Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Adolphus Wabara, has said the party was scared of losing Rivers State, pointing out that if that eventually happens, then the future of Nigeria would be truly lost.
This is as Governor Siminalayi Fubara has declared that Rivers still remains a PDP-controlled state, bringing an end to weeks of speculations that he was planning to dump the main opposition political party in the country for another party.
Wabara spoke on Tuesday when he led a delegation of PDP BoT members on a visit to Governor Fubara at the Government House, Port Harcourt.
He explained that they visited the governor as the conscience of the party in search of peace and unity because of the tension in recent times that has threatened the PDP in the state.
Wabara, who is a former President of the Senate, said: “We, the Board of Trustees of this party, came here in search of peace and unity of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“We have been reading all kinds of things on the pages of newspapers and the Internet, for those who are Internet savvy. But, we, as elders of this great party decided to come to hear from the horse’s mouth.
“First of all, we want to thank you for still being there because this party should not be allowed to die. And, it is for this very reason that I am thanking you, on behalf of my colleagues, and as you can see, it’s not from one geo-political zone. We are well represented nationally.
“We were scared sir, when we heard or read speculations, perceptions or what have you, that the party, if we are not careful, might lose Rivers State. Of course, if we lose Rivers State, Nigeria has lost its future.
“We don’t want what happened in 2015, and 2023 to repeat itself. These men and women you see here are very neutral. But as the conscience of the party, we must go by the rule of law. And anything you do, going by the rule of law, can never be wrong. It may be delayed, but it cannot be wrong.”
The BoT chairman acknowledged that Fubara has demonstrated enormous care for the PDP, which is why he has been so patient with the inactivity of the party leadership amidst the political crisis that engulfed the State.
He added: “I don’t want to describe it. Otherwise, as a governor, we have former governors here, I doubt if they would have taken as much as you have. So, on behalf of this party, once again, let me thank you for your resilience, your wisdom, and for the fact that you are still in this party.
“And to assure you that the Board of Trustees under my watch and with these serious-minded Nigerians, will deal with the matter as constitutionally allowed.”
Responding, Fubara said as was normally expected, he doubted his membership of the PDP at some point but the visitation from the BoT has offered a stronger conviction that he is a member of the PDP family.
Fubara said, “I want to thank the chairman and members of the Board of Trustees. Honestly speaking, if I was having any doubt about my membership first, of this great party, I think today, I have gotten a reconfirmation that I am still, not minding the drama around, a member of this party.
“And, I want to thank you for taking all the troubles to come to Rivers State to see the governor and the supporters of the party, genuinely. I need to use that word, genuinely, because we, that are here, are members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) undiluted.
“For once, I am happy to see the leaders, among whom are some founding fathers of the PDP, like Chief Bode George, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo, joining the delegation here to talk about the unity of the party.”
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