Southwest PDP youths warn leaders against sabotaging chairmanship position

• Fayose urges aspirants to see contest as a family affair
• Jonathan, Wike meet over convention
• IBB cautions against votes buying

A coalition of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) youths from the Southwest, have warned some leaders of the party from the zone, who are allegedly working to sabotage the chairmanship seat for the sake of their vice presidential ambition.

They also appealed to the delegates from the 19 Northern states to vote for the best chairmanship aspirant from the Southwest during the December 9 National convention of the party.

The youths said this in Ado Ekiti at the weekend in a communiqué issued after a two-day
meeting.The youths praised the northern leaders for standing by the truth, by reiterating their belief in the micro zoning of the chairmanship slot, 
saying this will help to cement the bond of unity across Nigeria and make the PDP a formidable opposition that can win elections in 2019.

“For those who are playing the ostrich and working towards pushing
away this opportunity from the southwest, posterity will Judge you. We are sending a note of warning to those people on the need to
toe the path of honour and align with the interest and aspiration of
the zone like the Northern PDP leaders.’’

The youths saluted the courage of the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led PDP
Caretaker committee for mooting the idea of the convention, urging it
to refrain from manipulating the process for election to be credible
and make the party to evolve from it more invigorated.

Meanwhile, Governor Ayo Fayose has advised the chairmanship aspirants to see the contest as a family matter saying that everybody should join in making the party stronger.He promised to work with whoever emerges as the national chairman of the party in the convention, saying the PDP was the party to beat and enjoined well meaning Nigerians to come on board.

He stated this when two national chairmanship aspirants of the party, Chief Olabode George and Prince Uche Secondus, visited the state at the weekend in continuation of their Campaign tour.Both lauded the giant developmental strides of Fayose, in the face of crunching economic situation, describing him as a record setter.

In another development, Fayose yesterday told the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state that it should be prepared to wait for more years in the trenches as Ekiti people would not vote for it in the July 14, 2018 governorship election.

Fayose, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, in Ado-Ekiti, said the party was fond of ranting over what it knew was quite impossible and advised the APC to stop day dreaming.

Ahead of the December 9, PDP convention, former President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, met yesterday in Port Harcourt to dispel insinuation of a fiction between them.Jonathan who met with Wike behind close door at the Government House, Port Harcourt, however said the PDP will emerge a formidable party after the successfully  conclusion  of the national convention.

Also, former military president Ibrahim Babangida has cautioned against votes buying at the convention.He said this in a statement signed by his media adviser, Kassim Afegbua.made it clear that “it is incumbent upon us as leaders and stakeholders to use the opportunity of the convention to sober reflect on the challenges confronting us, identify our flaws and seek plausible ways to correct them in order to come out stronger in subsequent elections.”

The former president said that an elected National  Working Committee will set in motion  the preparation for the 2019 General Elections.He said: “God willing, we will go through the National Convention and the party will become solid. You  know we have a Caretaker Committee.  When  you have a Caretaker Committee, you are not as strong as a fully elected chairman.  The party passed through some challenges.  Luckily for us, we have  passed through  that phase with the pronouncement of the Supreme Court.”
Also, former military president Ibrahim Babangida has cautioned against votes buying at the convention.