2019 election: Why many APC leaders may join Atiku in PDP – Segun Osoba

Agency ReporterDecember 21, 2017

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A former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Segun Osoba, has noted that if his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, fails to do its homework, many of its leaders will join former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

He also said that South West leaders of the APC need to sit with President Buhari and renegotiate their alliance.

He told our correspondents that, “I have told you that I am holding a delicate and important position within the APC in the South West. I have access at every level to express my views at the age of 78.

He itemized certain landmines that the party should avoid ahead of 2019 including the issue of internal democracy.
“I will be honest with you. The health challenges that our president faced, was a serious challenge to the party itself, that created some problem for us.

“I am happy that the president himself is back and immediately called a major national caucus meeting on October 30, followed by NEC meeting and we took certain decisions there. I hope those decisions will be implemented.
“I don’t want to talk publicly about it. I still believe in what I said there that we need serious rethinking. Take, for example, party membership, with the situation in PDP now, we need to open our doors and really do serious recruitment of members at the grassroots.

“The next election, with the provision passed by the Senate on the amendment made to the electoral act, would be more transparent than most elections that we have held, because they have approved digital and electronic system into our electoral process, which Kenya has been using, which has been exposing the manipulation in Kenya. APC, therefore, must be prepared to really work hard towards a transparent election at which every vote will count. I won’t go beyond that.

Asked about the fears at that Atiku’s return to PDP will sooner be a really fatal blow to the APC, party, he added, “Correct! We must not overlook that factor, that is why I keep saying that we must re-energise, rearrange and create the enabling atmosphere for genuine fusing, we are yet to really fuse successfully the different groups that came up and form the APC, we still need to fuse.”