FOR staving off pressure from the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) to defect, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has promised its lawmakers in the National Assembly and the state House of Assembly in Lagos re-election tickets in the 2019 elections for their loyalty.
News had gone round lately that the lawmakers were under intense pressure to join the gale of defections by PDP members in parts of the country to the APC.
But, chairman of the Lagos state chapter of the PDP and former member of the House of Representatives, Honourable Moshood Adegoke Salvador, urged the lawmakers to remain steadfast and resolute in their loyalty, as the party fully appreciates their status as the pillars of the PDP.
He said they should rebuff any possible overture from the APC because of “its notoriety for deception and policy of use and dump after achieving its myopic interests.”
Recalling how a similar clique disorganised the once vibrant Alliance for Democracy (AD), Salvador said the governing party was increasingly becoming uncomfortable because of Lagos PDP’s impressive records of achievements in most elections held in the state, which it won but was denied of victory through complicity between the authorities and the judiciary.
“Our lawmakers in both the House of Representatives and Lagos State House of Assembly should see themselves as the pillars of the PDP; they should not allow the party to break. They should see themselves as leaders in their own right.
“PDP appreciates and acknowledges their contribution and support for the party. So, they are pillars of the PDP. I am appealing to them to be calm and steadfast. They will get whatever they want.
“The other party can only coerce them to move; they will never give them tickets. If we all protect the interest of our great party, build the party, they (lawmakers) will be assured of their tickets.”
“If you cross to the party now, you cannot do anything because somebody is already grooming himself for the same position that has its caucus and members that they are known to. I will advise them to remain focused and calm, and discountenance any form of distraction,” he stated.