At last, the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Iyorchia Ayu yesterday revealed that it was the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde that donated N100 million used to renovate the party’s Peoples Democratic Institute (PDI).
The leader of the G5 Governors, Nyesom Wike of Rivers State had two months ago accused Ayu of fraudulently collecting N100 from a governor, but he did not disclose his name.
But yesterday, during the opening ceremony of the refurbished PDI, which is the intellectual and training arm of the PDP, Ayu said that the N100 million was given by the Oyo State Governor.
According to Ayu, “But I cannot end this address without acknowledging the special support of party faithful, especially His Excellency, Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo state. It is largely because of him that we are here today. Thank you, Your Excellency.”
Also, the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar commended the Oyo state governor, saying, “Let me also thank the governor of Oyo State who made it possible by way of funding to reactivate this institute. I commend his patriotism and his sense of intellectual discourse; because the National Democratic Institute was established to promote research, training and other aspects of human development of our party.”
However, Makinde, one of the G5 governors, was absent at the unveiling of the new PDI office.
Ayu, who gave a brief history of the PDI, said, “When we founded the PDP, we conceived it to be an organic party that would evolve and always be in sync with the developmental needs of the people.
“The founding fathers of this great Party were visionary patriots who sought to establish and bequeath to this great country a functional democracy.
“No society develops by fiat. It comes about by the rigorous work of carefully studying situations and analysing them before evolving and implementing sustainable solutions. That was the idea that birthed the PDI on 31st August, 2000.”
He explained that the institute was supposed to be “the Think-tank for the Party, an ideation centre for the rigorous intellectual work of research, socio-economic analysis, policy development, training and capacity building of political actors, and the strengthening of our democratic institutions and culture.”
The PDP national chairman appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to keep his word of ensuring that the 2023 elections are free, fair, transparent and credible.
He said both the presidency and the APC must not intimidate INEC or its functionaries in any way: let every vote count.
According to him, “The party maintains that we will not accept the questionable harvests of votes from inaccessible areas as happened in previous elections under the APC.
“Finally, we renew our call on the international community, especially the U.S, European Union, the Commonwealth and the African Union to sustain their interest in the democratic project in Nigeria through diplomatic pressures, political contacts and large, high-calibre observer missions,” Ayu said.
He also said that the PDP will not waste six months in the Presidential Villa thinking of what to do with power.
According to Ayu, “Although the party has a robust package for making Nigeria workable again, the Institute has been revamped and repositioned to provide research data that will help President Atiku to unlock our national potentials, secure the country, energise our productive sectors, stimulate wealth creation, empower youths and women, create jobs, revitalise agriculture, stabilise the educational sector and, altogether, be an alert and effective commander-in-chief.
“I use this opportunity to also thank party members across the country for their continued support and prayers. And we further sue for cooperation and unity of purpose. We are stronger together.
“Our focus must remain on retaking power from the ruling APC next February so we can commence the restoration work which was truncated in 2015,” he said.
