A former President of the Senate and Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Adolphus Wabara, has assured party members and Nigerians that the opposition party remains strong and will continue to exist despite current challenges.
Senator Wabara gave the assurance during the launch of the PDP’s online membership registration in Umuahia, against the backdrop of Senator Godwill Akpabio’s mockery of the former ruling party.
Addressing supporters at the event, he responded to concerns about the party’s current struggles, which stem largely from lingering internal leadership disputes, insisting that the PDP is already being repositioned for future electoral success.
Wabara said: “The PDP can never die,” stressing that efforts were underway to address the internal issues affecting the party and encouraged members to participate actively in the new membership registration exercise.
The programme also included a stakeholders’ meeting and the inauguration of the Local Government Caretaker Committee leadership under the National Working Committee led by Kabiru Tanimu Turaki.
During his remarks, Wabara praised the chairman of the Abia PDP Caretaker Committee, Ikpegbu Emeka-Yellow, for providing effective leadership within a short period in office.
He also advised party leaders and members to avoid mistakes of the past, particularly the practice of godfatherism, and instead create equal opportunities for all members as part of efforts to rebuild and strengthen the party.
Wabara expressed confidence that with committed leadership and active involvement from party faithful, the PDP would experience renewed growth and perform strongly in future elections.
A day earlier during the Senate plenary, Akpabio has mocked the opposition party, saying: “PDP is gone,” following the mass defections of its top members to other parties.
Akpabio made the comment while reading an official defection letter from the former Governor of Sokoto State and current Senator, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, confirming his move to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The letter also highlighted a series of resignations from the Labour Party (LP) and other minority caucus members.
As he read, Akpabio paused, visibly amused by the state of the opposition, and made light of their internal struggles, saying, “Oh, PDP is gone!”
He added: “Even the Labour Party is dead. I’ve read about three different political parties now,” as he recounted further defections from the LP.
Akpabio seized the opportunity to dismiss claims that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, was behind the opposition’s troubles.
He attributed the turmoil to leadership failures within the parties themselves.
“You cannot accuse the ruling party of tampering with their leadership because here you have APGA, you have Labour, you have MVP, and all those things. So all of them have a problem. They’ve not been able to put their parties together. So, APC cannot be blamed for this. They are all out to ensure that we have a minority status in this chamber, and I am very proud of them,” Akpabio had said.