The acrimony caused by the December national convention of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has continued to fester in spite of moves to mend the fences.
Many of the aggrieved members, especially some members of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party are reported to have defected to the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Reports say that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Thursday at Sheraton Hotel, Abuja, by the defecting members, other political parties and other groups to dissolve into the SDP.
Former Minister of Education, Prof. Tunde Adeniran and former minister of information, Prof Jerry Gana, who are members of PDPs BoT are aggrieved.
Adeniran, who was edged out of the National Chairmanship contest in December, confirmed their defection.
He said they decided to leave PDP because they needed a platform, among other things, that is not owned by one or few individuals.
Though he expressed satisfaction with the reconciliation team led by the Bayelsa State governor, but had been constrained to leave PDP because his supporters from the South-west were miffed by the way Wike insulted them on the eve of the national convention.
I am a member of the SDP and we have taken a decision to move to the SDP. What has happened is this: there are those of us who believe in genuine internal party democracy, who believe in social justice, equity fairness and honesty in politics and are irrevocably and uncompromisingly against impunity imposition and corruption.
We formed what we called new political order. Most of us came in from the PDP, some came in from some other parties, groups, social activist and so on.
Those of us in the PDP felt that the PDP has gone beyond what could be redeemed in terms of its commitment to what we thought should be things of the past. But we realised that we would not be able to get justice for the people and for the things that we should be running away from, and would not move this country forward.
So, we thought we needed a different platform that will respect the dignity of man; that will be honest in all its dealings; a platform where the love of country, genuine patriotism and interest of the masses of the people is supreme; a party that will not be easily purchasable by one individual or group of individuals.
So those of us who believe in the future generations and the youths and the rights of women to be respected and given their rightful place in society and in the politics of the land, we felt we needed a platform that will provide opportunity for this and we considered some new parties and some existing parties and among the various parties that we considered we also thought of those that are likely to encourage national spread, that will not promote ethnicity; a party that abhors internal crisis, a party that will have good programmes and principles, whose structure is good for the country.
That was what recommended the Social Democratic Party. As we are moving in as part of it, everybody is equal; nobody is bigger than the other, and there is room for people and others coming behind because there are so many other groups coming from all over the place and different parties that are still coming in.
He said that though the PDPs reconciliation committee was headed by a very honourable, honest, nice and patriotic man, but the committee did not do much.
He told newspaper: He is someone I respect a lot. I admire his style of leadership. He meant well, no question about that. But after all that was done, you know, politics is about people. We represent people and so forth.
I am from the South West, I have gone back to my people and they felt so insulted by some people within the PDP, and they said they do not believe that they can relate and deal with people who have no regard or respect for them.
Other reports on the state of PDP are trending in social media, including twitter.
Tunde Adeniran: Why I left PDP with my supporters
TODAY (@todayng)
Some tweets say that SDP may have emerged as Third Force
OBJ
IBB
APC Faction
PDP faction
36 parties
6Governors
10 Ex Governor
15 Senators
Jerry Gana, Tunde Adeniran Defect To SDP, The last-ditch effort by politicians sympathetic to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Breaking News
SDP emerges as Third Force
OBJ
IBB
APC Faction
PDP faction
36 parties
6Governors
10 Ex Governor
15 Senators
26reps
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Jerry Gana, Tunde Adeniran Defect To SDP, The last-ditch effort by politicians sympathetic to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Nura Othman (@NuraOthman2)
Source:with additional reports
Source: NAN