Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, has called for peace and unity among the members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Southeast Zone and the entire country, urging aggrieved members to seize the opportunity presented by the ongoing reconciliation process to come back to their fold.
The governor made the appeal when he received in audience, Thursday, the members of the PDP National Reconciliation Committee led by the former governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who was at the Enugu Government House on a courtesy visit to the governor to brief him on the progressive efforts of the committee.
Mbah, who described Enugu as the bastion of PDP, carrying the party’s banner with pride, enjoined the committee to ensure genuine and lasting peace in their efforts to bring back aggrieved members into the party.
He insisted that the only way the party could win elections was through a united front built on true reconciliation and justice.
“There is no way we can afford to go into a battle with a divided house. So, we must, as a matter of utmost urgency, integrate and constitute ourselves as a whole, which is why the task you are carrying out on behalf of our party is very critical and sensitive and it is one that requires patience, tact and absolute wisdom,” he said.
Mbah further added that the party in the Southeast operated with some peculiarity of brotherhood whose differences could easily be resolved as siblings and members of one family, stressing that the party in the zone had done extensive work to ensure those who left the party were brought back.
“We also believe that the Southeast is a stronghold of the PDP and if we have people who are out now, it is not necessarily their desire to be out. So, what we need at this time is to bring back our aggrieved members to where they belong. And of course, the PDP is still largely the party with the spread that is required to win any election in this country and still appeals to the people of this country.
“I have no doubt in mind that those our brothers who are just waiting for moments like this will be brought back to where they belong and we can forge a strong alliance going into the next general elections,” the governor stressed.
Speaking earlier, the PDP National Reconciliation Committee Chairman said that the disunity in the party was one of the reasons the party lost the 2023 presidential election and other election cycles in the country.
Oyinilola appealed to the grief-stricken members of the party in the Southeast to sheathe their swords and embrace the idea behind the peace and reconciliation process for the good of the party and the wellbeing of Nigerians.
According to him, Nigerians had become disenchanted and disillusioned under the national ruling APC caused by the party’s anti-people policies, saying PDP was the only party that could rescue the country.
Also speaking, the state party chairman, Dr Martin Chukwunwike, said the reconciliation move would rejig the party’s ongoing efforts in the state and bring back disgruntled members.
He expressed optimism in the leadership style of governor in the state, noting that the party was already witnessing mass return of members who left for other parties.
