ABUJA, Federal Republic of Nigeria. Pioneer national women leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Iyom Josephine Anenih, has called for the resignation of Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.
According to her, “the national chairman and the NWC have to resign, not because any godfather or governor is demanding that they do, but because it is the right and honourable thing. We have just emerged from the elections with the worst results we have ever recorded.”
This was just as she counselled the leaders and members of the party to stop dreaming of recapturing power from the All Progressive Congress (APC) for now, saying “the instinct to focus on reclaiming power is a false, unproductive one” for obvious reasons.
Anenih, who is also a member, Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party, in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja, advised that what should be uppermost for the party now was “to reclaim its identity first and articulate our vision for the future before any thought can be given to the pursuit of power”
Pioneer national women leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Iyom Josephine Anenih, has called for the resignation of Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.
According to her, “the national chairman and the NWC have to resign, not because any godfather or governor is demanding that they do, but because it is the right and honourable thing. We have just emerged from the elections with the worst results we have ever recorded.”
This was just as she counselled the leaders and members of the party to stop dreaming of recapturing power from the All Progressive Congress (APC) for now, saying “the instinct to focus on reclaiming power is a false, unproductive one” for obvious reasons.
Anenih, who is also a member, Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party, in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja, advised that what should be uppermost for the party now was “to reclaim its identity first and articulate our vision for the future before any thought can be given to the pursuit of power”
According to her, “the party must be supreme and higher than all elected officials and their self-serving interests. We must embrace the fact that the party is bigger than the president, governors, senators, representatives and the ministers. If we can do this, we may have lost an election, but we will find that we have once again found the soul of a great, truly Nigerian party.
“The truth is that the PDP has lost its identity, we buried it beneath the hubris and vanity that comes with unrestrained power. We boasted we would rule for 60 years; we claimed no vacancy exists in Aso Rock. How wrong we were. We have been humbled by Nigerians, who trooped to their polling units and chose to follow another path,” she lamented.
The statement read: “My dear party faithful, I have watched with a heavy heart, the slow, but almost certain destruction of our great party under the knives and axes of those entrusted with its care. One would have thought the recent heavy losses the PDP suffered at the presidential, National Assembly, governorship and the state assemblies would be reason enough for quiet introspection, but instead our party leaders – having failed to defeat the APC – have turned to cannibals intent on devouring their own.
“The strength of a country in a nascent democracy such as ours is defined by the quality of the opposition and the depth and maturity of political discourse, not just by the party in power. Yes, we have suffered a great defeat, but within this loss lies the opportunity to rediscover what made us great in the first place.
“In our humility, we must learn that as politicians we serve the people.
The PDP and those who want to see it recover from this near fatal defeat need to do three things, quickly:
“The PDP needs a major policy review. The framework and thrust of the review should be geared towards an ideology anchored on developing and sustaining an egalitarian society that provides the simple things, to everyone— health, food, shelter, education, jobs.
“National chairman and the NWC have to resign, not because any godfather or governor is demanding that they do, but because it is the right and honourable thing. We have just emerged from the elections with the worst results we have ever recorded.
“Chairman is the leader of the party; he took the PDP into the general election and now, as a matter of principle, he must step aside for others to conduct an audit of the defeat he oversaw.
“It pains me to say this, because I know Adamu Mu’ azu on a personal level. He is a fine gentleman and one of the few politicians who is compassionate and truly cares about the lives of those underprivileged than themselves. Events and personalities conspired to sabotage the blueprint he had developed for the party.
“Life is hardly ever fair, but we must start to hold ourselves responsible and accountable for everything placed in our care.
“So, I call on Mu’azu, my respected friend, to resign. As a member of the Board of Trustees (BoT), I think the PDP BOT also failed to live up to its responsibility as the Conscience of the party. Where was the BoT’s voice when our primaries were being rigged and we were losing disgruntled members to other parties?
“Where was the BoT when our leaders were publicly asking people to vote for other parties in all elections apart from the presidential election?
“Finally, we need to realise that our constituency now includes millions of young, upwardly mobile Nigerians, who want to have more of a say in how their country is run. We can provide them with the platform. We need to restructure our party if we are to survive as a credible opposition party.
“I believe we can only do so if we tap into the limitless energy, creativity, and passion of young Nigerians,” the statement stated.
Credit: Tribune
