A horde of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) supporters trooped out on Monday in Ilorin, Kwara state capital, to welcome governor Abdulfatah Ahmed who at the weekend joined six others of his colleagues to form a parallel national leadership of the party.
But while acknowledging the initiation of reconciliation moves between the factional group and the presidency, Ahmed warned those who might want to use development to create a break-away group of the party at the state level to perish the thought, saying the PDP structure in Kwara State remains cohesive despite the impasse in the party at the national level.
Ahmed who took time to answer questions from newsmen on arrival at the Ilorin International Airport after addressing PDP stalwarts who thronged the airport to welcome him back from Abuja, said it would be wrong for anyone to think of tampering with the party’s existing structure in the state with the aim of causing disunity.
Although he did not mention names, there were speculations recently that the presidency had perfected plans to use the chairman of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), Professor Shuaib AbdulRaheem, to create a parallel structure of the PDP. At the time, however, leaders of the party in the state denied the rumour, saying there was nothing credible on ground to support such insinuations.
Like the party leaders who spoke then, Ahmed insisted that the PDP structure in the state is firmly under control and can always deliver the votes when the time comes.
His words: “A few dissidents might feel that this is an opportunity for them to begin to create disharmony in the PDP in Kwara. Let it be known that we in Kwara State have a tested machinery that can deliver results consistently. Our people are solidly behind us as we’ve consistently protected their interest. So, for those few dissents who think that they want to run parallel structure in the state, our loyal electorate will demonstrate that they will be acting in vain”.
The governor who said that politicians who have not worked for the party cannot hope to control it from outside, assured the party supporters that consultations were on to resolve the impasse in the party at the centre amicably. According to him, said it was expedient that those who matter in the party in Kwara State are accorded due respect, rather than hoping to infiltrate the party structure through those he called dissents.
“We believe it is those that work that should reap and not those that did not work but want to reap from Abuja. We’ll not allow that. We voted and our votes were part of those that brought President Jonathan to power. We know the voters and those in Abuja will not tell us those who voted here. They should ensure we make our people get due benefits of their struggle. Our leaders should be invited to ensure things go well. We can’t struggle to get things in place for some other people to enjoy”, he said.
According to him, another session of consultation is expected to come up where all the issues raised by the aggrieved party members would be resolved. He said he and some other PDP governors were in the Presidency on the invitation of President Jonathan, adding that the visit was a mark of respect for the President and to deliberate on issues that the governors had highlighted.
