Members of new Peoples Democratic Party, nPDP, have warned that if the All Progressives Party (APC) fails to heed their request, then its forthcoming national convention might become an avenue to wash its dirty linens open.
The warning came before a meeting of the national leadership of All Progressives Congress, APC and nPDP in Abuja Monday in last ditched efforts to contain agitations from the latter.
The nPDP had given President Muhammadu Buhari a week ultimatum to address marginalisations against its members or they would seek membership elsewhere.
Leader of the group, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, who stated this in an interview with journalists in Ilorin, Kwara State, Monday, also said the letter written to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, was to forestall the parallel congresses that trailed the party across the country.
According to him, the parallel congresses are a reflection of the serious internal crisis rocking the party.
He dismissed the opposition group of the nPDP, led by Senator Abdullahi Adamu, saying such a huge party cannot but have black legs as him.
Baraje said, “Let me state clearly that the crisis of parallel congresses of the party across the states was foreseen. Our letter,if promptly and appropriately addressed, would have, indeed, settled these problems before now.
”So,basically the parallel congresses crisis, among others, are our positions as contained in those letter which needed to be addressed.”
He pointed out that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, never had such internal wranglings as evident in the APC.
“It’s just obvious from the experience of the weekend crisis of parallel congresses that if those problems are still not addressed, the planned national convention of the APC will surely be an avenue to wash the dirty line of the ruling party in the public,” Baraje said.
He also expressed concern over the path being taken by leaders of the APC, lamenting that what members of the nPDP were witnessing in the APC were worse than what they experienced in the PDP.
Baraje said further: “We have travelled a long way with the APC and now we are seeing things worse in APC than in PDP. If we are leaders worth the name, we should be bold enough to speak about it.
He also noted that the nPDP was made up of men and women that could not be pushed aside,and referred to the resignation of the group’s secretary and former governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, as signal to what may happen if members were not able to convince their followers about the need to remain in the APC.
According to him, nPDP members would not immediately pull out of the APC if the party failed to meet their demands, saying like they did in the last administration, they would still go ahead and meet with several leaders across the country to stop what he described as impunity within the party.
“The last time we met here( Baraje’s house) in 2016, I told you that the way the party was going on we were on the road to perdition.
“if you look at the letter we wrote we never said we gave ultimatum but that we advised them; we hinted the party because of the ongoing primaries of the party.
”Now the party has invited us, exactly on the seventh day of the letter and they wanted us to meet that same day but because we were speaking for several leaders across the country, we told them we couldn’t meet that same day, so now they have scheduled a meeting for Monday anytime from 2 p.m.”
