Our support for New PDP normal –Senators

Senator Danladi Sankara
| credits: www.nassnig.org

Some of the Senators who declared support for the formation of the New Peoples Democratic Party have insisted that their action is consistent with democratic ideals.

One of the Senators, Danladi Sankara, said this in a telephone interview with our correspondent, in Abuja, on Tuesday.

Sankara said senators who signed a statement declaring support for the action of their various state governors did so with the conviction that their governors were on a mission to rescue the PDP from imminent self destruction.

He said, “To have a faction is not a crime in any political party, not just the PDP. The faction we have in the PDP today is one that seeks the improvement of the PDP; this is a democracy for God’s sake, and no one should beat you up and deny you the right to cry.

“All of us who signed that statement are with our governors 100 percent. There is no exception; whoever you see his or her name on that list is on board.

“I am in support of the decision taken by my governor over the issue; I can say the same for my colleagues. You can also be rest assured that we represent many more senators who feel the same way.

“All we are asking for is for reforms to return the party to the ideals of its founding fathers. The situation now is that some people are trampling on the rights of members who are suggesting reforms which will make the party better and stronger.

“We are in a democracy, not a dictatorship; in democracy, members of any political party have every right not only to ask questions but also to suggest reforms.

“Politics is all about ideas, we elected these leaders in the first place, if we observe that they are derailing from the basic tenets of the party we have a right to come out and demand for changes.”

Also, Senator Wilson Ake (PDP, Rivers) said Senators who declared support for the action of the new PDP were convinced that the action of the governors was a right step in the right direction.

He said, “When you look at the issues, they are resolvable; the entire membership of the PDP want the issues involved resolved quickly and amicably, none of us is in a hurry to leave the party.

“It (PDP) is better and stronger than all of the parties you are seeing today. The issues that are being raised by those that are aggrieved are not beyond what the party can resolve. And I am sure both the leadership and members of the party have seen the need to resolve this dispute and quickly too.”

Senator Ita Enang (PDP, Akwa Ibom) who has not identified with the new PDP said internal disputes were normal in political parties as large as the PDP.

“In a big party like the PDP it is normal to have bubbles sometimes and I believe that what has happened is to let people know that everybody is important,” he said.