Surely, PDP will be back in 2019” ―Ekweremadu

Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, said on Wednesday that the troubled Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), would bounce back to power in 2019.

Ekweremadu, who stated this while addressing members of the PDP Reconciliation Committee who visited the party’s caucus in the National Assembly said that the current travails notwithstanding, the PDP would bounce back to power in 2019.

Ekweremadu declared that the hunger in the land was making Nigerians angry, adding that majority of Nigerians have come to understand that the PDP is the best party for the nation.

The Senator also commended the Governor Henry Seriake Dickson-led Reconciliation Committee, adding that the Committee has shown leadership despite series of criticisms by members of the PDP.

The Senator said: He said: “We have crisis. Yes, but just like every organisation and every political party, once in a while.

“The Republican Party in the United States of America had their crisis even in the midst of election, yet they won the election. There was a time during the crisis that some party leaders disowned their presidential candidate. They refused to campaign for him. But in spite of that, Americans voted for the Republican Party. Today, they have the presidency and the majority in the Senate and the House.

“So, whatever happens, I believe, surely, PDP will be back in 2019”.

He, however, reminded PDP faithful that both the party and the nation were on fire, hence opposition party had no time to dissipate on internal wrangling.

He added: “Today, the country is in crisis. So, our (PDP) house is also burning. We can’t be chasing rats while our house is burning. The PDP house that is burning needs to be rescued. And everybody needs to put in efforts to ensure that it happens.

“But, I think the greater tragedy is that the Nigerian community is also burning. There is hunger in the land. There is also anger in the land because a hungry man is an angry man.

“There is also tension all over the country. People are being killed, from Ile Ife to Benue, to Zamfara, all the way to Borno and Kano.

“So, we cannot be struggling over leadership when our people are dying of hunger and starvation, and while there is tension all over the place. Nigerians expect all of us, not just the PDP people, but the entire leaders of this country to work together for the peace and progress of Nigeria.

“So, the time to come together is now and I’m happy that everybody is thinking about it.”
He also commended the Dickson-led Committee and party leaders for their efforts at holding the PDP together in spite of the odds.

“We thank you because you have shown leadership. You have not abdicated your responsibility because people are criticising you.

“Some people may disagree with your views, but it is dialogue that will make all of us to have a common position,” he said.

While presenting the Committee’s report to the PDP caucus in the National Assembly, Governor Dickson stressed the need for PDP to come together to rescue Nigerians form extreme hardship.

Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio and his House of Representatives counterpart, Hon Leo Ogor, also stated that the PDP was best placed to relieve the sufferings in the land as according to them the party’s crisis will be over shortly.