Pull Lagos branch back from the brink, party chieftain pleads

intern

December 21, 2016 4:12 PM

According to him, the party is in serious need of new and promising young leaders.

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A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos, Mr Babatunde Akinyele, on Wednesday said that the state chapter of the party was on the brink of total collapse and needed urgent attention.

Akinyele, who lost in the Dec. 3 Ifako-Ijaiye Federal Constituency by-election in Lagos, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that internal rancour and factions had disintegrated the party.

According to him, the fragile unity in the Lagos chapter that enabled the party to win some House of Representatives seats in the 2015 General Election has broken down.

“I feel we need to get back on the drawing board to look for ways to come together desperately; if not done immediately, I don’t see the Lagos State Chapter of PDP lasting for another six months.

“We have the local government elections due in a few months time; how do we rally ourselves together?

“The lesson of my election should be learnt for possible correction within the ranks of the party.

“Leaders are polarised; no funding either from their personal pockets or from the state or national level,’’ Akinyele said.

According to him, the party is in serious need of new and promising young leaders that can make the needed political movement.

“We need people with passion and zeal, who are not in the party for their own personal interest alone.

“I hope a new rebranding, reshaping or something is quickly put together for our party to hold together,” he said.

Akinyele urged the party leadership to make concerted efforts to institute internal democracy in its primaries.

He commended PDP chieftains such as Chief Bode George, Prince Kola Balogun, Sen. Moshood Salvador, Mr Segun Adewale, Chief Taiwo Kuye, Mr Tokunbo Kudehinbu and Alhaji Akeem Balogun, among others, for their belief in the party.

Akinyele urged stakeholders within the party at both state and national levels to close ranks.

intern