Governor of Bayelsa State, Henry Seriake Dickson on Tuesday advised leaders and members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) not to lose hope, but remain in the party.
An assurance by the governor that PDP would bounce back soon, came as Supreme Court prepares to deliver judgement on the PDP national leadership tussle.
Dickson in a statement issued on Tuesday by his Special Adviser (Media Relations), Francis Agbo, said that what the PDP needed at this juncture to play its role as a leading opposition voice was genuine reconciliation founded on compromises and forgiveness.
The governor said he was speaking out of concern, following the defection of PDP members to other parties as well as reports of PDP leaders floating alternative political platforms.
Dickson who is also Chairman of the PDP National Reconciliation Committee, said if PDP leaders had accepted the reconciliation template formulated by his committee, a unity national convention would have held this month to elect its national leadership. This, he believes, would have put to rest the leadership crisis rocking the party.
Instead, the Governor lamented that, some party leaders opted for the court option which he stressed can only adjudicate and not reconcile feuding parties.
Governor Dickson said political leaders in Nigeria exert too much pressure on the judiciary by failing to do things rightly, by failing to build consensus as well as refusing to respect laid down rules of politics. He therefore, advised political leaders to stop relying on the judiciary to resolve what is essentially an internal party affair, stressing that internal disputes can best be resolved through a political solution!
The Governor said the failure of the PDP leaders to unite, especially after the loss of federal power, has weakened the party across the country especially in states like Edo, Ondo, Benue, Lagos and others where governorship/local government elections had held and are about to hold.
Dickson said his committee has not relented on reconciliation and confidence building in the party, irrespective of the lingering litigation and promised to address PDP faithful after the Supreme Court judgement!