Mu'azu To Meet Obasanjo Over Defected PDP Governors

The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it

would setup a reconciliation committee to meet the aggrieved members of the

party to return to the fold.
The national chairman of the party, Alhaji Adamu Mu'azu, stated this yesterday at  national headquarters of the party in Abuja, while receiving the Jigawa State governor Sule Lamido.

Mu`azu who is expected to meet former president Olusegun Obasanjo and other aggrieved members also pleaded with Lamido to reachout to his defected colleagues to come back to the party. He also appealed to Lamido to be party of the

committee which he said would be constituted soon.

The governors who defected to the APC include: Rotimi Ameachi (Rivers State); Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano); Aliyu Wammako (Sokoto); Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara); Murtala Nyako (Adamawa).

He said “I have had from a very grateful and thankful PDP member. PDP made

most of the people and we expect that whatever be the case, we should remain

within and letus slog it out and let us correct the needful for us to move forward.

“With my colleague and i in the PDP leadership I want to assure you that

we would look at everything that had passed that had led to our party to be

reducing in number and in size and we will address this.

“Whatever injustice that had been done we are going to correct it we will

be bold
enough to say sorry to those that had been offended

He added that with due consultation with the party major stakeholders that

a high
level reconciliation committee.
He added that the committee would visit all aggrieved members of the party

and say
sorry to them with a view to bringing them back to the party`s fold.

“I am sure that body will like to leave his home not even a fool will

leave a home
such as the PDP.
“PDP is best home and best family to be in. Those of them that have gone,

I wish to
appeal to you to please come back home.
“I appeal to you to have a sense of patriotism for your party. The party

has offered
you a lot, reflect, think and come back our doors are open.''

He stressed that the PDP his leadership would continue to strengthen and

deepen
internal democracy to ensure that any one with the party`s ticket wins

election.
The Jigawa State Governor, Dr. Sule Lamido, however expressed

dissatisfaction with
the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP over the way it handled

the decision
of the former President Olusegun Obasanjo to withdraw from active

participation in
the party's affairs as well as the defection of governors from the party.

He said the NWC members should have been courageous enough to speak up

against the
way the governors were being treated by the former chairman.

Lamido said “My brothers who defected are in pains because they were

compeled to
leave the party they so much love.”
He continued but if they (NWC) were up and doing we would not have these

problems.
It is bad that when our governors were leaving the party you kept saying

don't
worry.
“When our leader Obasanjo said he was withdrawing you people say you are not

worried. You alone cannot get the party the victory that we won two years

ago. I am
worried because our goal is to keep winning. Please get them back. But it

is not
easy because their egos were bruised, they felt insulted, embarrassed and

rejected
by their own party.”
Lamdio said the events of the last six months in the party destroyed the

party's
system, adding that it created a division between sectional, religious and

tribal
divides.
He further noted that members of the party “have been traumaitised” by the

events
within the party adding “we don't believe in failure, we believe in what

is right
for the country.”
Tukur who said he has nothing against the former chairman of the PDP,

Alhaji Bamanga
Tukur lamenting that the former chairman held a national assignment which was

supposed to unite Nigerians.
While he reiterated his pledge to remain in PDP he noted that PDP remains

the only
hope for Nigeria describing other parties as inventions of anger.

He called for transparency within the party ahead of 2015 elections as he

assured
the new chairman that he would support his leadership of the PDP but that

he would
not hesitate to speak out when party processes are not transparent.

He further told the National chairman of the party that he has a huge job of

reconciling all the members of the party because the egos of the governor

were
bruised.
“We pledge our support but we do so with our eyes open. We are in the

party of our
own volition. We cannot be owned by anybody.”