With a few days to Wednesday’s national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, a leading national chairmanship aspirant, Prof. Tunde Adeniran has urged delegates to consider his unblemished record of public service and unbroken years of worthy service to the party in making their decision about the leadership of the party.
The former Education Minister said the PDP required a leader who has no personal baggage to be able to function effectively in opposition and upstage the ruling party in the various elections leading to the 2019 general poll.
Prof. Adeniran, who is a founding member of the PDP, said: “Our party has gone through various crises since the 2015 general election. For us to be able to challenge the party-in-power, we must have a leadership that will not be bogged down and distracted by issues unrelated to the party, which will not enable us put the government on its toes, and win converts to our party.”
In a statement by his media aide, Yemi Akinbode, the former Ambassador to Germany reiterated his determination to work towards forging unity among the various groups within the party, promising to utilise his requisite qualification to achieve a united front given the mutual respect he enjoyed across the membership of the party, including its current and past leaders.
He called on delegates to choose wisely and put their trust in the most credible aspirants.
His words: “We are once again to make history, and the posterity will judge whatever we do today. I believe in democratic ideals where equal opportunity is given to everyone at all times. I therefore enjoin our delegates to shun any act that can put the unity of our party in jeopardy. We should vote for the most credible party and reject any consensus candidate.”
Prof Adeniran, who has received the endorsement of several party leaders across the six geo-political zones, said that he was determined to tackle the major malaise with the party, which he identified as lack of internal democracy, disorientation and the ugly image acquired as a result of commission and omission on the part of the leadership.
