Presidential
candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, National Chairman of
the party, Uche Secondus, and governors elected on the platform of the party
met in Abuja on Monday night to consider strategies for the forthcoming
elections.
Also at the
meeting were Atiku’s running mate, Peter Obi, and 29 governorship candidates of
the party for the 2019 elections.
Recall that
governorship elections would not hold in the seven states of Ekiti, Osun, Ondo,
Anambra, Bayelsa, Kogi and Edo in 2019.
The meeting
started around 10pm and ended in the early hours of Tuesday.
Secondus, who presided over the meeting, was
said to have told the attendees that the meeting was to discuss strategies that
would enable the PDP to defeat President Muhammadu Buhari and his party, the
All Progressives Congress.
Sources at
the meeting also said Secondus presented for discussion the outcome of the
by-elections in Katsina, Bauchi and Kwara states held on Saturday, which was
won by the APC.
It was
gathered that participants at the meeting unanimously condemned the outcome of
the elections, claiming they were rigged for the APC by the Independent
National Electoral Commission in connivance with security agencies.
A source at the meeting said Atiku and
Secondus sought the cooperation of all the members of the party to enable the
party win the election.
“Our chances
are bright, even though we are going to confront a vicious government and
unpretentious riggers,” Secondus was quoted to have said.
Both men were also said to have directed the
candidates to work with leaders in their areas from the ward to state levels.
Secondus,
later confirmed the decisions taken at the meeting, saying, “The meeting was
aimed at appraising our preparations for the general elections next year.
“The
interaction was to foster harmony among all and also to know the challenges in
states.
“We also reviewed the last Saturday elections
which were clearly rigged. The outcomes did not reflect the wishes of the
people and that is why we have asked the candidates and the aspirants to
proceed to the tribunal to challenge their outcomes. What we had was allocation
of votes.”
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