The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has held its first National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting at the party’s Abuja national secretariat after losing power to the All Progressives Congress.
The PDP said it has recovered from the initial shock occasioned by the loss of power at the centre in the last general election which was disappointing.
The meeting said the party had started the process of rebuilding.
PDP’s Acting National Chairman Prince Uche Secondus, who presided over the NEC meeting, added that the loss afforded the party to do some soul-searching.
Secondus said: “Our party has witnessed challenging times after our disappointing loss in the last elections. We moved from pain, despair, soul-searching and now, by the grace of the Almighty God, we have started the process of re-building confidence in ourselves for a brighter future for the party.”
The first step pursuant to soul-searching, he said, was the resignation of Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu and Chief Tony Anenih as national chairman and chairman of the Board of Trustees.
Secondus called the attention of Nigerians to what the party described as selective implementation of the ongoing anti-corruption fight, saying members of the party were being singled out for prosecution.
“It would be morally repugnant to target PDP members while seemingly protecting All Progressives Congress (APC) members. All we are calling for is an equal and fair treatment of all Nigerians under the law.
“Government should prevent the slide of our dear country into a police state by controlling some of the brazen acts of the security agencies against state institutions as exemplified in the invasion of the Akwa Ibom Government House by some officers of the DSS.
“In the same vein, we call on the Federal Government to come out straight with Nigerians on the state of our economy, which is gradually sliding into recession.
“It appears that the lack of an economic direction and remedial actions from the government is having a debilitating effect on the economy. Jobs are being lost and small businesses are closing shops as a result of the lack of constructive economic engagement from the APC government,” the party’s acting chair added.
Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko said the PDP liberalised the democratic space in the 16 years it held power at the centre.
According to him, the PDP lost power as a result of complacency on the part of its leadership organs and praised former President Goodluck Jonathan for conceding victory to President Muhammadu Buhari in the last presidential election.
The governor urged the ruling APC to avoid selective application of justice, a development, which he said, would not advance the cause of democracy and justice.
Mimiko called on the APC-led Federal Government to be ready for robust criticism of the administration’s policies from the PDP, adding that the party’s governors would set the template for good governance in the country.
Other governors at the meeting included those of Taraba, Abia, Kogi, Delta, Rivers and Enugu states.
Others were Deputy President of the Senate Ike Ekweremadu; former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido; former Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam among other party chieftains.