One of the founding fathers of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has expressed deep concern over the crisis rocking the party in the build-up to the 2023 General Elections.
The former Vice President Atiku called on PDP leaders to unite for the sake of the party’s interest and the country.
Abubakar made the call in a statement issued by his Media Adviser Paul Ibe in Abuja on Thursday while reacting to the current frictions in the PDP.
He said that the party could not afford to be divided at this critical point in time when Nigerians were desperately yearning for change.
Abubakar said that an opposition that is looked up to as an alternative could not afford to be fighting itself and lend its hands to the ruling party for its own destruction.
He urged the party’s faithful to understand that the price of having a fragmented PDP was too high to pay, “but above all, a betrayal to the memories of the founding fathers of the party”.
The former vice president dismissed insinuations that he was fueling the crisis in the party.
Abubakar said that he was lately involved in reconciliation efforts within the party across the country and had backed reconciliation processes aimed at diffusing tensions in the party.
He called for calm and for combatants to sheath their swords and give the reconciliation mechanisms of the party a chance.
He noted that the interest of the PDP far superseded that of any individual, insisting that the party would overcome its current travails for as long as all hands were on deck.
“The PDP is greater than our individual ambitions. We have to consolidate the party first before we talk about our ambitions.
“We have to be careful not to play into the hands of the ruling party.
“We can’t afford a one-party system in Nigeria that denies our people a viable alternative for true change in 2023,” Abubakar said.
The former PDP presidential candidate warned that lack of unity and internal cohesion could help the ruling party more than the PDP.
He added that those who wanted Nigerians to continue with the current situation would also be eager to fuel the crisis in the PDP for their political advantage.
He added that PDP leaders should put personal differences aside and work for the good of the party, adding that “divided soldiers cannot fight a war and win.”
To ensure that the PDP does not repeat the mistakes of the past, Abubakar said that all contending issues in the party must be resolved through constitutional means.(NAN)
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