President Goodluck Jonathan
yesterday told members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be firm
and resist any form of intimidation by the opposition, saying that the
party is too strong to be defeated.
He also noted that the consistent attacks on his person and the party were a strategy by the opposition to destabilise him since he remained the first image bearer of the party and government.
Speaking at the unveiling of the PDP Volunteer Scheme at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the president said as members of the ruling party, they should be proud of their party and always be ready to defend it.
“We should all be proud of our party and we should not allow others to intimidate us. We must all collectively protect and defend the interest of our party”, Jonathan stated.
He maintained that no political party in the country was formidable as the PDP which, according to him, is unstoppable as far as winning the 2015 general election which begins on the 28th of this month was concerned.
The president lamented what he described as poor marketing of the PDP by its members, saying that besides its numerous achievements, only the ruling party could guarantee unity and peace of the country.
He implored party bigwigs to work hard in marketing the party especially at the grassroots, especially using the media so that the elections would be a walkover.
He said, “PDP is not just the largest party in Nigeria, but it is the only party that has members at all voting units; there is no other party; whether two, three, four, five parties coming together, they cannot reach that level. PDP has members in every voting unit in this country.
“And PDP has done well over this period. I’m happy that our state Houses of Assembly, some of them are here; the local government chairmen of the party are also here. PDP has done very well, but we have not been marketing the achievements of our party.
“Sometimes, you see people that have done nothing coming to intimidate us. Yesterday when I was in Lagos with sone young people, I told them that they can set up their own independent monitoring group to assess us; we are doing better than others”.
Noting that it is only in PDP states that things are working, the president said, “If I compare the quality of Government Houses and Presidential Lodges, the ones in PDP states are better in quality; even state universities opened by PDP states are better; the PDP states are committed to education, but sometimes people come and say we have done nothing.
“And the intimidation is to the extent that even in the states where we are more, where we even have PDP governors, they come to intimidate us, and we have to resolve that we cannot allow people who are not up to us to intimidate us.
“At the state level and at the national level, we cannot compare our standards with theirs, because they have not had the experience and we will not give them the opportunity, but I know they will not do well.
“PDP is the only party that brings about peace in this country. And I always say that when you see people talking and you see the bitterness in their hearts, you see the frustration, the anger, and you see them as people who are already feeling guilty.
“If you don’t have a forgiving heart, if you don’t have a clean heart, you cannot rule Nigeria, because you cannot give out what you don’t have”.
Other speakers at the event including Professor Jerry Gana, Dr Amadu Ali and Chief Tony Anenih, director general, director of mobilisation of PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation and chairman of BoT respectively, stressed the need to strenghten the party at all levels and for members to be team players.
Ali linked the lukewarm attitude of some western countries towards Nigeria’s war against Boko Haram to the anti-gay bill passed into law by President Jonathan.
He said, “It does not matter what our former partners feel because we passed the same-sex bill. We have culture; we have tradition. We have taken our decision and we will abide by it. Believe you me, the whole of Africa is looking up to us. Democracy is not a panacea for all cultures.
“For us to think what is happening there must happen here is wrong. We must be able to nurture democracy from our own perspective and that is what we are doing. We may falter; they have been there for more than 200 years; they are still faltering”.
Amadu Ali hinted that the PDP Ward Scheme Volunteer is a campaign strategy targetted at the grassroots, using about a million foot soldiers to be known as volunteers.
He also noted that the issue of insecurity was new to the country, saying even past leaders like former President Shehu Shagari had to deal with the Maitatsine group during his regime.
He said, “People talk about security; this has been going on; it’s not the first time. Shehu Shagari had to deal with the Maitatsine riot in Kano.”
“Now, what is happening is an international thing. The ISIS are all over the world. They are in Iran and Lebanon. This is a branch of them. You can see their flag. We are coping very well”.
At the of filing this report, President Jonathan was still meeting with PDP governors, the party governorship candidates and their running mates, as well as other party big wigs at the new banquet hall of the presidential villa, Abuja.
