‘A’Ibom PDP Must Put its House Together to Win Elections’

Okon Bassey in Uyo

 The leadership of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State has been told to put its house in order if it hopes to win the 2023 general elections. 

A former Governorship Aspirant of PDP in the state, Mr. James Iniama, made the call while fielding questions from journalists in Uyo.

Iniama regretted the inability of the party to reconcile aggrieved members months after the party’s primaries were concluded in the state.

He reasoned that the party ought to have taken advantage of such move to reassure members of its sincerity in accommodating all interests, especially as we approach the general election.

He said: “I had expected that the reconciliation committee would be the beginning process of re-engineering the structure of the PDP and the state. I had thought so.

“We are drawing closer to the election and I haven’t seen our party engage in any activity that will reassure the people of Akwa Ibom State that they do not need to fret or worry in spite of what the other political parties are doing. But, so far, I haven’t seen us take advantage of that reconciliatory initiative.

“The reconciliation committee is made up of eminent Akwa Ibom persons. We had that meeting. But as a Christian politician I would say that we haven’t yet been reconciled.

“When you set up reconciliation, it means that you accept there were warring parties. There were feuding parties, so you bring the parties together. You have the parties talk to the people who came to hear them, now referred to as the reconciliation committee.

“The parties will talk, the two parties will talk, you will take the issues and you’ll try to resolve the issues before them.

“But, on that day of the meeting, the committee listened to only the aspirants and nothing more has happened. That is why I say we are not yet reconciled because we didn’t leave with anything definite. So that’s what it is. We didn’t go away with anything. They just listened to us and that was that,” he stated.

He advised the people to focus more on the quality of leaders they want to elect.

“We are in a position where I think we need to be thinking beyond just elections. We should be thinking of a man who sees everybody in Akwa Ibom State as part of Akwa Ibom State; a principal stakeholder, a shareholder in the Akwa Ibom dream.

“Children will soon go back to school. What is in it for the children? Your pregnant wife may have to deliver in a public hospital or even a private, hospital. What are we offering them? What is the hope for the business man?

“So that is what we should be looking at in 2003. Does this government even desire how we will feed? Can we continue to live in penury in spite of the abundance?

“There are things to agitate for that is why I challenge the electorates more than anything else to use their voter’s card effectively.

“It baffles me every day when I see a multitude run after an aspirant. What are you looking for? What has he told you? What is he putting on the table?

“For me, those are the things that should lay before us more than 2023 elections that come up on the 11th of March or so. So let’s get serious.

“We should be thinking of a redemptive engagement in 2023. This is not the past.

It’s not the kind of things we should be doing again. So, 2023, that is what it is.” Iniama stressed.