EX-EXILES NOW IN CONTROL OF PDP - OGBE
MAKURDI - Former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Audu Ogbe, has lamented the hijacking of the party by erstwhile exiles who he claimed were completely ignorant about the initial policies and objectives of the party.
Ogbe, now chairman, Board of Trustees of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, speaking at a party function in Otukpo added that the country's democracy would remain in danger so long as the present leaders of the ruling party remain in control.
Ogbe spoke in Otukpo at the formal presentation of the ACN flag to Gen. Lawrence Onoja (rtd) as the party's Benue South senatorial candidate for the forthcoming general elections where he maintained that the ruling PDP was the problem of Nigeria and its people.
He lamented that the present crop of leaders of PDP had perpetuated so much impunity and deceit in the polity and by so doing misleading Nigerians with so much falsehood.
Asserting that the present leaders of the PDP were strange to the original ideals of the party, he said: 'Those who claim to be owners of the PDP today were in exile when the party was formed; the fortunes of the party has been mired by these people.'
Ogbe further maintained that the ACN remained committed to the liberation of Nigerians from the shackles of poverty, deceit and lack inflicted upon them by the forces in the PDP.
He urged Benue people to key into the wind of change hovering around the state and country by supporting Gen. Onoja as Senator for the Benue South Senatorial district, Prof. Steve Torkuma Ugba as the next Governor of the State and other ACN candidates at the forthcoming polls.
The ACN chieftain also lauded the leadership of the party, especially the Governors of the ACN controlled states for their remarkable performances saying that Lagos State today has become a centre of attraction because of the performance of the Governor advising that Nigerians continue to support the party in its quest to enthrone an egalitarian society in the country.
Also speaking, the State Publicity Secretary of the party Mr. Andy Onoja described Gen. Onoja as a refined military officer and consummate politician with the interest of the people at heart and deserving of the support of the Idoma nation.
On his part, ACN chieftain Mr. Madaki Ameh commended the vision of the party saying that the ACN is not an opposition but an alternative to the misrule and confusion perpetuated by the PDP.