The Governor of Bayelsa State, Henry Seriake Dickson has
said People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is a national asset owned by all Nigerians, and not by any
individual.
The Governor said in a press statement signed by his Chief Press
Secretary, Francis Ottah Agbo in Yenagoa on Sunday, that
Professors Jerry Gana and Tunde Adeniran are icons of democracy and
leaders of progressive politics in the PDP and the country who must be
wooed back to the PDP fold.
Gana and Adeniran were reported to have left PDP for the Social Democratic Party (SDP), citing lack of internal democracy.
Dickson who is also the Chairman of PDP Reconciliation Committee
believed, while the leaders of the party are important stakeholders in
the scheme of things, the real stakeholders of PDP are the ordinary
Nigerians in whom sovereignty lies.
The Governor said the most rational thing for all PDP stakeholders to do
now is to start a process of building consensus and reaching out to
players across party lines with the PDP leading the coalition to wrest
power from APC in 2019.
The statement reads:”No one Governor, no one Lawmaker or leader of PDP
can own PDP or singlehandedly produce a presidential candidate.
“Therefore, what is required of PDP leaders now is to work with all
parties including those who have left the PDP to produce a credible
candidate that is acceptable to the generality of Nigerians on the
platform of PDP to defeat the APC in 2019.”
The Governor said his Reconciliation Committee will continuously engage
aggrieved party members including those who have left PDP to return to
the party, stressing that “we must be together to save our party and
country from collapse. “
He said with less than one year to the 2019 general election, time is
of essence and the right thing to do now is for all men of good will to
come together to challenge the APC.
The Governor also called on PDP members not to lose faith in the party.
He said the next election is critical to the survival of democracy and
the nation, stressing that history will be unkind to PDP leaders if
they fail to lead a coalition to unseat the APC-led Federal Government,
which he noted.