*As Saraki advises members to put personal ambitions aside
By Folorunso Alagbede, Abuja
Governor of Oyo State, Engr Oluseyi Makinde has tasked leaders and stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to do everything possible to fix the party so that it (the PDP) can in turn fixing Nigeria and pull the nation out of its present critical state.
Engr Makinde said this on Thursday at the inauguration of the Board of Governors and the unveiling of the roadmap for the Peoples Democratic Institute (PDI) at the party’s headquarters in Abuja.
The PDI, which is modeled after the National Republican Institute, is the think tank arm of the PDP that is saddled with training and research activities for the leading opposition party among others.
He expressed the firm optimism that it only the PDP that can take the nation out of the woods.
According to the Governor, “this unveiling starts as the renewal of the PDP’s pledge to start planning for governance and set out a blueprint to rebuild our nation.
“The PDP can, and will do everything in its power to fix Nigeria. We can fix Nigeria. We’ll fix PDP and then PDP will fix Nigeria. And that will be the basis of real hope for the people of Nigeria.”, he said.
Continuing, Engr Makinde, who was first elected as the Governor of Oyo State in 2019, said, “For me also, from 2019, I’ve been benefitting from PDP. So, I want to say thank you to our great party, and all the stakeholders gathered here today, for giving me the opportunity to get not one, but two mandates, back to back, under this umbrella.
“The only thing I can promise you, is that since I have fetched water from that well and i have been drinking since 2019, I will not pollute the well, when I am exiting that office
“The journey to this day has not been all smooth, but I’m thankful that we’re able to overcome all the obstacles along the way.
“Let me especially thank all the people that are members of the party, that have put aside grievances, and played a role in the reestablishment and revitalization of the PDI”, he said.
Speaking earlier, former Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki harped on the need for all hands to be on deck with a view to moving the PDP forward.
According to Saraki, “We’ve built this party. Parties are built on ideas, philosophies and policies. Let us move away from building ideas on self, on ambition. We cannot have an ambition if we don’t have a party.
“We cannot have a party if we don’t have ideas. This is where it starts from. This is the foundation that is important.
“Let us desist from talking about who is running for councillor, or who is running for governor, or who is running for president in 2027.
“Let us talk about what is PDP. What does PDP represent? What are the issues and policies that we must take into account? This is what is important for us. This is what Nigerians outside want to know. This is what is important”, he said.
