Abuja – Some political stakeholders on Monday urged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to put its house in order and act as a viable opposition party in the country.
The stakeholders told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that if the party failed to be formidable opposition, its chances in 2019 would be jeopardised.
One of the stakeholders, Mr Patrick Ochuele, advised the party to be wary and not allow itself to be destroyed by other political parties.
He said “looking at the party, you can really see that there are external forces trying to cause division among members’’.
Ochuele therefore called on PDP past and present leaders to go back to the drawing board to takes measures to restore unity in the country.
According to him, until their house is in order, getting power in 2019 will be far from them.
“The party should be able to reconcile themselves for a viable opposition,’’ he said, adding that the crisis in the party was being sponsored by other parties to pull it down.
“The result was what we saw last Saturday. How can there be convention in Abuja and at the same day in Port Harcourt in one political party; it is a shame,’’ Ochuele said.
An analyst, Mr Mathias Ushie, told NAN that PDP needed to arrange itself properly if it was serious about giving the ruling party a good fight in 2019.
“I urge PDP to go and put their house in order so that they can form a viable opposition as to make the government of day be on its toes,’’ Ushie said.
He said that the PDP had not proved to be a formidable opposition to All Progressives Congress (APC), adding that it was not good for democracy.
Another stakeholder, Mr Nathan Ifie, expressed disappointment with the latest turn of events in PDP and blamed elders of the party for it.
He said that the elders had failed to meet the expectation of not just party members, but Nigerians, from them.
According to Ifie, instead of striving by all means to reposition the party, some jumped ship as soon the party lost in the general elections, while some started struggling for power with younger members.
He said that only “hard truth’’ to members by the members themselves would restore peace and the integrity of the party. (NAN)
