Usman who made this known in Abuja during an interaction with journalists disclosed that PDP members in the National Assembly who left the party before and after the 2015 general elections have been fully reached and we’re set to return to the fold immediately after the December, 9th National Convention.
The Aspirant also revealed that a number of former and serving governors who initially left the PDP for the All Progressives Congress (APC) were also being consulted to pave way for their return to the party ahead of the 2019 General elections.
According to him, “We have been very active and involved in a lot of issues in the party. In the last seven to eight months, we have been making contacts with quite a number of our former members in the National Assembly and a number of serving and former governors, who were with us in the PDP before they left for the APC.
“All they are waiting for today is a free and fair national convention and once we are able to do that, they are back to the party, because the APC is not a credible platform and its gimmicks have been exposed
“At the level of the North Central where I have served for eight years as a zonal legal adviser, quite a number of them now in the APC were in PDP and we have been in contact with them. I can assure you that more than 80 percent of our National Assembly members from the North Central are practically set to return to the PDP
“So across Nigeria, we have done a lot of consultations and negotiations. Mark what I am telling you today, before the end the second quarter of next year, that is, 2018, the National Assembly is going to be controlled by the PDP.”
Usman, who was fielding questions on the confidence of the PDP to return to power in 2019, said that all the issues that led to the exodus of members have been addressed squarely by its leadership, stressing that the nation would soon “witness an unprecedented political realignments that will return certain states as well as control of the National Assembly to the PDP.”
The former PDP Zonal Legal Adviser (North Central) also dispelled anxieties ahead of PDP’s National convention stating that the party would get it right despite the current disagreements in some quarters.
According to him, “I can assure you that with our internal conflict resolution mechanisms, the PDP will resolve all issues ahead relating to the national convention. We are determined to get it right because the entire nation now looks up to the PDP for direction and liberation from the clutches of APC misrule”.
While lamenting that the APC has only succeeded in wrecking the country with impunity and subjecting the citizens to untold hardship and fear, Usman urged Nigerians not to despair as the “PDP is now re-engineered to take over power in 2019 and return the nation to the path of prosperity, freedom and political stability.”
The Aspirant also criticized the current war against corruption by the APC government, saying it is targeted to stifle the opposition.
“The APC administration is not fighting corruption. What we have today are selective persecution and media trials aimed to intimidate and stifle opposition. It is not a war against corruption”, he said.
Usman however assured that he had already worked out a template that would enable him “vigorously engage and ultimately strip the APC in all directions” while effectively propagating the ideals and positives of the PDP, immediately he assumes office as the National Publicity Secretary.
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