I Will Return Stronger To Rebuild PDP,Johnathan Tells Party Leadership

*Says he’ll take a short rest outside Nigeria
*Adds: My very close aides did not vote
By Henry Umoru
ABUJA — PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan
has told the National Working Committee,
NWC, of the Peoples Democratic Party,
PDP, that he would return stronger to help
rebuild the party after taking a short break
outside the country with his family.
The President urged the leadership,
stakeholders, leaders, elders and members
of the PDP to put behind them the defeat
the party suffered during the March 28
presidential election where it lost to the All
Progressives Congress, APC, after 16 years
in power and build the party for future
elections.
President Jonathan, who did not actually
blame the leadership of the party for his
loss at the election, was said to have heaped
the blames on some of his very close aides,
just as he told the NWC members that a
Special Adviser from the North did not even
vote on the day of Presidential election.
Vanguard gathered that President Jonathan,
who thanked members of the NWC for
their support, disclosed to them that soon
after the May 29 handover of government,
he would travel outside the country with his
family, rest, recuperate and then come back
to politics later, but not immediately.
President Jonathan who also warned the
leadership of the party against apportioning
blames asked them to ensure that the PDP
does not disintegrate because of March and
April elections.
PDP will bounce back
He said from all indications, the PDP would
bounce back against the backdrop that there
would be the problem of ego where three
persons will be serving as Presidents of the
country with only one elected.
The Wednesday meeting was held behind
closed doors at the Presidential Villa with the
aim of ending the lingering crisis in the
party after the general elections where
some PDP governors, party leaders,
stakeholders and members have been
calling for the sack of the present National
Working Committee, NWC, under Alhaji
Adamu Mu’azu.
The meeting, the first of its kind since the
PDP lost the presidency after 16 years of
leadership to the Presidential candidate of
the All Progressives Congress, APC, General
Muhammadu Buhari, retd, was a
postmortem on the election, to discuss the
way forward for the party especially the
move to heal the inflicted wounds, to
restrategise as well as reposition the party.
It was also gathered that those present at
the meeting used the opportunity to
ruminate on the elections and the loss
where they wished that the PDP would
have won the election.
The ruling PDP, which controlled the
Presidency, the Senate and the House of
Representatives for 16 years since 1999, did
not only suffer Presidential defeat, but it lost
in its traditional states of Plateau; Niger;
Kaduna; Benue; Bauchi and Jigawa.