stated, “In a few days, we will be heading to Ondo State. We need true reconciliation and unity to wrest power from the APC in Ondo.
“We know we are more popular. You all listened to the debate. You saw that our candidate is the only one with a clue about what governance should look like for the people of Ondo State. So, we must work together to ensure that no form of rigging, either institutional or being propagated by the ruling party, will succeed.
“We must go to Ondo as one united party and resist any attempt to truncate the will of the people. The PDP is the only party in Nigeria that has allowed the youth to be part of a political institution, and I do know that the PDI will only expand that space. I’m getting old myself. Not too old. I am still very youthful at heart; my mind and body also are still youthful.
“So I know that I will be part of the effort to ensure youths are given opportunities to participate in the political process.
“Finally, this unveiling starts as the renewal of the PDP’s pledge to start planning for governance and set out a blueprint to rebuild our nation.
“The PDP can and will do everything in its power to fix Nigeria. We will fix PDP and then PDP will fix Nigeria. That will be the basis of real hope for the people of Nigeria.”