By Lateef Ibrahim
The Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), Umar Damagum, has expressed optimism that the party was ready to win the Ondo state governorship election in November.
Damagum made this statement while addressing stakeholders of the party before the presentation of the Certificate of Return to the candidate of the party, Alfred Agboola Ajayi at the party headquarters in Abuja.
He also called on Ajayi to get to work and rally round other aspirants to ensure the victory of the party.
Damagum, who took a swipe at the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC), for undertaking a “rancorous primary,” said, “At a time our opponents could not put their acts together, We in the opposition, much was expected of us and we shamed them, we produced a candidate without a dissenting voice. It’s because of what we have put in place that this has been possible.
“During our stakeholders meeting, we agreed that all the aspirants must come from the south, and by the grace of God, that is what happened. This shows the preparedness of the party to take over Ondo State.
“Even from the last election, we know that Ondo is PDP and from the stakeholders meeting and other engagements, we were able to come out with a single candidate.”
He told the candidate not to take for granted that most of his co-aspirants have conceded to him, adding that “You need to do more to bring them on board so that you can complete this exercise. To complete this exercise, one must win the state for the PDP. It is not going to be an easy task, you have to start going from door to door.
“Reaching out to them, persuading them, you must work hard to make sure PDP takes Ondo State, but we will have our stakeholders meeting in the South West on Monday and work for the party.
“Unlike the other parties, we have an internal working mechanism and when we talk to ourselves, we are not garrison Commanders, but we engage and that is why, till today, PDP remains a brand. It is the only party to which you will come as nobody and become somebody.”
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