We’re open to merger, says PDP

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh

The Peoples Democratic Party has said that it is not contemplating a change of identity, noting that the vision of its founding fathers remains timeless.

The party also said it was open to merging with other political parties and associations that shared its ideals.

The party insisted that it was still a national political party with the strength and spread to regain pre-eminence, despite losing control of the Federal Government and some states in the last general elections.

A statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, in Abuja on Sunday, said that “having been the guardian of Nigerian democracy for 16 years during which it nurtured and blossomed democratic governance as well as etched its name in the pantheon of good governance, the PDP will not in the circumstance of ephemeral loss of power change its identity or its time-honoured characteristic values.”

The party said though it was committed to its present structures, it would not close its doors to other political parties wishing to be assimilated into its fold as the best vehicle for the fulfillment of political aspirations of all Nigerians regardless of tribe and religion.

It said, “We have a name, tradition and values. Sixteen fruitful years as the guardian of Nigerian democracy cannot be nullified by the reason of a temporary setback. We shall rise beyond all and regain our rhythm.

“Our colour remains green, white and red and power still belongs to the people. And to assert that we are proud of the successes of our successive leaders in taking Nigeria to its present height is an understatement, which the passage of the next four years under the All Progressives Congress will certainly prove.”

The party added that the fact that it was going into opposition would not mitigate its ability as the flagship of democracy, maintaining that it would soar higher in providing credible alternative as a constructive opposition, “far removed from the wrathful destruction that the APC lived thus far.”