We did not procure Supreme Court judgement, PDP tells Obasanjo

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it did not procure the Supreme Court judgement which restored the party to the defunct National Caretaker Committee contrary to the claim by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in a statement advising President Muhammadu Buhari not to seek re-election in 2019.

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja the claim by the former president was unsubstantiated.

It said Obasanjo’s claim on procurement of judgement amounts to an ill-intended attempt to impugn on the integrity of the Supreme Court, particularly when such a claim is false and not predicated on any empirical proof.

The party said that the ruling of the Supreme Court, which ended the protracted internal feud within its fold, rather than detract, reinforced the confidence of Nigerians in the PDP as the platform that truly embodies the resilience of a genuine democratic process in the face of daunting challenges.

It further said that even the worst critics of PDP concede that the judgment of the Supreme Court, was unprejudiced, uninfluenced and determined completely on merit, for which it was applauded in Nigeria and across the world.

It added that the conduct of the PDP’s December 2017 elective National Convention “in a transparent, free and fair manner and where nobody was ‘kingmaker,’ denotes the democratic credential of the repositioned PDP to deliver credible primaries that would yield a presidential candidate Nigerians desire.”

Stressing that there is an extensive dissimilarity between it and the All Progressives Congress (APC), the PDP noted that while it remains nationally populist and development-driven, the APC by orientation and composure is arrogant, inept and anti-people, hence the nationwide detestation against it.

It said unlike the APC, where a very few individuals from within a circle control the instrument of power and governance, the PDP said it remains that egalitarian platform where all Nigerians are free to express themselves, politically engage and freely aspire for any office without regard to divisive considerations.

The statement asserted that PDP represents the true coalition of Nigerians from across the country adding that its experience in governance and successful rebound from challenges has provided it an edge over every other existing or intended political platforms in Nigeria.