The Director-General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Dr. Salihu Moh Lukman, has said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) deserves commendation for conducting a successful national convention last weekend.
Lukman, however, claimed, in the statement that it was possible because the party is in opposition.
He said apart from consolidating on the successful composition of a new national leadership, the party should avoid culture of arrogance and impunity.
“With the successful conclusion of the PDP national convention, credit must be given to leaders and members of the party for being able to manage the process and elect a new leadership for the party,” he wrote in the statement.
“Those who are not members of the party should urge the newly elected PDP leaders to build on the new atmosphere to start a new beginning for the party based on honesty, respect for one another and above all recognising that politics is all about negotiations and agreement.
“Every negotiation should produce agreement based on majority decisions. Of course, people are free to disagree with decisions of the majority. But such disagreements should respect the rights of the majority to direct how parties, society and nation should be governed.
“When disagreement turn to rebellion, it is either that those who disagree are not democrats, or they lack the capacity to negotiate and through negotiations win support of majority, or they are very desperate to have their says and ways in dictating how organisations and wider Nigerian society should be governed. It may also be a combination of all the above.
“Ordinarily, the successful conclusion of the PDP National Convention should only be celebrated by PDP members. However, given the important role the party has played in orienting politics in Nigeria for 16 years between 1999 and 2015, during which Nigerian politics was made to be opposed to negotiations, it is important to acknowledge that the Convention is about the first time, since 1999 perhaps, that there is some semblance of negotiations to produce leaders of the party.
“Whether in the end, the new leaders will be allowed by the power blocs within the PDP to facilitate negotiations, is completely a different matter. By the way, the fact that the party can elect a young person, below 30 years as National Youth Leader means that PDP leaders have recognised that the old culture of arrogance and impunity must be avoided if they are to win the support of Nigerians, which is very positive.
“This is itself a confirmation that once processes are managed democratically; the right results would be achieved. Every Nigerian should wish PDP, its leaders and party members well.”
