The embattled National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu has appealed to aggrieved members of the party to sheath their swords and work towards the party’s revival.
He urged party stakeholders across the country to put behind the disappointment of defeat, rest all misunderstandings and put the survival and stability of the party ahead of all other considerations. Mu’azu said this in a statement he signed. It was made available to newsmen via e-mail in Abuja, yesterday.
The chairman also placed a media embargo on his aides barring them from speaking to journalists on any party issue.
He said, though the party’s defeat in the last general election is painful, members should key into the intervention by President Goodluck Jonathan and not allow the situation to further divide the party.
Mu’azu said, “The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party has noted the various reactions that trailed the unfortunate loss of our great party in the last general elections.
“In the last few weeks, the media has been fishing on these reactions with a section even blowing it out of proportion to a level that has become a threat to our oneness as a family.
“As the national chairman and a key stakeholder in this party in the last 16 years, I quite understand and appreciate the concern, pain and frustrations of our members regarding our defeat.
“I am also deeply worried about the division the development has generated within the PDP family, especially regarding whether or not the national leadership should be dissolved as a direct consequence of our collective challenge.
“In the course of events, there have been reactions and counter-reactions among party members; mistakes have been made, some of them avoidable, but this is the time to put all of them behind us and move ahead as our party and its interest remain paramount and overriding.”
He accused the media of fueling the embers of disunity by allegedly misrepresenting the crisis, this he said, “contributed immensely to the misunderstanding we are facing in our fold.
“ Mu’azu also extended an olive branch to his most ardent critic and vocal advocate for his resignation, Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, whom he praised for strengthening the PDP with the victory in Ekiti State.
He said,”Having been a state governor on the platform of this party for eight years and having the grace of being a committed member for the past 16 years, I very much appreciate the reactions of some of our members like Governor Ayo Fayose, whose victory in Ekiti in June last year helped to strengthen our party, particularly in the South-West region.
“Nevertheless, in the larger interest of our party, we all must resolve to bury the hatchet, pick our pieces and move on to rebuild our party and return to our winning ways.”
He enjoined the party faithful to cooperate with the party leadership which has set the machinery in motion by the constitution and inauguration of the Post Election Assessment Committee headed by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu.
Mu’azu also used the opportunity to dispel insinuations that he fled the country, explaining that he left the country to seek medical attention abroad on the advice of his doctors, but promised to return to the country “soon.”