A former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said the internal disputes within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were resolved due to a renewed sense of trust among its leaders and a collective commitment to peace.
Mr Saraki, who led the Senate from 2015 to 2019, stated this in a statement on Monday after the 100th National Executive Committee ( NEC) meeting held at the party’s secretariat in Abuja.
He also said party leaders were able to reconcile because they understood that staying united is important for the PDP to remain a strong and relevant opposition party in Nigeria.
“Today, there was no victor and no vanquished. The winner today is the PDP. Another winner is Nigeria’s democracy because, without a vibrant opposition, democracy dies. Again, millions of our party members and supporters, who are located in all the 774 LGAs across the country also emerged winners.
“To achieve victory for the party and the great people under its golden umbrella, all the leaders at the meeting resolved to jettison our differences and rally together to pursue a common goal: forget the past, rebuild trust that might have been broken, and give peace a chance,” he said.
The internal crisis in the PDP nearly disrupted the NEC meeting and delayed important decisions.
The main issues were the timing of the party’s 100th NEC session and disagreements over who should be the national secretary.
The NEC meeting affirmed Samuel Anyanwu as the rightful national secretary, ending months of internal conflict over the matter.
For several days, the party was divided, one side was led by the Board of Trustees (BoT) and 12 members of the National Working Committee (NWC), while the other side opposed their plans and decisions.
However, Mr Saraki who chairs the reconciliation and strategy committee set up by the PDP Governors Forum, said all parties agreed to set aside their grievances for the greater good.
Saraki optimistic
Mr Saraki said he was personally happy with how the meeting went. He gave two main reasons: everyone agreed on the importance of unity, and the leaders showed maturity by being willing to compromise and work together.
“I am particularly happy about the meeting for two reasons. One, we all agreed on the need for unity as a way of sending a signal to the entire nation that PDP can only wax stronger. This is because we have to live up to the expectations of the generality of our people as the only alternative, capable of providing good leadership to our country. Two, the spirit of give and take dominated our frank discussions.”
He added that the party is now focused on preparing for the next NEC meeting scheduled for 23 July and organising a successful national convention thereafter.
“From this point, we need to continue working further for unity, co-operation, and stability towards the next NEC meeting fixed for July 23rd. After that, we will focus on having a hitch-free national convention.”
As head of the party’s reconciliation committee, Mr Saraki acknowledged the sacrifices made by leaders of the party who shifted their positions in the interest of peace and cohesion.
“As the chairman of the National Reconciliation and Strategy Committee set up by the PDP Governors Forum in May, I want to appreciate all our leaders, particularly, those who have to make huge sacrifice by conceding their earlier stands on some contending issues as a way of achieving peace, unity and stability in the party. I thank all our leaders who chose to act in the interest of the party, even at the expense of their personal and partisan comfort. Overall, all glory be to almighty Allah for taking us this far.”
He described the successful meeting as a step in the right direction, one that sets a positive tone for future engagements and dispels narratives suggesting that internal opposition within the PDP was aimed at weakening the party.
“The success of today’s NEC meeting is an indication that we have made some progress. We will continue to strive to strengthen the party and I am sure from now on, all hands will be on deck to achieve this noble purpose. We need to realise one fact: there is still a lot of work to be done. The spirit with which we achieved the peace today should be sustained from now,” he said.
The former senate president added, “It is good that we have disappointed the pessimists. I hope that with the outcome of today’s meeting, we have disproved the false propaganda being circulated in some quarters that those of us who chose to remain in PDP are only scheming for the death of the party as opposed to building a strong opposition. If this false narrative were true, the leaders who shifted positions to give peace a chance would have chosen an alternative course of action. However, we are determined to make the party a strong opposition, capable of winning the next general election and serving our people better. We only need to forge ahead along these lines.”
