Return PDP To Founding Fathers

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will continue to experience crises until it is returned to the original founders of the party, a former deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State, Chief Chris Ekpeyong, has said.

Ekpeyong, a chieftain of the PDP and one of the founding members of the party in Akwa Ibom State, said the reason why the PDP had veered off its original track and vision was because the party had been hijacked by people who he described as "traders."

According to Ekpeyong, the leadership crises and the seeming lack of vision and direction experienced by the PDP is a direct fall-out of the negligence of the founding fathers of the party.

Speaking during an interview with the Nigerian Compass, during the week, Ekpeyong said, "the major vision and mission behind the formation of the PDP by notable Nigerians such as Solomon Lar; Late Bola Ige; Alex Ekweme; Atiku Abubakar; Adamu Ciroma, Abubakar Rimi; Chief Victor Attah; my humble self and others was for the party to solve Nigeria's problems which were largely caused by the long years of military rule."

Lamenting that the dreams of the party have not been actualised, he said, "What has happened is that the PDP today is not the PDP of our dreams. It is not the PDP of the days of Adamu Ciroma; Alex Ekwenme; late Bola Ige; Solomon Lar; Jerry Gana; Abubakar Atiku; Abubakar Rimi and a host of others and even Chief Ojo Meduekwe.

If Madueke is sincere to himself, he will know that this is not the PDP of our dreams.

"I think they allowed bystanders to over-take the real conveners and foundation members who had the focus, knowing that Nigeria had a problem and we wanted to solve the problem of Nigeria by forming a formidable political machinery that will wrestle power from the military, and at the time, give Nigerians a sense of vision, mission and arrival."
The ex-deputy governor stressed that being one of those who brought the PDP to Akwa Ibom State, he deserved a better deal from the present leadership of the party.