BY COBHAM NSA, ABUJA – Ahead of the December 9, 2017 National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a frontline contender for the position of National Secretary, Malam Mustapha Abubakar has warned against impunity and candidates’ imposition in the country’s major opposition Party.
He said it will be in the overall good and interest of the PDP to re-organise itself; befriend the people and ensure there are no encumbrances for all contestants in pursuit of their political dreams.
This is even as the candidate urged the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee to avoid the temptation of adopting different rules for elections into different Party offices.
For him, there should be a level playing field for every contestants and the idea of micro zoning for all other offices except that of National Chairman should be jettisoned forthwith.
Malam Abubakar, who spoke shortly after submitting his nomination form at the PDP National headquarters on Thursday, said the Party must return to the people and shun tendencies that are against its constitution if it hopes to oust the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) from power come 2019.
According to him, it is important that the PDP to determinedly shun candidates imposition and god-fatherism arrangements to favour some persons, noting that Nigerians now have opportunity to judge between hunger, deprivation and untold hardship from the APC-led government and the human-faced PDP government that believes in the welfare and wellbeing of the people.
Abubakar, the former PDP National Organising Secretary, also said it would be the decision and choice of Nigerians to either reject sufferings and hunger occasioned by APC’s deceits and embrace the PDP as a more humane and caring party.
“The economic hardship is getting more severe and the hunger in the land is getting worse like never before. The people can now see for themselves the difference between the two parties. The sufferings and hunger cannot be allowed to continue”, he said
On the micro-zoning arrangement, Malam Abubakar said; “Let me use this opportunity to appeal to the National Caretaker Committee to have a rethink over the issue of micro zoning for other offices, Let every interested candidate go and test his popularity at the convention.
“Going by the Party’s structures, stakeholders of the party are known and not those that are handpicked to achieve a particular set objective. That would be against the spirit of the rebranded PDP.”
The former Head of Service of Kaduna State, said the PDP must evolve a sustainable system of raising money by allowing the people own the party and stop the dependence on Governors.
On his chances at the December convention, Abubakar said with the crowd of supporters from the six geo-political zone of the country including the unprecedented mammoth crowd that followed him to submit his nomination forms, he believes he stand tall in the race and can measure up to any of the other contestants for the office.
