Aspirant for the National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Raymond Dokpesi, on Monday, said that with him at the party’s helm of affairs, the PDP will “take over in 2019.?
This came as the convention to elect a new PDP chairman holds on August 17 in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital. The PDP has zoned the position to the Southern part of the country.
Addressing party members and delegates in Asaba, the Delta state capital, Dokpesi, however, traced the PDP’s fall in the 2015 General Elections to its deviation from the visions of its founding fathers, saying the easiest way for the party to worm its way back into the hearts of citizens is for members to return to those ideals.
He asked members of the party to embrace the visions of the founding fathers of the party.
Dokpesi said: “The vision of PDP founding fathers was to establish a political party that would promote national unity and would accommodate the opinion and voice of every citizen under a common ‘umbrella.’”
“The PDP founding fathers wanted a party whose operations would be guided by democratic principles, create jobs for its teeming population and make life a lot more meaningful for the people,” said Dokpesi, who is currently on a nationwide campaign tour.
“However, over time, the party has shifted focus away from these noble ideals, and has lost track in the process. To get back on track, we must be willing to readjust ourselves to the realities of current political challenges.
“The only way to do so is to return to the visions of the founding fathers of the party, a vision that guarantees internal party democracy and allows only the best from amongst the people to represent us. “Let us sit back and reflect. We have deviated from the visions of our founding fathers and we need to retrace our steps very quickly.”
He reminded members about the leadership crisis currently hitting the party at the national level, putting it down to the emergence of Ali Modu Sheriff as national chairman, and the credibility baggage hanging around the man when the party opened its doors to him.
“I have come to properly unite the party and bring all contending forces together and make PDP virile one more,” he said, urging party members in the state to remain steadfast.
“I am confident that with me in charge of the affairs of the party, PDP will bounce back to glory in no time,” he said.
“If we do our little bits, we will bounce back to glory and it would be good for delta state.” Dokpesi solicited their support, reminding them of some of his accomplishments in his days with the South-South Peoples Assembly, and how he drew attention to issues in the Niger-Delta, eventually making it possible for a south-south president to emerge.
However, receiving Dokpesi and his campaign team, Kingsley Esiso, state chairman of the party, said PDP could only dethrone APC in 2019 by first having a formidable national chairman.
