Nigeria Senate president explains return to main opposition PDP

Bukola Saraki, Nigeria’s Senate president and third most powerful politician has finally confirmed that he is returning to the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Saraki on Monday announced his resignation from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) stating at first that he had done so after extensive consultations.

I wish to inform Nigerians that, after extensive consultations, I have decided to take my leave of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he said in a tweet.

The former Kwara State governor went on in a tweet thread to elaborate on how irreconcilable differences between the legislative and executive arms of government had forced him to the point of leaving the APC.

According to him, the party he dumped the PDP in 2014 to join had failed to embrace some of its own members when they offered divergent views on issues of national importance, he also eleborated on how his allies had suffered persecution from those in authority.

He stressed that the President Buhari and his vice Osinbajo along with the new APC leader Adams Oshiomole and some serving governors had tried to reconcile the issues he had faced but elements he labeled ‘fifth columnists,’ still stood in the way of those well meaning efforts.

These individuals went to work and ensured that they scuttled the great efforts and the good intentions of these aforementioned leaders of the party.

Perhaps, had these divisive forces not thrown the cogs in the wheel at the last minutes, and in a manner that made it impossible to sustain any trust in the process, the story today would have been different.

Why the return to main opposition PDP

“For me, I leave all that behind me. Today, I start as I return to the party where I began my political journey, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“When we left the PDP to join the then nascent coalition of All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2014, we left in a quest for justice, equity and inclusion; the fundamental principles on which the PDP was originally built but which it had deviated from.

“We were attracted to the APC by its promise of change. We fought hard along with others and defeated the PDP. In retrospect, it is now evident that the PDP has learnt more from its defeat than the APC has learnt from its victory.

“The PDP that we return to is now a party that has learnt its lessons the hard way and have realized that no member of the party should be taken for granted; a party that has realized that inclusion, justice and equity are basic precondition for peace. A party that has realized that never again can the people of Nigeria be taken for granted.

“I am excited by the new efforts, which seeks to build the reborn PDP on the core principles of promoting democratic values; internal democracy; accountability; inclusion and national competitiveness; genuine commitment to restructuring and devolution of powers; and an abiding belief in zoning of political and elective offices as an inevitable strategy for managing our rich diversity as a people of one great indivisible nation called Nigeria.

“What we have all agreed is that a deep commitment to these ideals were not only a demonstration of our patriotism but also a matter of enlightened self-interest.

“What the experience of the last three years have taught us is that the most important task that we face as a country is how to reunite our people. Never before had so many people in so many parts of our country felt so alienated from their Nigerianness.

“Therefore, we understand that the greatest task before us is to reunite the county and give everyone a sense of belonging regardless of region or religion.

“Every Nigerian must have an instinctive confidence that he or she will be treated with justice and equity in any part of the country regardless of the language they speak or how they worship God.

“This is the great task that trumps all. Unless we are able to achieve this, all other claim to progress, would remain unsustainable. This is the task that I am committing myself to and I believe that it is in this PDP, that I will have the opportunity to play my part.

“It is my hope that the APC will respect the choice that I have made as my democratic right, and understand that even though we will now occupy a different political space, we do not necessarily become enemies unto one another.”