Dokpesi to PDP: Reform or perish
Fri Aug 12, 2016 11:55:am Politics
2.2K By sosa hills
Media mogul, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, has spoken of his vision and ambition to revive the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and place it in a vantage position to win the 2019 presidential election.
Dokpesi, who is in the race to be the Chairman of the PDP, reportedly submitted his nomination form yesterday for the Chairmanship election scheduled for the party's National Convention this August.
He affirmed that since the PDP has zoned the presidential candidacy to the North for the 2019 general elections, and the Chairmanship to the South, he was the best candidate from the South who would lead the party to regain the Presidency which it lost last year to the All Progressives congress (APC).
"My mission is to win 2019. And I intend to deploy every resource I can to achieve that. We need to reconcile with all those who have left the party," he said.
In an interactive session with Editors in Abuja, Dokpesi stressed that his ultimate goal was to transform the PDP and return it to winning ways in order to retake the presidency which the party lost when it became overconfident and complacent. He warned that the PDP was sick and would disintegrate and disappear unless it healed itself and changed its ways.
"The PDP became overconfident. Impunity set in. Over-confidence set in and the imposition of candidates. Internal democracy was abandoned. We started offending each other in the party. Those who could not cope left. Others were just hanging on. The failure of the PDP (at the presidential election) meant that something was wrong," Dokpesi said.
He said the time had come for the PDP to reform and reinvent itself as a mega party which once prided itself as the largest political party in Africa.
His words: "We need to return the party to the people. We threw away the supremacy of the party. Money bags took over the party and determined who became what, from Councillor to Chairman, Governor, etc."
Dokpesi lamented the current situation in the country and said it was imperative for the PDP to provide a virile opposition to the ruling party and then retake power at the next presidential election hence the need for a strong candidate and loyal party man like himself to lead the PDP at this critical time.
"My mission is to serve the party, to return the party to the vision of the founding fathers; to strengthen the party, to deepen democracy and give the ruling party a virile opposition. There is a lot of hunger in the land, a lot of poverty in the country. People are frustrated. The PDP has gone to sleep. I want to awaken the party, to rebrand the party. That is my mission," Dokpesi said.
Speaking on the forthcoming PDP National Convention, Dokpesi called for a level playing ground and the entrenchment of internal democracy in the party.
"The PDP can no longer afford to allocate posts in the boardroom. There must be internal democracy; there must be a level playing ground. I represent reform; I represent reinvention of the party. We need to leave the old ways that brought us to the situation we are in today as a party. We need to do things differently.
"The era of imposition, the era of rascality in the party has gone. Our ultimate aim is to reform the party. We are hoping there will be a free and fair convention. I want us to hope and pray that the Governors have learnt their lessons and will allow the party to make its own decisions. The consequence of not allowing internal democracy in the PDP is that the party will break and disappear; if the party does not reform it will go into oblivion".
Dokpesi, who is in the race to be the Chairman of the PDP, reportedly submitted his nomination form yesterday for the Chairmanship election scheduled for the party's National Convention this August.
He affirmed that since the PDP has zoned the presidential candidacy to the North for the 2019 general elections, and the Chairmanship to the South, he was the best candidate from the South who would lead the party to regain the Presidency which it lost last year to the All Progressives congress (APC).
"My mission is to win 2019. And I intend to deploy every resource I can to achieve that. We need to reconcile with all those who have left the party," he said.
In an interactive session with Editors in Abuja, Dokpesi stressed that his ultimate goal was to transform the PDP and return it to winning ways in order to retake the presidency which the party lost when it became overconfident and complacent. He warned that the PDP was sick and would disintegrate and disappear unless it healed itself and changed its ways.
"The PDP became overconfident. Impunity set in. Over-confidence set in and the imposition of candidates. Internal democracy was abandoned. We started offending each other in the party. Those who could not cope left. Others were just hanging on. The failure of the PDP (at the presidential election) meant that something was wrong," Dokpesi said.
He said the time had come for the PDP to reform and reinvent itself as a mega party which once prided itself as the largest political party in Africa.
His words: "We need to return the party to the people. We threw away the supremacy of the party. Money bags took over the party and determined who became what, from Councillor to Chairman, Governor, etc."
Dokpesi lamented the current situation in the country and said it was imperative for the PDP to provide a virile opposition to the ruling party and then retake power at the next presidential election hence the need for a strong candidate and loyal party man like himself to lead the PDP at this critical time.
"My mission is to serve the party, to return the party to the vision of the founding fathers; to strengthen the party, to deepen democracy and give the ruling party a virile opposition. There is a lot of hunger in the land, a lot of poverty in the country. People are frustrated. The PDP has gone to sleep. I want to awaken the party, to rebrand the party. That is my mission," Dokpesi said.
Speaking on the forthcoming PDP National Convention, Dokpesi called for a level playing ground and the entrenchment of internal democracy in the party.
"The PDP can no longer afford to allocate posts in the boardroom. There must be internal democracy; there must be a level playing ground. I represent reform; I represent reinvention of the party. We need to leave the old ways that brought us to the situation we are in today as a party. We need to do things differently.
"The era of imposition, the era of rascality in the party has gone. Our ultimate aim is to reform the party. We are hoping there will be a free and fair convention. I want us to hope and pray that the Governors have learnt their lessons and will allow the party to make its own decisions. The consequence of not allowing internal democracy in the PDP is that the party will break and disappear; if the party does not reform it will go into oblivion".
Related News
Leave a comment...