By Florence Onuegbu
Aggrieved members of the People Democratic Party (PDP) have been urged to accept the emergence of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
A chieftain of PDP, Chief Jackson Ude, gave the advice in a statement on Thursday in Lagos, urging the aggrieved members to sheath their swords and accept their emergence as an act of God.
Ude, who is a former Director of Strategy and Communications in the Goodluck Jonathan presidency charged party stakeholders to concentrate and channel energy toward saving Nigeria and Nigerians.
The media strategist urged Gov. Samuel Ortom of Benue State and former Ekiti Governor, Ayo Fayose, to accept the outcome of the process that produced the duo of Atiku and Okowa as the party’s standard bearers.
While assuaging concerns of stakeholders of the inclusive nature of an Atiku-led administration, Ude said that the party’s presidential candidate knew the pain of losing and would be magnanimous in victory.
”The special convention to pick the presidential candidate of the PDP has come and gone. Those who lost out should accept defeat with maturity.
“Atiku Abubakar who defeated others to clinch the presidential ticket of our great party is going to be magnanimous in his victory.
”He is a true leader who understands how it feels to lose. He is going to reach out to all. His victory is not his alone.
“It is the collective victory of those who contested and lost, those who wished to contest, those who didn’t contest and all the members of the party, including Nigerians who are yearning for his leadership.
“I urge Governor Samuel Ortom to please accept the verdicts at the convention and the choice of Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa as VP. My beloved leader, former Governor Ayo Fayose should also please accept all that has happened.
”As Christians, they should accept these outcomes as God’s wish. Only God gives victory. God knows why He handed the ticket to Atiku and Okowa.
”The outcome of the convention and the events leading to the picking of Okowa as running mate are all God’s wishes. If not, Atiku wouldn’t have won the ticket and Okowa wouldn’t have been picked as VP,” he said.
Ude said that Nigerians can’t wait to have the prices of foodstuffs come down and for the end of insecurity, and university students can’t wait to return to school.
According to him, all these are part of the plans Atiku Abubakar have put together, and cannot achieve them alone, as he needs Wike, Fayose, Ortom and every other leader of the party to make it happen.
He said that the leaders of the party had a lot to achieve and cannot do that in a divided house, and the party has more to lose if members went into the 2023 elections as a divided house.
”No doubt Gov. Nyesom Wike is a great leader of our party. His huge contributions to the party would surely not be overlooked. I am sure he is top on the list of those who will play huge roles in salvaging Nigeria in Atiku Abubakar’s-led government in 2023.
”We need all our leaders to speak with one voice. Nigerians want a better leadership. Nigerians want to see quality leadership. And PDP has what it takes to make that happen under a united front,” he said.
(NAN)
