In its quest to regain power at the centre, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has inaugurated its Contact Committee which it tasked to initiate talks with other political parties willing to align forces with it to oust the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in next year’s general elections.
Inaugurating the committee yesterday, national chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus said the PDP would do all that is legitimately necessary to return to power, adding that the past three years of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration have convinced Nigerians of the need for a credible alternative in 2019.
While bemoaning the spate of killings in the country, Secondus tasked members of the committee to reach out to Nigerians and groups on the need to forge a common front for the political salvation of the nation.
PDP “Your committee and your nomination into it is a well articulated decision of the party leadership to bring our open door policy to fruition. Just as your name connotes, you are to deploy your well versed network to help open the space and allow into our party, all those whose union with us can help in rescuing this country. Like we always say in this party, this umbrella is big enough to accommodate all people of patriotic ideals,” Secondus stated.
The decision to reach out to other unions according to the PDP boss, was informed by his open door policy aimed at making the party the preferred platform for all Nigerians, saying, “when I formally took over the leadership of this party on December 11, 2017, I made the symbolic move at the entrance gate of this party headquarters when I threw open the main gate of the Wadata Plaza ajar, in order to indicate that the party under my watch, would be open to all people of like- minds, irrespective of class, religion or tribe.
“I then called on all our people from across the whole country desirous of taking our beloved country to the next level, to come in and join hands with us in the great and urgent task of rescuing and rebuilding our country.
He accused the APC of foisting “a most disastrous government” on the nation, even as he chided incumbent administration of doing nothing other than blaming previous administrations since its assumption in office about three years ago. Secondus also tasked security agencies to work harder in order to tame the security challenges in parts of the country.
Chairman of the committee and former Cross Rivers State governor, Senator Liyel Imoke promised to work tirelessly to deliver on the mandate, noting that the situation in the country has become too dangerous for well-meaning Nigerians to fold hands in resignation.
Other members of the committee include ex-governors, Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Babangida Aliyu (Niger) and Gabriel Suswam (Benue). Others are erstwhile Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Paul Orhii, former Ministers, Kema Chikwe (Aviation) and Defence (Haliru Bello) amongst others.
