The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has begun meeting with the 11 aspirants, who lost out during its just-concluded presidential primaries in Port Harcourt.
The move to pacify and unify the aspirants is being coordinated by Seriake Dickson, Bayelsa State governor, who is the chairman of the party’s National Reconciliation Committee.
In the first of such rapprochement, Dickson, in company of his Delta and Taraba counterparts, Ifeanyi Okowa and Dairus Ishaku, met with Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, who came second in the presidential primaries and a former caretaker Committee Chairman, Dr. Ahmed Makarfi, in Abuja on Monday.
At the meeting, the PDP governors also hailed Tambuwal and Makarfi for their understanding and spirit of sportsmanship in the convention.
A statement by the Special Adviser to Governor Dickson on Media Relations, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei, stated that the governor lauded both Tambuwal and Makarfi for displaying maturity and sportsmanship after losing out at the Port Harcourt Convention, which was won by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
He commended Tambuwal for the encouraging remarks he made after the emergence of the party’s candidate in the convention in which he was a leading candidate.
He stressed that the meeting with Tambuwal focussed on the need to strengthen the PDP and provide the requisite support for the candidate of the PDP for electoral victory.
He said. “I am leading a team of the committee of governors to interact and compare notes with our brother, His Excellency Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State. As you all know, he ran a great race and we are all proud of what he did and what he continues to do.
”We appreciate his statesmanship; we appreciate the way and manner he has been of help to the party, consolidating the gains the party is making.
“This afternoon, as part of our decision to go round, visit, encourage and interact with all our party leaders, especially all those who indicated interest in the last presidential elections, we have held a fruitful meeting.
“We are actually starting from here and would be leaving from here to visit our former national caretaker chairman and also hold similar consultative meetings with him.
“This is just the beginning of several interactions formally and informally that we are going to have with him and with several other leaders of our party. As you all know, he is a very key player in the unfolding political scenario and we are all committed to reclaiming our country and building a new Nigeria.”
He said all leaders of the PDP had a responsibility to close ranks, to hold regular talks as opposition politicians to reposition the PDP for electoral victory.
Dickson said that as the nation moved towards the next election, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the security agencies had a responsibility to ensure the conduct of free, fair and credible elections in the country.
He urged INEC and the security agencies to be fair, adhere strictly to the rule of law, and recognize the rights of individuals in the next elections.
Speaking also Tambuwal said the PDP must remain a strong, united party, stressing that emphasis should be on the country and not personal ambition.
Tambuwal, who condemned the way the country was being run as a proxy, said Nigeria needed a President who would deliver effective governance.
He said he was resolute in his decision to give total support to Atiku in pursuit of victory for the PDP in the next elections.
In his remarks, Makarfi said that while the aspirants went into the election as aspirants, they emerged collectively as a party.
Makarfi said he had known Atiku for many years and had shared many political ideas with him on national issues and was confident he would become Nigeria’s next president.
