By OKECHUKWU PEACE
The Peoples Democratic Party has made u-turn by accepting that the fate that befell the party at the Presidential poll was self-inflicted adding that fielding ex-President Goodluck Jonathan was a mistake.
This was revealed by Chairman, National Planning Committee of the conference, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi at a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday.
Dokpesi said the party ought to have allowed the northern part of the country to complete its term when former President Umaru Yar’Adua died in 2010.
He said, “The party in 2010 and 2011, made the first round of mistake of not allowing the north to complete its term.
“That was when the party gave a special favour for the then President who came to compete the term of Yar’Adua to be allowed one term to finish.
“The same small leaders of the party came forward in 2015 to state again and refused to return the party to allow the north to field the party’s presidential candidate, they manipulated the party to do the same.”
He added that, “Make no mistake, the PDP is aware that there were errors made along the way. We admit that at certain times in our past, mistakes have been made, we did not meet the expectations of Nigerians.
“But the past is exactly what it is. While we should not forget the past and its errors, We must look forward and begin to show true leadership within and outside our party.”
He said the forthcoming conference would be used to reinvigorate, re-engineer and restructure the party, which he said would be handed over to the youth.
