File photo: Gov Okowa and Atiku in Asaba
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Jackson Ude, has tasked all aggrieved members of the party to sheath their swords and accept as an act of God, the emergence of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as presidential and vice-presidential candidates respectively.
Ude who is a former Director of Strategy and Communications in the Goodluck Jonathan presidency charged party stakeholders to concentrate and channel energy towards saving Nigeria and Nigerians from the years of misrule by the All Progressives Congress (APC)
In a statement released to the media on Thursday, the media strategist charged the Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom and former Ekiti governor, Ayo Fayose to accept the outcome of the process that produced the duo of Atiku and Okowa as the party’s standard bearers.
While assuaging concerns of stakeholders of the inclusive nature of an Atiku-led administration, Ude said the party’s presidential candidate knows the pain of losing and will “be magnanimous in victory.”
The statement said: “The special convention to pick the Presidential candidate of the PDP has come and gone. Those who lost out should accept defeat with maturity. Atiku Abubakar who defeated others to clinch the Presidential ticket of our great party is going to be magnanimous in his victory.
“He is a true leader who understands how it feels to lose. He is going to reach out to all. His victory is not his alone. It is the collective victory of those who contested and lost, those who wished to contest, those who didn’t contest and all the members of the party including Nigerians who are yearning for his leadership.
“I urge Governor Samuel Ortom to please accept the verdicts at the Convention and the choice of Gov Ifeanyi Okowa as VP. My beloved leader, former Governor Ayo Fayose should also please accept all that has happened. As Christians, they should accept these outcomes as God’s wish. Only God gives victory. God knows why he handed the ticket to Atiku and Okowa.
“The outcome of the convention and the events leading to the picking of Okowa as running mate are all God’s wishes. If not, Atiku wouldn’t have won the ticket and Okowa wouldn’t have been picked as VP.
“At this time, everyone should be more concerned about how to save Nigeria and Nigerians from the APC. Nigerians are suffering. They can’t wait to have the prices of foodstuffs go down. They can’t wait for the end of insecurity. University students can’t wait to return to school. All these are part of the plans Atiku Abubakar has put together. He alone cannot achieve all these. He needs Wike, Fayose, Ortom and every other leader of our party to make it happen.
“To defeat APC should be the collective responsibility of all members of the PDP. Our leaders have a lot of role to ensure this happens. We cannot do that in a divided house. We will have more to lose if we go into the 2023 elections as a divided house.
“No doubt Gov Nyesom Wike is a great leader of our party. His huge contributions to the party would surely not be overlooked. I am sure he is top on the list of those who will play huge roles in salvaging Nigeria in Atiku Abubakar’s-led Government in 2023.”
While quelling feelings of being sidelined, he added that: “There is definitely plenty of key roles for all our leaders. This time calls for closing of ranks, building strategic plans for our victory in 2023 and rescuing Nigerians from the incompetent government of APC. We need all hands on deck.
“We need all our leaders to speak with one voice. Nigerians want a better leadership. Nigerians want to see quality leadership. And only PDP has what it takes to make that happen under a united front,” the statement added.
