Ex-senator blames PDP crisis on deviation from founding fathers’ principles
A former senator, Gershom Bassey, has blamed the crisis currently rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on deviation from the principles of its founding fathers.
Mr Bassey, who represented Cross River South in the 9th Assembly, stated this during an interactive session with journalists on Wednesday in Calabar.
He also stated that the Cross River State chapter of the party made a fatal error during the 2023 governirship elections in the state.
Mr Bassey said that the decision not to listen to the voice of the people and abide by the principles of the founding fathers on power rotation cost the party dearly.
He stated, “2023 was bittersweet (for PDP). Bitter because the party that I love, the great PDP, made a fatal error by not listening to the people, which ended up in the virtual collapse of the party. The key to our success has been that the PDP always listened to the people. But in 2023, they had the arrogance to believe that they cannot listen to the people.
“The people were saying that there should be rotation and that it was the turn of the South; that’s what the entire state was saying but the party said it could be anywhere.
“The sweet part of it is that we kept faith with the founders of our state who had, from inception, right from the Calabar-Ogoja accord, said power must rotate among the senatorial districts. And as a state, we must be very proud of ourselves that we kept faith with those founding principles.”
The former senator stated that after the elections, his party went into a ‘cycle of self-destruction,’ all of which, he said, came from Abuja, with support from some elements in the state, resulting in the party becoming a shadow of its former self.
He, however, expressed the optimism that the party would, one day, overcome the challenges, adding, “There is a future for PDP.”
On his assessment of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Bassey said that it would be too early to pass any judgement now.
He added, “It’s still halftime, and we can not say what will happen at the end of the term.”
(NAN)
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.
More from Peoples Gazette
Agriculture
FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology
The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices
Politics
Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku
“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”
States
School Abduction: Oyo Assembly backs Gov Makinde’s call for international investigation
The lawmaker cautioned the public and the Nigerian Senate against misinterpreting the purpose of the state governor’s call for an international investigation.
Politics
Tuggar group rejects Bauchi APC governorship candidate Mohammed Abubakar
He dismissed Mr Abubakar’s declaration as a governorship candidate, alleging that there were no governorship primaries in the state.
Hot news Home top
Oyarzabal, Porro score as Spain beat France to reach World Cup final
Spain will face the winner of the second semi-final match between England and Argentina on Sunday.
Economy
PenCom cuts pension approvals to 48 hours, recovers N36 billion arrears
She said the 48-hour approval timeline had become a mandatory service standard binding on all PFAs.
Heading 5
Freed Oyo pupils, teachers reunite with families
The pupils and teachers reunited with their families on Tuesday.
NationWide
DHQ engages military veterans on welfare, national service
He said the welfare of retired personnel remained one of the top priorities of the DHQ under the current leadership.
