Fielding Jonathan in 2015 Presidential Election Was a Huge Mistake — PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has admitted that it made serious mistakes in the run-up to the 2015 presidential election, including its decision to field former President Goodluck Jonathan as its presidential candidate.

The party also acknowledged that its decision to abandon its zoning arrangement after the death of former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua contributed to the problems that eventually affected its fortunes at the polls.

According to the PDP, these and other internal issues contributed to growing dissatisfaction among Nigerians and played a major role in the party’s defeat in the 2015 general elections.

The party said it was now prepared to confront its past mistakes and find ways of rebuilding itself, with a national conference being organised to address the issues responsible for its recent setbacks.

Chairman of the Planning Committee for the conference, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi, disclosed this at a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday.

Dokpesi said the party had come to terms with its shortcomings and was ready to apologise to members and Nigerians who felt aggrieved by its actions.

“We admit that we made mistakes and we have not met the expectations of Nigerians, and we tendered unreserved apologies for these mistakes,” he said.

According to him, the party’s problems included a lack of internal democracy, alleged impunity and the absence of a level playing field for its members.

“You must have seen Ike Ekweremadu’s report on why we are apologising. There was no internal democracy. There was impunity within the party and there was no level-playing ground for members of the party,” Dokpesi said.

He also pointed to the abandonment of the party’s zoning principle as one of the issues that needed to be addressed.

“Zoning principles of the party were abandoned and many other issues which would be trashed out at the conference and for all these and the people who have been offended; for people whose toes were stepped upon, we also tendered unreserved apology,” he added.

The PDP said the conference would provide an opportunity for members to openly examine the party’s past decisions and discuss the way forward as it seeks to rebuild its structures and regain the confidence of Nigerians.