.As Saraki charges members to forget personal ambitions.
From Cyril Mbah, Abuja
Oyo State, Governor Engineer Oluseyi Makinde has appealed to leaders and stakeholders in the various factions of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to unite and fix the party to enable the PDP reclaim government at the center and pull Nigeria out of its present economic and political rot.
At the inauguration of the Board of Governors and the unveiling of the roadmap for the Peoples Democratic Institute (PDI) at the party’s National Headquarters in Abuja on Thursday, Makinde said that the mission of rescuing Nigeria from the group of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is a task the PDP must embark upon and accomplish.
The PDI was modeled after the National Republican Institute and it is the think-tank arm of the PDP saddled with training and research activities for the opposition party.
Makinde expressed hope and optimism that PDP can take the nation out of it’s current nauseous condition.
The governor said, “this unveiling starts as the renewal of the PDP pledge to start planning for governance and set out the blueprint to rebuild our nation.
“The PDP can and will do everything in its power to fix Nigeria. We can fix Nigeria. We’ll fix PDP and then PDP will fix Nigeria. And that will be the basis of real hope for the people of Nigeria.”
Continuing, Engr Makinde, who was first elected as the Governor of Oyo State in 2019, said, “For me also, from 2019, I have been benefitting from the PDP. So, I want to say thank you to our great party and all the stakeholders gathered here today, for giving me the opportunity to get not one, but two mandates, back to back, under this umbrella.
“The only thing I can promise you, is that since I have fetched water from that well and I have been drinking since 2019, I will not pollute the well, when I am exiting that office.
“The journey to this day has not been all smooth, but I am thankful that we are able to overcome all the obstacles along the way.
“Let me especially thank all the people that are members of the party, that have put aside grievances, and played a role in the reestablishment and revitalization of the PDI.”
Former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki spoke earlier on the need for all hands to be on deck to move the PDP forward.
Saraki said: “We’ve built this party from the scratch. Parties are built on ideas, philosophies and policies. Let us move away from building ideas on self, on ambition. We cannot have an ambition if we don’t have a party.
“We cannot have a party if we don’t have ideas. This is where it starts from. This is the foundation that is important.
“Let us desist from talking about who is running for councillor, or who is running for governor, or who is running for president in 2027.
“Let us talk about what is PDP. What does PDP represent? What are the issues and policies that we must take into account? This is what is important for us. This is what Nigerians outside want to know. This is what is important,” Saraki concluded.
