I will give PDP the best convention ever – Gov Fintiri

Emmanuel AmudaSeptember 17, 2021

3 minutes read

The Chairman of the PDP National Convention Organising Committee, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State, has assured that the coming convention of the party would be the best it has ever witnessed in its 23 years history.

Mr Fintiri stated this during the inauguration of the committee at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja on Friday.

The committee, comprising 279 members, was constituted on September 9 to organise the party’s convention slated for 30 and 31 October in Abuja.

The convention would elective new members of the National Working Committee (NWC) to replace the current one led by Uche Secondus.

Mr Secondus has been restrained by at least two court injunctions from the seat amidst the leadership tussle that recently bedevilled the party, paving way for Yemi Akinwonmi, the deputy national chairman (South), to serve in an acting capacity.

Mr Fintiri, in his acceptance speech, promised to work with his team to deliver a successful convention.

“With the calibre of the people that make up this committee, I stand tall to be proud that this convention is going to be a successful one and one of the best,” he said.

“We are in an extraordinary time, and we expect to have an extraordinary national working committee after this convention.

“This is what Nigerians are expecting from us so that it will be a take-off point for this party going into the 2023 election.

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“I assure you. I’m not the Chief Executive Chairman, I am only the Chairman of the convention, and so I’m going to rely on your experience. I’m going to rely on your knowledge. I’m going to rely on your fatherly advice to ensure that this party, we take it to a greater height.

“I will not fail you. I will give you one of the best conventions ever. This is what Nigerians want from us. This is what the youths of this country want from us and that is the list we are going to give them.”

Mr Fintiri said it was not the first time he would handle such a crucial assignment, recalling he headed another committee to organise the governorship primary of the party in Kogi State.

He said he came out “smooth” after that assignment.

“I have steered and conducted one of the toughest conventions in Kogi Governorship election and I came out smooth,” he said.

“I know by the grace of God that we’re going to have one of the best conventions and all of the best national working committee.”

The governor commended the outgoing Secondus-led NWC, which was elected in December 2017, noting that it led the party to raise the number of governors elected on the platform of the party from 10 to 17.

He said he believed that by 2023, the party would not only have produced more governors but also the country’s president.

“That is least to say that the present leadership we have in the party have not done well. They have done very well and extra well. They’ve taken this party from 10 governors to about 17 governors before we were robbed at the time. So I believe, by 2023, we’re going to be where we were in 2015, with about 28 governors and the President,” Mr Fintiri said.

Inaugurating the committee earlier, the acting PDP National Chairman, Yemi Akinwonmi, asked it to improve on the success of the last convention of the party held in Rivers State to pick its presidential candidate.

He said, “Our last convention in Port Harcourt was judged the best ever conducted by any political party in Africa.

“I, therefore, call on leaders and members of the organising committee to not only sustain but also to improve upon what we experienced in Port Harcourt,” Mr Akinwonmi stated.

Other members of the committee include the governors of Oyo, Sokoto, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Benue, Delta, Edo, Enugu, Rivers, Taraba States and the deputy governor of Zanfara State.

Some of its members are also drawn from the National Assembly. They include Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia), Ndud Elumelu (Delta), Philip Aduda (FCT), Emmanuel Bwacha (Taraba), Kingsley Chinda (Rivers) and Biodun Olujimi (Ekiti).