Why we survived exit of ex-President Obasanjo, Atiku, others – PDP

Condemns attack on journalists in Kaduna, commiserates with NUJ

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has said that it survived the loss of some of its prominent members, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, because it was never built around an individual.

The National Organising Secretary of the National Caretaker Committee (NCC) of the party, Senator Abdul Ningi, who spoke yesterday in Abuja while providing expression of interest and nomination forms to one of the aspirants, Alex Obiogbolu, for the November 18 Anambra State gubernatorial election, said the PDP had risen from the ashes of the defections.

He said the recent leadership crisis had strengthened the party and given it an opportunity to do a sober reflection. Also, National Publicity Secretary of the NCC, Mr. Dayo Adeyeye, said Nigerians had not lost confidence in the PDP and the party was working towards having at least 30 state governors by 2019.

Meanwhile, Obiogbolu, who became the first governorship aspirant from Anambra to pick the gubernatorial nomination form, has assured that the party was primed to recapture the state in the forthcoming election.

He, however, expressed the confidence that all those who left the party would return to its fold after the primaries. In another development, the state chapter of the PDP has joined other Nigerians to condemn the attack by political thugs on journalists and a faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) members in Kaduna.

The state Chairman of PDP and former Minister of Aviation, Mr. Hassan Hyat, described the incident as an assault, not only to journalism profession, but also on the entire society.

Hyat, who spoke during his solidarity visit to NUJ Kaduna State Council, said: “Politicians must learn the act of tolerance and accommodation. It is unfortunate that instead of people to organise and be calm in countering and presenting their own side, they resulted to using their fist to cause destruction and unfortunately injuring some journalists in the course of carrying out their legitimate duty.

“Knowing the role of the press, we felt that it was an affront and insult, not to you alone, but the generality of the society, because no society can exist without information. Whether the information is positive or negative to whoever is listening, the truth is that people must be allowed to express their grievances.”

He, therefore, urged the authorities, especially the security agencies, to ensure that they handle issues of security, vandalisation and intolerance with zeal, adding that they should do their work without fear or favour.

Besides, Chairman of NUJ Kaduna Council, Adamu Yusuf, who expressed gratitude over the solidarity visit by PDP leadership, said that the Sunday disaster was the first of its kind in the history of Kaduna NUJ, adding that the NUJ is not a political party and will never be one.

Yusuf, who said journalists in the state would continue to live to their professional responsibility to cover events without bias and according to the ethics of journalism profession, stated that no amount of intimidation would deter journalists from performing their functions as watchdog of the society.He implored the politicians to refrain from using youths as political thugs and hoodlums but for peaceful co-existence and development of the nation.