Posted by By GEOFFREY ANYANWU, Awka on
The reconciliation move of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been dismissed by the vice presidential candidate of Action Congress (AC) in the last April polls, Senator Ben Obi, who berated the party for playing the ostrich.
The reconciliation move of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been dismissed by the vice presidential candidate of Action Congress (AC) in the last April polls, Senator Ben Obi, who berated the party for playing the ostrich.
Obi contended that several incidents that had in the past jolted the democratic process in the country were swept under the carpet by the ruling party, insisting that resolution of such issues would be the beginning of true reconciliation.
Also, the South East zone of AC has inaugurated an 11-man committee, with the former interim national chairman of the party, Chief Alex Anielo, as the chairman, to understudy political situations in the five states of the zone and make recommendations to it on the way forward for the party.
But Senator Obi, who was addressing leaders of the party in South East at a meeting he hosted at Tourist Garden Hotels, Awka, maintained that the reconciliation committee set up by PDP was a mere smokescreen that would as usual come to nothing.
He noted that a situation whereby PDP as the ruling party failed to give an answer to several extra judicial killings and breach of the rule of law in the last eight years, the party's reconciliation ideas should be ignored by Nigerians.
He said, "I had the opportunity of running into the reconciliatory committee of the PDP at Enugu airport last week Monday, led by Adamu Ciroma and others and I guess that Dr Alex Ekwueme must be in the house waiting for them and they were saying to me that they were coming into the East and I am trying to board a plane back to Abuja. I said to them, as respected leaders of this country, which one of you have been bold enough to condemn the kidnapping of a sitting governor?
"The genocide, which was meted on Anambra State up to this day and yet every action from the kidnapping of a governor to this genocide were done by known PDP thugs and yet you people are talking about reconciliation.
"I think the same Professor Wole Soyinka categorised the PDP as the nest of killers. This is the first time in the history of African continent that a serving Chief law Officer and Attorney General of the federation of the status of Chief Bola Ige would be killed in such a manner and nobody has been able to say a word or two. Sunday Ehindero paraded people who we can say are innocent on the national television as those who killed Bola Ige. Because he wanted to deliver some people before he bows out. Up till today, they are still parading different characters."
Meanwhile, the South East zone of AC in their communiqué after the meeting also accepted the resignation of its former National Organizing Secretary, Chief Sam Eke, from the party and in his stead nominated Mr. Goddy Ikechi from Abia State to replace him.
It further congratulated its presidential candidate and former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, for his "courageous strand in the pursuit of respect for the rule of law, order, equity and justice", and urged him to sustain the fight at the election petition tribunal.
Speaking on the outcome of the meeting, the Anambra State Chairman of the Party, Chief Ndubuisi Nwobu, said as a party that knows its onion, the meeting was meant to strengthen the party in the zone to ensure that "we carried on with our struggle for real democracy for Nigeria."
"We want to ensure that the rule of law is obeyed and we will go to any length legally to see that all these lawless people who claim to have won elections, which Nigerians knew never held, come to terms with the real democratic norms," he added.