By Mohammed Abubakar Dutse
Former Local Government Chairmen of the opposition People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) in Jigawa state have dissociated themselves from the just concluded National Convention of the party in Ibadan, Oyo state.
They’ve therefore, rejected the national leadership of the party that emerged from that conversation. To demonstrate their abhorrence to the convention they called it a shameful a no d illegal gathering , which has fallen short of every democratic standards.
Rising from their consultative meeting in Dutse the Chairmen under the aegis o the forum of former PDP local government council chairmen in a communique jointly signed restated their firm support and loyalty to a former Jigawa state governor, who unsuccessfully aspired for the national chairman position of the party.
The communique noted in, part, ” The forum of former PDP local government Chairmen in Jigawa State held a meeting and discussed the unfortunate situation that be fell our party and the apparent inability of it’s leadership to contain and resolve it up to the build up of the illegal Ibadan Convention to the shameful and disgraceful incident that occurred at the Wadata Plaza.
“We condemned the manner in which the leadership of the party has handled our leader, Alhaji Sule Lamido,without regards to his honor by denying him his right to contest the national chairmanship of the party.
“The PDP as a party is no longer a formidable platform at the national level as a result of prevailing factions and consistent rancor and mistrust among its members.
“As loyal political children of Sule Lamido, do hereby mandate him in his wisdom to find a viable political platform that will permit us to pursue our dreams of a greater Jigawa and Nigeria
“We believe and trust in his political leadership, judgment and democratic credentials right from his days in PRP as the National Leader of the PRP Youth Wing to his election into the House of Representatives in1979, to his Chairmanship of the SDP in the old Kano and later, its National Secretary which conclusively won the Abiola election in1992.
“It is also worth noting that he is the only surviving member of G9 and G18 who has never abandoned the PDP despite the late Buhari phenomenal entry into partisan politics and the intense heat wave it unleashed in the North.
We request that, as a matter of urgency, the leadership of the Jigawa PDP to lead us to Sule Lamido, our leader, to present our position. We remain loyal to the leadership of Sule Lamido, anywhere he goes, we will follow.”