President Goodluck Jonathan has charged the Peoples’ Democratic Party to win at least 23 states in the 2015 elections.
President Jonathan said this during the party’s National Executive Committee meeting on Wednesday, saying he recalled the time when the PDP was in control of more than 23 states, but regretted that the party had lost some of them.
Challenging members to ensure that the number of states in control of the party did not go below the present 23 , he said he was happy about the formation of the PDP Governors’ Forum.
He said the forum was put in place to put a stop to the decline in the party’s fortune and to galvanise the interests of the party before its members went for any meeting, like that of the NGF.
“One thing I have to appreciate the party and especially the PDP governors is the formation of the PDPGF. It has really helped to stabilise the polity,” Jonathan noted.
He added, “Governor Godswill Akpabio, (who) spoke first said it all; that at the beginning, there was no need for PDPGF but now that we have reduced in number to 23, definitely, this should be the least.
“We cannot shrink below this level. We must build up. So, looking at the number of PDP governors, it becomes very clear that they need to have their own thing because we have realised that governors of other political parties used to meet before coming for NGF meetings.
“But PDP being the elephant among them did not really bother much. But over the period, we have realised that there is the need for them to also meet because politics is politics. Politics is a game of interest.”
The President also advised against defying the Independent National Electoral Commission’s ban on any form of politicking for now.
Urging Nigerians to commend the PDP for the stability in the polity, Jonathan hinged the deluge of criticism facing the party on its size.
He added that it would be better to have two parties in the country in order to stabilise the polity more.
His words: “One good thing that Nigerians should commend the PDP for now is that the evolution of political parties has made the polity to be more stable.
“Before, when elections were coming, you would be hearing about new parties being formed and at a time, the ballot paper was becoming too long; INEC was finding a way of deregistering parties.
“Because PDP has come on very strong, they (opposition parties) have realised that what they need to do is not forming new parties but coming together. So, we are helping to stabilise the polity.
“We will encourage them to come together more. We want a situation where it is PDP versus another party. In that case, the polity will be more stable. Even our members will be more loyal to the party because they will have nowhere to go.”