A former Governor of Imo State, Mr. Ikedi Ohakim, has hailed the recent Supreme Court ruling on the protracted leadership dispute in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), describing the judgment as an answered prayer by Nigerians.
Ohakim said in a statement yesterday that beyond the internal altercations within the party, the country was slipping into a lop sided political arrangement as a result of the leadership dispute in the opposition party.
According to him, the dispute provided even a more fertile ground for the reign of impurity in the governance of the country, the very same reason that led to the implosion within the PDP.
“Therefore, the elders and leaders of the PDP, together with its teeming members and supporters, should appreciate the fact it has been given another opportunity to correct its past mistakes and as well provide the generality of Nigerians with quality opposition in order to ensure that the collective gains made in sixteen years are not completely eroded. While the quarrel lasted, Nigerians were very much apprehensive of a possible slide into a one party arrangement, with its unpleasant consequences for a multicultural society like Nigeria,†he said.
Ohakim charged the PDP leaders and members to appreciate the fact that it is not a common occurrence to be given back an opportunity to return to full reckoning, which is what the Supreme Court ruling implies.
He argued that rather than any individual or group see the judgment as a win or loss, the attitude should be to thank Nigerians for their prayers and support, which ensured that the party, its leaders and members were given a rare second chance.
“The attitude should be that the PDP is one and that no one can defeat himself. While the quarrel lasted, the teeming members and supporters from both sides of the divide missed each other. They remembered with nostalgia the old fellowship in a party that, despite obvious short comings, nursed and sustained the nation’s democracy for sixteen unbroken years,†he added.
“While the quarrel lasted, each faction knew it needed the other and in spite of the grandstanding, had craved for today. The Supreme Court ruling should be seen as an admonition to a feuding couple to return home and mend fences; and almost always, such couples turn out to stay together in love and unity with the benefits of the experiences of the ugly past. This is my prayer for our great party,†the former Imo governor said.
