The Peoples Democratic Party has described the counsel by former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, to President Muhammadu Buhari as courageous, timely and patriotic.
The party said in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, on Tuesday in Abuja, that the advice had vindicated its position on Buhari and the All Progressives Congress.
Obasanjo in an open letter to Buhari, which went viral on the social media on Tuesday, advised him not to re-contest in the 2019 general election.
The PDP, however, rejected the call by Obasanjo for a “third force’’ saying that such would amount to repeating the same “blunder that brought in the APC and Buhari as president’’.
It said: “Chief Obasanjo’s counsel has rekindled the fate of the people in the democratic process.
“However, the solution does not lie in creating another political quicksand in a third force but consolidating on a rescue mission with the repositioned PDP which Nigerians have already embraced.
“Nigerians would recall that in the heat of 2015 elections, many citizens, who claimed to have become tired of the PDP and its government, opted for a coalition.
“They opted for collation of strange bedfellows who had little or no experience in governance as a vehicle for electoral victory.
“Expectedly, in their confusion, they have plunged us into this regrettable situation that has brought our nation to its knees.
“Repeating the old mistake of congregating political strangers cannot help our nation at this time, more so, when the few concerns raised by the former president about the PDP no longer obtain under the refocused and rebranded PDP.’’
The party said that it was now standing on a truly democratic ground that perfectly represents and reflects the hopes and aspirations of all Nigerians irrespective of their class, creed or tribe.
It said: “That is why our great party has now, more than ever before, become a centre of the new patriotic and broad-based engagements by well-meaning Nigerians and coalitions across board, including past leaders.’’
It said that the fact was that Nigerians overrated Buhari in 2015 but that they had now seen the reality.
The party said: “This accounts for the reason former President Obasanjo, just like most Nigerians today, are concerned about the quality of presidential candidates to be presented by various parties for the 2019 election.’’
The party added that fact is that while APC was already considering Buhari for its 2019 ticket, “PDP is open for a new engagement that will produce candidate that Nigeria truly deserves at this crucial moment.
It added: “We therefore call on Nigerians, including all our leaders across board, to come together to rebuild our nation on PDP’s consolidated base rather than traversing on another learning curve.’’