Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State says he and his Bauchi State counterpart, Bala Mohammed aren’t worried about being the only governors remaining in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because the adverse political situation in the party is fleeting and they will eventually be vindicated by history as being on the side of the people when it mattered most.
Top Society reports that Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State announced his resignation from the PDP, explaining that the Court of Appeal ruling on the disputed national convention of PDP left him with no choice than to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Addressing members of the Expanded meeting of the Board of Trustees, BoT in Abuja on Tuesday, Makinde said what is happening in the party is a challenging period for PDP leaders and members and also a challenging “period for democracy in Nigeria.”
According to him, he has been speaking with people that should know “who have been involved in the political evolution of this country. And none of them have seen a political landscape like what we are witnessing today. I can only say, we are only two remaining, but we are not bothered.”
The Oyo governor asserted that “when the story of this period is told, when the story of democracy in Nigeria is told, they will find us on the side of the people. So please, I can only say that this period will also go away. It will pass away.
“So whatever role we want to play as individuals and collectively as a party, we must be conscious of what history is going to record against or for us for this period,” he said.
On his part, former Senate President Adolphus Wabara said there was need to find solution to what is happening, adding that the BoT considers the recent Appeal Court judgment as an order for the party to begin again.
“An order for the party to begin again. We are more, we respect the law. So this is an opportunity for us to begin again. And that’s why we are all here.”
He said the meeting was not for speech making, but a day “that we have to be very serious with the decisions we are going to arrive at as we’ve always done with the Board, we obey the Constitution. We must work in accordance with the Constitution. And you can never go wrong if you abide by the Constitution and the rule of law.
“We should be very brief with our thoughts. Once we get the briefing of this expanded process meeting, the Board will meet to take its decision.”
Wabara observed that the whole idea of what is happening “is to edge us out, but we will find our way, if we have an open mind. We should, in these meetings, keep an open mind and see how we can get ourselves back on track.”
