Former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji Abubakar Baraje, has said that the party’s loss in the 2019 general elections in Kwara State has taught the erstwhile ruling party a big lesson.
Speaking during the inauguration of the 18-man reconciliation and engagement committee of the party ahead 2023 general elections in Ilorin, on Monday, Alhaji Baraje, who is the chairman of the committee, said that, “If we learn from that lesson, 2023 will be a walkover for PDP in the state, but PDP needs to put its house in order. We don’t have to wait till it is the eleventh hour.”
Baraje also said that all members of the party in the state including former Senate President Bukola Saraki had been taught a greater lesson by the loss.
Other members of the committee include Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, Hon Ishola Balogun- Fulani, Comrade Bisi Fakayode and Alhaji Dabarako Mohammed, Sheikh AbdulAzeez Uthman, Alhaji. Atanda Zoro, Mr Moses Awan, Alhaji Gene Adamu, Hajia Sikiratu Anako, Hajia Ibrahim Masu Jenatu, Hajia Sarat Adebayo, Comrade Adefila, Mr S. B. Abdulraheem, Mr. Sabi Musa, Comrade Muhammed Nurudeen, Mr Abdulrahman Abdullahi Kayode and Dr Ruth Abiola Adimula.
Alhaji Baraje added that Kwara is a PDP state, noting that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) now in the saddle came to power by default.
“What happened in 2019 to PDP in the state is a lesson for all of us; even former Senate President Bukola Saraki acknowledged this. Our defeat is a lesson for all of us including onlookers. It is also an integral lesson for core Sarakites.
“Today is an epoch-making moment for the PDP in the state. It is a day we have been waiting for. The task ahead for the committee members is onerous. The assignment is not only for the committee members. It is for all of us as party members. No one versed in the art of reconciling human beings will envy the committee members.”
Earlier, state PDP Chairman Kola Shittu, said that the reconciliation committee is necessary to reconcile the various interest groups within the party and iron out issues related to the loss of the 2019 elections in the state by the party.
“As we all know, the 2019 general elections had been won and lost with our party swallowing the bitter pill of losing in that elections. It is natural that this loss together with the pains that accompanied it must have left the party badly affected since 2019 especially when we are not used to it.
“The party leadership recognized that this must have brewed one issues or the other among varying interests who were actively involved in that processes .
“It is not unusual to find members of Democratic party like ours engaging in arguments, contestation and divergent views which often leads to disagreements among stakeholders in some occasions, but our ability to forge a common goal and agreement in all these makes human of us all.
“It is on this note that the party have meticulously identified respected party stalwarts who have proven to be men and women of integrity, including those who have had opportunity to lead in several national party engagements and conferred on them the mandate to engage our stakeholders at different strata and reconcile them in order to strengthen the party more as we march towards another election period.”
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