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Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman, Senator Ahmadu Ali said on Tuesday that it would be a grievous mistake if Vice President Atiku Abubakar leaves the party as threatened.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman, Senator Ahmadu Ali said on Tuesday that it would be a grievous mistake if Vice President Atiku Abubakar leaves the party as threatened.
Senator Ali's statement came on the heels of the vice president's hint on Monday that he would soon quit the PDP after consultations with his associates to realise his presidential ambition on another party's platform.
If Atiku eventually makes real his threat, the PDP national chairman said the vice president's exit from the party would not affect its fortunes in the 2007 general elections 'because he alone is not PDP."
Fielding questions from Editors at a media luncheon in Lagos, Ali said there was no point for vice president to leave the party he built and nurtured for another political party.
'He (vice president) will make a grievous mistake. How would he run away from the house he built to another one. He was the foundation member of PDP. Nobody is pursuing him. His shadow is pursuing him.
'Definitely, his exit will not affect the fortunes of our party in 2007 because he alone is not PDP. We are on the ground gidigbam. 'By that I mean our feet are solidly on ground and PDP is definitely the party to beat in 2007. Yes, I said so, quote me!," Ali boasted.
The PDP boss who said the recent registration exercise of the members of the party was not aimed at marginalising or weeding out anybody as speculated, added that people cried wolf where none existed.
According to him, what happened in Adamawa State during the registration exercise was not meant to deregister the vice president and the state Governor Boni Haruna 'but the people there were not ready to co-operate."
Ali also said the recent reconciliation of aggrieved members was not a mere window dressing but aimed at genuine reconciliation of all members of the party.
'We genuinely wanted to reconcile the aggrieved members of the party and President Olusegun Obasanjo even pleaded that those who are aggrieved should come back to the fold and the reconciliation committees were set up. But this is not a matter of giving us conditions before you return to the party. Reports are coming in and we are studying them," he stated.