Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has vowed to reclaim Presidency come 2023, noting that, the party would also win 28 of the 36 states across the federation.
The declaration was made in Abuja on Friday by Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State after the inauguration of the party’s Convention Organising Committee at the PDP national secretariat.
Fintiri boasted that the PDP would not only win the presidency but would also re-enact it’s pre-2019 standing by winning 28 states.
According to him, the upcoming October convention of the PDP would be the starting point for the party to return to power in 2023, adding: “So I believe, by 2023, we are going to have about 28 governors and the President.”
Fintiri said the present team of National Working Committee (NWC) has done very well, contrary to claims by some interests within the party that the team failed to perform.
He justified his position by saying that the Uche Secondus led NWC moved the PDP from the 10 states it met pre-2019 general election to 17 after the election, “before we were robbed of four states”.
The governor said: “The present leadership has done very well. They have taken this party from 10 governors to about 17 governors before we were robbed at the time.”
Stating the state of preparedness of his 279-member committee, the governor assured that the committee would deliver the best convention in the history of the PDP, considering the calibre of members.
Addressing the committee members earlier, Fintiri said: “I count on all your experiences to give this convention the direction it deserves. We are in an extraordinary time, and we expect to have an extraordinary National Working Committee after this convention.
“This is what Nigerians expect from us. That will be the takeoff point for this party going into 2023 election.”
He, however, added that the success of his committee would depend on the timely delivery by the party’s Zoning Committee, chaired by the Enugu State governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
He said: “I call on the zoning committee to work and conclude its assignment latest by the end of next week, so that we can start our job. It is not an order, but that is what we least expect from you by end of Friday next week.
“Round off your job so that those who are interested in contesting and occupying these very important positions in our party will start criss-crossing Nigeria. Nigeria is not a small country. Nigeria is a very big country that needs time to go round and sell themselves.”
Stating that he had gathered enough experience from previous conventions, Fintiri said the upcoming convention would be a clear departure from previous ones, adding that more technology would be deployed in the exercise.
The governor said the possibility of having consensus candidates from states could not be ruled out, as candidates would not be forced on any elective position.
“If a position is zoned to a particular state, and they so decide to field just one person, we cannot say because we want to have competition in the convention and force them into competitive election.
“We assure you that we are going to conduct one of the freest and fairest conventions which will be the take off for our party for 2023,” he said.
According to him, the limited time frame for the convention would not be a challenge, assuring that there would not be shift in date.
“We are equal to the task. The time is barely enough, but we are adequately preparing.
“I don’t see any reason for any shift. We have written to INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) and we have virtually gotten the approval of the venue. So what stops us from giving the best NWC at the end of October?” he stated.
While inaugurating the committee, the Acting National Chairman of the PDP, Elder Yemi Akinwonmi, called on leaders and members of the organising committee to not only sustain but also to improve upon what the party delivered in the 2017 Port Harcourt convention.
“I call on the Chairman (Fintiri), his deputy, secretary and other members of the committee to close ranks made sure that their watchword remains success at the end of the event,” Akinwonmi said.
Also, the Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Walid Jibrin, in his address, said the party’s reconciliation committee, led by a former Senate President, David Mark, had gone far in its assignment and that its job would be concluded in the shortest possible time.
On his part, the House of Representatives Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu, said the upcoming convention would engender strategic repositioning of the PDP in its determination to “rescue and take back our nation from the stranglehold and misrule of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led federal government.”
He added: “The APC led government has compromised our national security and is now superintending over escalated bloodletting, terrorism and unrelenting acts of banditry to the extent that mass killing is becoming a new normal in our country.
“This is because their (Nigerians) only hope of returning to a life of peace, security, national cohesion and economic prosperity is in returning the PDP to power come 2023.”
