The South West Zonal Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Kamorudeen Ajisafe, says the party remains focused despite its poor showing in Saturday’s Anambra governorship election.
Ajisafe stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday while reacting to the outcome of the poll, where the PDP polled a scanty 1,401 votes
He said the result of the election was self-explanatory, adding that there was no need for argument or denial.
“The result is self-explanatory. No matter what you say, I have no objection to it,” he said.
According to him, the Anambra poll was only an off-cycle election, and it would be wrong for anyone to judge the party’s strength based on the outcome.
“People should not write off the PDP because of one state election. Anybody doing so is doing it at his own peril,” Ajisafe said.
He assured that the PDP leadership was working hard to put its house in order ahead of future elections.
Ajisafe said that the crisis within the party, especially the disagreements between the main body and the faction loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr Nyesom Wike, would soon be resolved.
“The group loyal to Wike remains a minority. They should have their say, but the majority will always have their way,” he said.
Calling for unity among members, Ajisafe expressed confidence in the newly appointed Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan.
He said the party believed Amupitan would not recognise any “splinter group” or act outside the law.
“I believe the new INEC Chairman, being a legal luminary, will do the right thing,” he said.
Ajisafe reaffirmed that the PDP National Convention scheduled for Nov. 15 and Nov. 16 in Ibadan would hold as planned.
“The convention is too sacrosanct. No court can stop it because it is an internal affair already settled by the Supreme Court,” he said.
According to him, the apex court has made it clear that issues relating to party membership and internal administration are outside the jurisdiction of the courts.
“The Supreme Court has settled that no court can proclaim who a party member is except the party itself,” he said.
Ajisafe maintained that the PDP remained the hope of Nigerians, noting that the party was undergoing a major rebranding process.
“The future of the PDP is very bright. Nigerians have tested our leadership before and can see the difference,” he said.
He said the party would continue to prioritise the welfare of Nigerians, promising not to disappoint them.
NAN reports that INEC declared Gov. Charles Soludo and candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) winner of the Saturday governorship election after polling 422,664 votes.
Soludo’s closest rival, Nicholas Ukachukwu, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), garnered 99,445 votes.
Similarly, Paul Chukwuma of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) came third with 37,753 votes, while John Nwosu of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) scored 8,208 votes.
George Moghalu of the Labour Party (LP) and Jude Ezenwafor of the PDP scored 10,576 votes and 1,401 votes, respectively.