The meeting, LEADERSHIP gathered is to strategise on how to embark on a last minute campaign for the forthcoming general elections.
He also noted that the consistent attacks on his person and the party were a strategy by the opposition to destabilise him since he remained the first image bearer of the party and government.
Speaking at the unveiling of the PDP Volunteer Scheme at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the president said as members of the ruling party, they should be proud of their party and always be ready to defend it.
“We should all be proud of our party and we should not allow others to intimidate us. We must all collectively protect and defend the interest of our party”, Jonathan stated.
He maintained that no political party in the country was formidable as the PDP which, according to him, is unstoppable as far as winning the 2015 general election which begins on the 28th of this month was concerned.
The president lamented what he described as poor marketing of the PDP by its members, saying that besides its numerous achievements, only the ruling party could guarantee unity and peace of the country.
He implored party bigwigs to work hard in marketing the party especially at the grassroots, especially using the media so that the elections would be a walkover.
He said, “PDP is not just the largest party in Nigeria, but it is the only party that has members at all voting units; there is no other party; whether two, three, four, five parties coming together, they cannot reach that level. PDP has members in every voting unit in this country.
“And PDP has done well over this period. I’m happy that our state Houses of Assembly, some of them are here; the local government chairmen of the party are also here. PDP has done very well, but we have not been marketing the achievements of our party.
“Sometimes, you see people that have done nothing coming to intimidate us. Yesterday when I was in Lagos with sone young people, I told them that they can set up their own independent monitoring group to assess us; we are doing better than others”.
Noting that it is only in PDP states that things are working, the president said, “If I compare the quality of Government Houses and Presidential Lodges, the ones in PDP states are better in quality; even state universities opened by PDP states are better; the PDP states are committed to education, but sometimes people come and say we have done nothing.
“And the intimidation is to the extent that even in the states where we are more, where we even have PDP governors, they come to intimidate us, and we have to resolve that we cannot allow people who are not up to us to intimidate us.
“At the state level and at the national level, we cannot compare our standards with theirs, because they have not had the experience and we will not give them the opportunity, but I know they will not do well.
“PDP is the only party that brings about peace in this country. And I always say that when you see people talking and you see the bitterness in their hearts, you see the frustration, the anger, and you see them as people who are already feeling guilty.
“If you don’t have a forgiving heart, if you don’t have a clean heart, you cannot rule Nigeria, because you cannot give out what you don’t have”.
Other speakers at the event including Professor Jerry Gana, Dr Amadu Ali and Chief Tony Anenih, director general, director of mobilisation of PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation and chairman of BoT respectively, stressed the need to strenghten the party at all levels and for members to be team players.
Ali linked the lukewarm attitude of some western countries towards Nigeria’s war against Boko Haram to the anti-gay bill passed into law by President Jonathan.
He said, “It does not matter what our former partners feel because we passed the same-sex bill. We have culture; we have tradition. We have taken our decision and we will abide by it. Believe you me, the whole of Africa is looking up to us. Democracy is not a panacea for all cultures.
“For us to think what is happening there must happen here is wrong. We must be able to nurture democracy from our own perspective and that is what we are doing. We may falter; they have been there for more than 200 years; they are still faltering”.
Amadu Ali hinted that the PDP Ward Scheme Volunteer is a campaign strategy targetted at the grassroots, using about a million foot soldiers to be known as volunteers.
He also noted that the issue of insecurity was new to the country, saying even past leaders like former President Shehu Shagari had to deal with the Maitatsine group during his regime.
He said, “People talk about security; this has been going on; it’s not the first time. Shehu Shagari had to deal with the Maitatsine riot in Kano.”
“Now, what is happening is an international thing. The ISIS are all over the world. They are in Iran and Lebanon. This is a branch of them. You can see their flag. We are coping very well”.
At the of filing this report, President Jonathan was still meeting with PDP governors, the party governorship candidates and their running mates, as well as other party big wigs at the new banquet hall of the presidential villa, Abuja.
The meeting, LEADERSHIP gathered is to strategise on how to embark on a last minute campaign for the forthcoming general elections.
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