PDP to blame for failed convention, says Okupe

Doyin Okupe, aide of former President Goodluck Jonathan, has advised the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to put its house in order, and not to blame President Muhammadu Buhari for its botched convention in Port Harcourt.

In a statement on his Facebook page, entitled ‘Failed PDP convention: APC, Buhari not to blame”, Okupe traced the crisis in the party to the impunity of its leadership over the years.

“The failed PDP convention cannot and should not be blamed on our political adversaries. Rather, the blame should rest squarely on the failure of internal conflict resolution machinery of the PDP, the surprising naivety and desperation of many to seize power and control the party, and the gullibility of majority of the followership, who have become entrenched in the cesspool of pervasive impunity of our leadership over the years,” he said.

“However, it is commendable that the NEC threw sentiments aside and extended the tenure of the controversial caretaker committee by one year and allowed for future expansion of the membership of the committee.

“The import of this is that the party has now officially jettisoned the ‘microwave strategy’, hitherto employed by the leadership, and allowed for ample time to address all issues.

“By allowing for new inclusions into the members of the caretaker committee, the leadership obviously has made room for possible reasonable negotiation with Senator Amodu Sheriff ‘s group, which is inevitable and a political imperative, if the party must remain united.

“Again, this is neither the time for victory songs nor a season for political vendetta. This is time for seeking lasting and honest peace, time to rebuild from the current ashes of flames of the inferno of political opportunism, greed, selfishness and blatant brigandage and impunity.

“There may just be another chance to do it again especially now that our adversaries are burning their political access card.”

On Wednesday, the PDP convention was cancelled after the police sealed off the venue of the event.

However, the tenure of the caretaker committee of the party led by Ahmed Makarfi was extended by 12 months, after which a fresh convention will be held.