KEY POINTS
- Oyinlola-led PDP committee visits Oyo to resolve party dispute.
- Deputy Governor Lawal however encouraged everyone to be united noting, that reconciliation was key.
- The PDP wants to regain its lost prominence since 2015 and there is hope they will get one in future elections.
Osun State former governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola led the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Reconciliatory Committee on Monday when they visited Oyo State to sort out internal rift within the party. The visit comes as the committee seeks to shore up the PDP ahead of elections and unite its members.
Governor Seyi Makinde was represented on the occasion by his deputy, Bayo Lawal, who received the committee at the state secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan.
Lawal, the Deputy Governor, recognised the difficulties confronting the reconciliatory committee, saying the mission was critical to the destiny of the PDP. Furthermore he said the outcome of this assignment would decide whether the party will progress, stagnate or retrogress.
Moreover the PDP which has been a dominant force in the Nigerian political arena must rise above tribal and religious differences to regain its influence, he stressed.
PDP’s strength appeal for unity to rebuild
According to the deputy governor, Governor Makinde also called for unity among members of the party while on the visit. He also urged all party stakeholders to work with the reconciliatory committee, to ensure they strengthened the party in Nigeria. The PDP had fallen from control of 28 states to just 12 and lost much of its political power since 2015, Lawal said.
We used to control 28 states before now, but now, we struggle with 12 states, Lawal said, asking party members to drop ‘primordial sentiments’ of tribe, religion and regional differences to bring back unity.
Additionally he also drew reference to the party’s loss in Edo State recently and the forthcoming Ondo elections and stressed that victory in the elections could only be achieved through collective effort.
According to The Punch, Oyo is seen as vital to the PDP’s fortune in reviving itself and having a bigger impact come the elections. Bridging the divide and uniting the country is what the top leadership of the PDP wants to ensure after the party recovered and repositioned itself to regain its top position in Nigerian politics.
