A former Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, has dropped his ambition to become the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party.
According to a group that had been propping his ambition, The Reformers, Daniel has decided not to run again for the position.
This was contained in a statement on Thursday by John Adenekan on behalf of The Reformers.
The statement, titled; “PDP crises, the holding talks and the road not taken,” reads in full: “Without any doubt, the Peoples Democratic Party has been on experiment shortly before the 2015 general elections where the party lost. After Bamanga Tukur, the party had 3 chairman in quick succession: Mu’azu, Uche Secondus (in acting capacity), Sheriff and now Maikarfi (as Caretaker committee Chairman).
“The loss of power at the centre and in several states which it controlled in 2015 also came with a myriad of problems, especially because the party lost not only political power, but a superintendent and commanding structure of a President. Residual powers are held in various hands and in various capacities. There are close 25 litigation against and by parties at the national level, and who knows how many others in various states. Yet the party continue on its nose dive in image, all thanks to the ruling All Progressive Congress onslaught on the party leaders with a clear tag of corruption, threats and arrests.
“Truth is, our fears appear not to have been addressed. In fact, more than ever before, we are greatly apprehensive that the marginal gains of the last few months might be short-lived and or truncated having read the body languages of most actors and stakeholders.
“We have appealed and invited Otunba Gbenga Daniel into the race against his personal conviction, better judgment and readings of the political space. We do not regret doing this. But with the turn of events, we think we should respect his judgment at this point, pending the time the coast becomes clearer on the path to take.
“We are deeply convinced that one of the reasons for refusing to join the race is to strengthen the chance of the South West geopolitical region to clinch the much coveted position of National Chairman of our great party at the August Convention in Port Harcourt, especially as the region is the only of six which had never had a shot at the office in its 17 years of existence. We can only urge him to be more active in propelling the Party to greater heights even from his relatively neutral position, while also calling on him to use this neutrality for uniting all the various competing interests in the Party.”
(Today.ng)
