PDP set to woo founding ‘fathers’ ahead of 2019 elections

Devoid of quorum yesterday, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) resolved to woo back its founding fathers ahead of the general elections yet more than three years away.

The party believes that to reverse its already lost fortune in the 2019 general elections, it needs the support of its founding fathers who had either left the party in disillusionment or are largely disinterested in its affairs.

That was the decision of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) at its meeting in Abuja yesterday.

But to firm up that strategy, the BoT – an advisory body of the party – plans to hold yet another meeting on January 14 next year, to elect a new chairman for the board, who will steer its affairs to El-Dorado.

Although the founding fathers being targeted were not named, it was however learnt that those on the party’s radar, whom they wish to woo back include second republic vice president, Dr Alex Ekwueme, another former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and erstwhile party chieftain, Alhaji Adamu Ciroma.

“The PDP hopes to be able to convince the elder 

statesmen to return to the party, which they helped to midwife,” said a source, yesterday.

Rising from its BoT meeting yesterday in Abuja, the body resolved that a larger meeting of the BoT be convened on January 14, 2016 to elect a substantive chairman of the board, who will take over from the former Minister of Defence, Alhaji Haliru Bello, who currently occupies the office in an acting capacity.

Bello succeeded Chief Tony Anenih as BoT chair.

Briefing newsmen after the meeting, Secretary of the Board of Trustee, Senator Walid Jubrin said: “As the conscience of the party, we are trying to dialogue with the aggrieved people; we are ready to dialogue with the founding fathers of this party immediately after our meeting on the 14th of January (next year). And having a new chairman, we are going round the country; we are going first to discuss with our founding fathers, all those who are within and those who have left the party, and try to bring them back to the party because we have all the opportunities now to win the elections in 2019.

“We will not play with any member of the party, and we want all party members to be cooperative with all organs of the party. We are a special organ of the party, the conscience of the party. If we do not come out and do something now, God will not forgive us. We must come out and tell the truth and look at the matters as they are. Whoever erred, we must bring that person to book; we must advise well, ours is advisory but we are given specific functions to perform; when there is situation of this nature we must come to it. We want to be fair to all, so that on the 14th of January we will gather and do the right thing without fearing anybody. Whoever erred, it is our duty to say the truth.”