A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Osita Chidoka, says the party will become extinct if the party doesn’t get its act together.
Chidoka, an ally of Atiku Abubakar, PDP flag bearer in the February 25, 2023 poll, stated this on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday.
The former aviation minister said the PDP would soon start publishing papers criticising policies and actions of the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration of President Bola Tinubu.
Chidoka said, “The PDP in itself was a party in government for 16 years. Its instinct is that of a government party and not that of an opposition party and it has taken us eight years now to begin to realise.
“Now, we are beginning to see that PDP itself needs to be reformed, PDP itself needs to renew itself, reimagine itself to begin to play the role of opposition, knowing full well that we have a politician as President.
“If PDP doesn’t get its act together, it will be an extinct party. So, we need to wake up, smell the coffee, find the kind of leadership that will represent us in an opposition atmosphere and begin to do the work of the opposition, begin to do the work of mobilisation.”
He said the last four years has taught the PDP that a younger party can snatch the party’s strongholds.
“Our last four years have taught us a bitter lesson that a young party can come up and take away PDP strongholds in an election cycle. So, there are so much for us to learn as a party and I am hoping that by the time the court cases are over, then we can go back to PDP as an opposition party,” he said.
In the 2023 general elections, many hitherto strongholds of the PDP were won by the Labour Party, a party which rode on the acceptance of former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, who in less than a year galvanised youths and came third in the February 25, 2023 presidential poll.
