The new National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, says the task is to return the party to the people at this auspicious moment.
The Chairman affirmed this while making his Acceptance Speech at the inauguration on behalf of the newly elected members in Abuja. Dr Ayu said the party needs to be reinvigorated, reinvented and repositioned. Remaining mindful of the missed steps and actions in the past and the lessons learnt both in government and in opposition.
According to the new Chairman, PDP is the only organic political party in Nigeria that has remained a credible, tested, tasted and trusted mass movement since the return of democracy in 1999. Other political parties have either fizzled away or merged with others.
“Some have mutated into a gimmick, without any clear ideology or a coherent programme of action – this contraption seduced Nigerians with propaganda in 2015. Today, Nigerians have seen the limit of propaganda and demagoguery.
“The PDP, on the other hand, has a history of performance and legacy achievements. In 16 years in power, we gave Nigerians good governance. We strengthened democratic institutions to add value to the people and in an unprecedented move, but we also stabilised our democracy by sanitising the armed forces of politically exposed officers.
“We gave Nigeria her first-ever successful transition from one civilian administration to another in 2007. To the disbelief of all watchers of African politics, we willingly conceded defeat in 2015 and handed over power to an opposition party.
“It was the PDP-Federal Government that created value-adding public institutions like the EFCC, ICPC, NAFDAC, the Debt Management Office (DMO), the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) among many others,” said Ayu
The National Chairman said the PDP administration also strengthened the governance process by enacting laws to effectively drive public administration in Nigeria, namely: the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the Mid-Term Expenditure Frame-Work, the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information Systems (IPPIS).
He said the party negotiated and obtained debt relief of over $30 billion, making Nigeria almost a debt-free country. Foreign direct investments flowed in. Cumulatively, it made Nigeria the fastest growing economy in Africa and the biggest economy on the continent.
Dr Ayu said, “I stand here to assure you that PDP is back to Rescue and Rebuild Nigeria. Under the new NWC, PDP will strengthen its internal democratic processes. We shall endeavour to reach out to all party members, young and old, male and female.”
The National Chairman said this National Working Committee would create alternate platforms within the party to actively engage the young people and our women, not only for mobilising and winning elections but for advocacy, policy formulation and the design of a new development plan for the party.
“We shall return the party to vigorous discussions; pay serious attention to new thinking and the implementation of policies and programmes that will secure and improve the quality of life of all Nigerians,” said the National Chairman.
“The Peoples Democratic Institute (PDI) will be revived and strengthened to drive this process. Before the next election cycle, we shall present a PDP manifesto that will bring back hope to our people.”
Suzan O.
