Electoral Act: PDP to meet N’Assembly over controversial clause

The National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party will soon meet with the leadership of the National Assembly over the controversial bill seeking amendments to the 2010 Electoral Act.

Section 84 of the bill seeks the inclusion of federal lawmakers in the National Executive Committees of their political parties. But the section has been criticised by opposition political parties, civil society groups and eminent Nigerians, who believe that it is purely in the interest of National Assembly members.

But the National Chairman of the PDP, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, told journalists in Abuja on Wednesday that the party’s leadership had decided to wade in the matter with a view to ensuring that a ‘balanced law’ was passed by the lawmakers.

Nwodo, who also said that President Goodluck Jonathan would campaign for former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, if the latter won the party’s presidential primaries, did not say when the PDP leadership would meet with its National Assembly counterpart over the bill.

“The NWC of our party will go to the National Assembly to plead with the PDP members, so that the law that will come out will be balanced,” Nwodo said.

He, however, appealed to the media to moderate the debate on the bill so that the proposed law would be balanced.

The National Assembly will commence public hearing on the bill on Thursday (today).

Stating that the PDP will work as a team after its primaries, he added that “If Abubakar beats Jonathan, Mr. President will follow us to campaign for him.”

Abubakar on Monday emerged as the consensus candidate of the Northern Leaders’ Political Forum and, therefore, became Jonathan’s main contender for the party’s presidential ticket.

Nwodo said Jonathan and the former vice-president possessed leadership qualities needed to propel the country to greater heights.

“I want us to see our aspirants as quality leaders to take Nigeria to the next level. We trust our delegates to do justice to that when they vote,” he said.

But the PDP chairman bemoaned the resort to litigation by some aspirants and stressed that such conduct was tantamount to ambushing the party.

“It is unfortunate that some aspirants have started ambushing the party in court. They do not want to exhaust the internal mechanism in the party.

“When people rush to court to get injunctions against the party, it is not in the interest of the party,” Nwodo said.

He noted that the PDP had ‘problems in eight states’ over what had been termed as illegal congresses.

While he said the issue had been addressed in Anambra and Imo states, he hinted that Kogi State would soon follow. The crisis in Plateau State is pending in court,” he said.

Nwodo canvassed the deepening of internal democracy in the PDP, saying doing so was the only way to make the party a vehicle for consolidating the country’s democracy.

Nwodo explained that soon after the 1999 election, the PDP degenerated to a point where candidates for elections emerged through selection and consensus, as against the elective option that guaranteed party cohesion.

Nwodo promised to use the PDP platform to bring about positive change for democracy to thrive in the country.

He said the dreams of the founding fathers of the party were that the military would never came back to power, that the PDP would provide food for every Nigerian and restore integrity to the political process.

The PDP chairman expressed dismay that some of these dreams had not been realised and assured Nigerians that the competitiveness that was abandoned after the Jos convention of the party for the imposition of candidates would be restored.

He said, “We are going to bring back a crop of leadership that cares. Those who want to carry the flag of the party should go to the people to convince them that they understand and appreciate their problems.

“Aspirants will not be welcomed to the party secretariat, let them go to the people to preach their message. We place a high premium on integrity and issues that bear on the well-being of Nigerians.”

Nwodo lamented the ‘undue interest in politics,’ citing his own local government area in Enugu State, where 23 graduates were jostling for the chairmanship position.

He said, “Twenty-three graduates, including bankers in Abuja, want to be chairman in my own council. They come to work once in a month, when it is time to share money (allocation). We must condemn where we are coming from.”

He added that plans had reached an advanced stage to establish a National Democratic Institute in all the 36 states of the federation that would help inculcate in aspirants, the new face of the PDP.

In the new epoch, the PDP chairman said, integrity would be highly held and the leadership to be produced would be one that cared for the people.

“Those elected are to prosecute the manifesto of the party; and not to be elected and the people would be abandoned,” Nwodo noted.