National Chairman of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Tanimu Turaki, SAN and members of the National Working Committee (NWC) met with 29 State Chairmen of the party in Abuja, insisting they remain authentic leaders of the party.
Addressing the gathering at Musa Yar’Adua center in, Abuja on Wednesday, Turaki said Nigerians and the world now know who the real leaders of the PDP are.
He said, “Today is a day of fulfillment. Outside there, some people who claim to be members of our party, but who indeed the whole world knows are not members of our party, they claim that they have what they call a faction. So when you look at 29 state chairmen sitting with us, with apologies coming from two, then when you also take into account the fact that there were some certain chapters that were dissolved, which we are planning to do in due course, then tell me, who is not here.”
Turaki, a former Minister of Special Duties, explained that if “all the state chairmen are here with us, then who is it that is not with us? If all the state chairmen are supporting us, then who can be fighting us? So this is something for the whole world to see.”
He went further to say that as far as PDP is concerned, people now know where the leadership is, and people know who the true leaders of the party are, “and of course we are the leaders, the genuine bona fide leaders of the people.”
Turaki and other members of the NWC were elected at the National Convention of the party in Ibadan last month, but the federal Capital Territory, (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, and his allies rejected the move.
Addressing stakeholders and others present, the Chairman explained that every decision taken was done in collaboration with the state chairmen, adding that the effectiveness of the NWC’s efforts depends on the level of cooperation they received from the Forum of State Chairmen.
Turaki assured the state chairmen that the new PDP leadership would return the PDP to the people, while also accusing the All Progressives Congress (APC) of dragging Nigeria backward.
“Today, PDP is on a new mission, and this new mission is to reclaim Nigeria from the inept APC leadership, a leadership that, instead of taking Nigeria progressively forward, is taking us retrogressively backwards.
“Today, Nigerians are living witnesses that the achievements, the progress that had been made in the 16 PDP glorious years have either been destroyed, shattered, or reversed. And that is why Today, whenever Nigerians speak, they beg, they plead: if you cannot take us anywhere further, please take us back to where we were in 2015.
“I say to Nigerians out there we have listened to you: we are not taking you back to where we were in 2015 when we left. We will take over power by the special grace of God in 2027. And thereafter, we will begin the journey to taking Nigeria and Nigerians to the promised land. It is possible, it is doable; we’ve done it before, and we’re going to do it again,” he promised.
