The Oyo State Social Democratic Party (SDP) gubernatorial candidate, Seyi Makinde, has observed that his former party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), would have to do a lot to remain as a party if it survives the current trend.

Makinde, it would be recalled was among the top contenders for the governorship ticket of the PDP, but had to defect to the SDP when confronted with perceived injustice, the same factor that drove another governorship aspirant and the former governor of the state, Adebayo Alao-Akala out of the party.

Fielding questions from journalists, the SDP standard-bearer, who said he had put behind him everything that happened in his former party said the insinuation from some quarters that he would go back to the PDP after the election was unfounded.

He maintained that the survival of PDP after the implosion rocking it would have to be seriously worked upon to enable it retain its status as a formidable political party before it could become attractive to people again.

Even at that, the SDP flag-bearer recalled that the golden era of the South-western part of the country which then extended to the present Edo and Delta States and which till date remains a reference point was not run under the party at the centre.

“The government we intend to run under the SDP is the one that will place Oyo State on the world-map of development and re-enact the glorious era referred to above which earned us the sobriquet ‘pace-setter.’

“By the time the good people of Oyo State invest their votes in us and we receive the mandate to govern this state, the difference will be clear between us and those who have held the position in the past, it will clearly show that ours is a government of mission and vision,” Makinde added.

On the choice of which of the presidential candidates his party would make, he said the choice “is not about any party, but about the people of Nigeria, make a lot of mistake as politicians, appropriating to ourselves power of life and death.
“We forget most of the time that those of us engaging in politics in the true sense of it are just about 10 per cent of the entire population, so, how come that our small minute number will determine who and who gets what at the broad level?
“In short, whatever the choice of any party may be, the ultimate power lies with the people and that’s the beauty of democracy, so leave the generality of Nigerians to adopt whoever they want and vote accordingly”, the SDP flag-bearer counselled.

Source: THISDAY