PDP Under Pressure to Change Its Name
Urges Buhari to learn from Ghanaian president
Tobi Soniyi
So far, those who spoke with THISDAY said the leadership of the party had consistently rejected the idea, saying the PDP is a brand that has done well for the country and still has what it takes to do better.
When contacted, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the party welcomes ideas on how the party can succeed in the 2019 elections, stressing however that a change of name is not on the agenda of the PDP.
He said: “We seek new ideas on how best to sell our party to the generality of Nigerians. But changing the name of our great party is not in contemplation of the organs of our party.
“Why do we need to change our name? Our party is rebranding, repositioning and more than ever ready for the 2019 election. We lost in 2015 not because we were called PDP but because the opposition party then tagged us with unprintable names.
“Today, we remain the most viable opposition in our country and we have carried out our duties to the country responsibly. Nigerians are rallying the PDP because they have seen through the All Progressives Congress (APC) lies and propaganda.
“For us in the PDP, we will not change our name just because we lost election in 2015. In the Unites States of America, the Democratic Party has lost elections in its 190 years of existence but it has not changed its name. Also, the Republican Party has existed for 164 years without a change of name.
“The PDP has lived for almost 20 years and lost election only once. Our rebranding is not about change of names but adopting democratic culture that meets best practices all over the world.
“The PDP is striving to meet these practices on daily basis, and it has become responsive to the demands of members. Our party therefore has no need to change its name.”
Meanwhile, the party has called on President Muhammad Buhari to use the benefit of his state visit to Ghana to draw lessons from his Ghanaian counterpart, President Nana Akufo-Addo, on how to run a peaceful, united and economically vibrant country.
The party also criticised the president for offering to assist Ghana in her war against corruption when his own administration reeks heavily with corruption as evidenced by the Transparency International report which exposed the fact that corruption has worsened in Nigeria under his watch.
The party, in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, yesterday said the president and his handlers should have been embarrassed that while the President of Ghana paraded credentials of a robust economy and a peaceful country, Nigeria, under the Buhari presidency is plagued with economic recession and upsurge of violence and daily bloodletting.
“When President Buhari was reeling out President AkufoAddo achievements in his one year in office; his ingenious approach to job creation; the farming for job initiative, the senior high school free education, one district-one factory projects and one village-one dam initiatives among others; we hope our dear president reflected on the fact that back home, his inept government had instead, wrecked our once robust economy, the reason he had nothing to present to the world at the ceremony.
“We hope President Buhari recollects that unlike his Ghanian counterpart, his administration had nothing to show in its first year in office. Our president recalls that under his own watch, over eight million Nigerians have lost their jobs, 16 million remained unemployed, 18 million more were underemployed while another 27.44 million refused to work for various reasons related to frustrations occasioned by the negative policies of his government.”