Why PDP lost South-West in 2011 –Atiku
JULY 1, 2013
Former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar on Sunday linked the “dwindling fortune” of the Peoples Democratic Party in the South-West to betrayal of the party’s leadership.
Atiku, in a statement on Sunday, said it was easy to draw the conclusion considering the party’s easy victory in the 2011 presidential election in all but one of the South-West states.
The former VP said, “It still remains a paradox to me how the presidential candidate of the party would win massively in all but one state of the South-West, yet the party failed to produce a single governor in the region and could only produce 18 state Assembly members in the same election.
“My experience in politics tells me that this paradox can only be explained in one way that is, the leadership of the party must have abandoned the party and negotiated the victory of the President at the expense of the party.”
Alleging deceit, Atiku appealed to the party leadership to ensure sincerity in the application of party rules and to abandon the “divide and rule policy” in handling its affairs.
He said, “Recent events have shown that the leadership of the party has demonstrated insufficient sincerity in resolving the numerous crises, which are pitting the party members against themselves.
“Political manoeuvring 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.
“The eloquent silence of respected leaders on the various crises is a disturbing sign which leaves the majority of the members confused.”
Atiku added “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.
“In all we do, the adherence to the constitution of the party in the conduct of the party’s affairs is the only hope for sustaining the existence and legitimacy of the party.
“Also, the legitimacy of the party can only be sustained if the provision of the welfare needs of Nigerian citizen takes precedence in the heart of the leaders rather than primordial politicking.”
Meanwhile, a PDP stalwart in Oyo State, Alhaji Kehinde Olaosebikan, has called for the re-integration of the party’s estranged members in the South-West as a way of reclaiming the region.
Olaosebikan made the appeal in an interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja on Sunday.
He said it was important for the party leaders to fully take advantage of the vacancies that would be filled in the party in the region to establish a reconnect with the government at the centre.
He said, “The PDP can regain its lost glory in the South West if all these steps are taken as soon as possible.”
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