ABUJA, Federal Republic of Nigeria. The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Tuesday, inaugurated a 15-man panel headed by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, to investigate the entire funds sunk into the just concluded general election and other factors that contributed to its woeful performance.
This came just as President Goodluck Jonathan, on Tuesday, ordered his aides, members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of PDP and all its members nationwide to stop, in the interest of the party, the ongoing media war over the outcome of the general election, in which he lost out to the opposition, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
National chairman of the party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, who spoke through the national secretary, Professor Adewale Oladipo, while inaugurating the committee, christened “PDP Post Election Review Committee,” charged it “to look at the funding of the elections, to determine whether or not the funds meant for the campaigns were adequate and whether disbursements were properly done.”
Alhaji Mu’azu said in addition, the committee would “ identify the remote and immediate causes of the relatively poor performance of the PDP in the 2015 general election” while it would also “ascertain the degree of anti-party activities, compromises and outright sabotage that may have contributed to the misfortunes of the party.”
Other terms of reference of the committee are “to trace the origin and process of the seeming decline of the party in its electoral performance; take a critical look at the preparations and build-up of the PDP to the general election and determine its adequacies and lapses; to review and determine the adequacy of the structures for the 2015 general election and how those structures functioned; to identify different groups in the party who were to play critical roles before and during the elections and determine the effectiveness or otherwise.”
The committee would also “determine any other matter that may be considered necessary and in the interest of the party and propose a road map for the party to recover its past glory and definitely win the general election in 2019.”
Mu’azu disclosed that the committee was put in place as a responsible political party, which had been saddled with the responsibility of providing leadership for the country in the last 16 years, in order to look into those factors that led to its woeful performance at the last general election and chart a way forward.
On the crisis rocking the party since after the elections, Mu’azu stated that the national leader, President Jonathan, had ordered an immediate ceasefire henceforth, adding that the NWC would abide by the directive and pass it down to all members through its appropriate organs for strict compliance.
According to him, “let me use this opportunity to relay President Jonathan’s message to all PDP leaders and members. He has given definite instruction that all acts of unwarranted attacks and counter-attacks on members and leadership of the party on the outcome of the general election should stop immediately.”
However, three serving governors, Godswill Akpabio (Akwa-ibom), Theodore Orji (Abia) and Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe), who were members of the committee, were absent at the short ceremony.
Speaking on the absence of the three governors, the national publicity secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, said it was due to communication gap.
Senator Ekweremadu said the three governors and some other members who could not make it to the ceremony had got in touch with him, addin that they would make themselves available in subsequent sittings.
In his remark, Senator Ekweremadu said the woeful performance of the party at the last general election was not only a loss to the PDP alone, but a loss to the entire nation, based on the monumental achievements recorded in the country in the past 16 years through its transformation agenda.
He assured that the committee would do its best on the terms of reference given to it to make the party prepare fully for the 2019 elections.
Ekweremadu, however, appealed to party members to stop the ongoing bickering and media hostilities in the party, so as not to play into the hands of the opposition.
Other members of the committee were deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Emeka Ihedioha; governor-elect of Rivers State, Chief Nyeson Wike; Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau and the Minister of Internal Affairs, Abba Moro.
Also, former Niger State governor, Abdulkadir Kure; Alhaji Adamu Waziri, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, Ahaji Shuaib Oyedokun, Chief Pegba Otemolu and Hajia Zainab Maina,the Minister of Women Affairs, were also listed.
Senator Walid Jibril, who is the secretary of the Board of Trustees (BoT), is the secretary, though Alhaji Adamu Waziri was directed to act as its secretary due to the ill health of Senator Jibril.
Credit: Tribune (Nigeria)
