Atiku Campaign Spokesman Urges Wike Group To Reconsider Pull Out From Campaign Council
*PDP Ready To Embrace Issue-Based Campaigns, Says Aniagwu
THE spokesperson of the Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign Organisation, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, has pleaded with the Wike group in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to reconsider their steps, especially yesterday’s decision to pull out of the Council until the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, resigns.
The group had since the presidential primary election in Abuja called for the resignation of Ayu is a pre-condition to support and participate in the party’s campaigns.
Aniagwu, while speaking with The Guardian, said: “The issues they have raised are the same issues they have raised before now. We have examined the issues before and it was part of efforts to resolve it that the then chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) resigned his position.
“The other issues they are raising, as leaders of the party, we believe they understand the position of the party’s constitution regarding them. Except they feel there are other solutions that will not go against the tenets of that constitution. It may not augur well to offend the position of the party, because your may not know the mind of some individuals who may want to go to court to challenge it.
“Even if some people may feel okay and do not activate that process, anybody that has the locus standi can decide to do so and that would plunge the party into crisis. That is why we have been pleading that we should all join hands and prosecute the coming elections, thereafter we can again look at those issues they have raised, which we believe is within their democratic rights.”
He reiterated that the presidential candidate was desirous of continuous engagement with them, even after the elections.
Meanwhile, Aniagwu has restated that the PDP was ready to embrace issue-based campaigns, which kicks off on September 28.
Speaking on a television programme, Aniagwu, who is also the Commissioner for Information in Delta State, assured that the party was prepared to stay on the issues, because it was well abreast with the challenges bedeviling the nation, noting that only those who lacked the requisite information on the nation’s challenges would resort to insulting opponents.
“It is important for every Nigerian to appreciate the fact that we must remain on the issues that our people are contending with. I am happy that our party, particularly our presidential candidate, has clearly identified what the issues are and it is only those who don’t understand what the issues are that try to bring up propaganda or try to attack individuals. As a party, we have been able to reel out the issues we are going to deal with, which include the need to revamp the economy, ensure security of lives and property and devolution of power to the different component parts of the country.
“We will be addressing issues of education and also talk about the need to manage our diversity, because its mismanagement has brought us to where we are and have triggered some other symptomatic issues.”
The commissioner recalled that among the presidential candidates, it is only Abubakar has been able to come up with a policy document and the only one prepared for the job, “and that is why we are desirous of staying in line with those policy statements that our candidate has been able to put forward,” he stated.
Aniagwu assured that PDP would continue to stay on the trajectory of the real issues that agitate the minds of Nigerians, adding: “For anybody to abandon those issues and begin to attack fellow candidates, who also have constitutional rights to vie for that office, means the person is inflicting more injuries on Nigerians whose lives are already battered because of the abysmal performance of the APC-led government in past seven years.
“We will tell you the problem and also how we are going to solve them; we will not take the path of insulting other Nigerians, because we recognise the fact that it is also their right to seek for that same office we are seeking.”
