The new Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ebonyi State, Peter Nwele, has promised that the newly constituted State Executive Working Committee will rebuild the party and restore its lost glory.

Mr Nwele made the promise in a speech after his inauguration as the state Chairman of the party on Saturday in Abakaliki.

Mr Nwele merged the party chairman at the state congress held at the party secretariat.

He said that the first major task before him was to bring back the estranged members, reconcile them and ensure that the party was restored back to its lost glory.

He said that the new leadership would strive to reposition the party and ensure that it played “a vital role as a leading and most populous opposition party in the state.”

Mr Nwele, who emerged in a peaceful, transparent and credible election, commended members for the trust reposed in him.

He promised to run an open-door administration.

He said, “We owe a paramount duty to our great party. We are going to bring back the lost glory of our party. And in doing this, we are going to embark on a mission to bring back all the aggrieved members who left the party due to one offence or the other. We all know that Ebonyi is a PDP dominant state and the story has not changed. We will embark on reconciliation because the party is large enough to contain everyone.’’

Earlier, the National Vice Chairman of the PDP, South-East, Ali Odefa, told journalists during an interview that the mass turnout of delegates at the election showed the enthusiasm and interest that people still have in the party not only in Ebonyi but across the country.

Mr Odefa said that PDP was being reinvented not only to play a major opposition role but to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress at the state and national levels in the next general elections.

“What we are doing is that we are putting our house in order, getting our acts together to wrest power from the ruling APC. My advice to the new leadership in the state is to go about building the party, helping to reconcile every interest because in partisan politics there is bound to be diverse interests. The ability to bring those interests together is what makes the party stronger,” the PDP chieftain said.

He further said that the party would welcome its old members who defected to other parties wishing to contest on the party’s platform in the 2027 general elections.

HAe stated, “An implosion awaits the other parties. This is PDP, we will open our arms and whoever wants to come in, we will welcome him back into the fold.”

Meanwhile, the Chairman, State Congress Committee, Ugonna Ogbonna, said that the election, including the accreditation of delegates, was conducted in line with the laid down guidelines.

Mr Ogbonna described the election as hitch-free, credible and transparent.

“Officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission and various security outfits, including the police, civil defence and Department of State Security, were also on ground to monitor the exercise and provide security,” Mr Ogbonna said.

(NAN)