The chairman of the PDP
Governors Forum and the Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State,Chief Godswill
Akpabio has described the decision of the National Executive Committee of the
PDP to adopt President Goodluck Jonathan as the sole presidential candidate of
the party for the 2015 general elections as a well calculated exercise in
democracy.
Governor Akpabio who made the declaration on Wednesday in Akwa Ibom
during the PDP Performance Publicity Tour led by the PDP National Publicity
Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh said "the opposition is rattled "
because of the ability of the governors and leaders of the PDP to sacrifice
their individual ambitions and rally behind the President who has "
performed exceedingly well."
"The adoption by NEC is democracy in action. In America
that we are copying, the incumbent president does not go through primaries. We
are not saying that the President will not face the general elections. So the
idea of him spending presidential time instead of facing insurgency, food
insufficiency and other things that may affect the country and begin to
campaign for the party ticket when he is already the incumbent president is
what we want to avoid . I think this is a very fantastic model of internal
democracy."
"What we only said and did is, let's sacrifice our
individual ambition so that Mr. President will have a second term. We are not
saying that other people should not contest election, but saying that as PDP
governors, that we want to join hands and support him to win the second term.
It does not mean that any person who wants to contest should not contest. We
are indeed deepening democracy by sacrificing our own ambition. "
The Governor added that the PDP governors by that decision also
resolved to stabilize the party and avoid the unfortunate situation that leaves
the party fractured after primary elections.
"Instead of fracturing the party at the end of the
convention, we want to move as one family to elect the presidential candidate
at the convention. And that is democracy in action. So I don't think anybody
should criticize it, rather we should be commended for not behaving like past
governors who by now , nine or fifteen of them would have declared for
presidency and then confusion will start in the party. So the people who
sacrificed their ambition to support the president; should they be castigated
or commended? I must therefore thank the PDP NEC for adopting the position of
the PDP governors . It is left for the National Convention to ratify. This is evidence
that Nigeria is changing"
"I think the opposition is rattled . Any time that the PDP
makes a move and the opposition is criticizing, then you know that that thing
is biting them and if they praise you, you should be worried."
Earlier,
the National Publicity of the PDP who led the Performance Tour commended
Governor Akpabio for the world class infrastructures which have turned Akwa
Ibom into a national and international destination. "This is our legacy. This
is the legacy of our great party, the PDP. We can't thank this Governor enough
for the faithful implementation of the manifesto of the PDP. Our great party
can't thank him enough for making us proud, for faithfully serving the people
and improving their lots beyond the national average."
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