President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday charged members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to resist any kind of intimidation from the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).

The Chairman, Jonathan/Sambo Presidential Campaign Organization, Chief Ahmadu Ali, also said the West’s opposition to Jonathan’s return might not be unconnected with the president’s refusal to ensure the passage into law of the same sex bill by the National Assembly.

Jonathan spoke when he addressed PDP faithful at the unveiling of the party’s Volunteer Scheme held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

“We should all be proud of our party and we should not allow others to intimidate us. We must all collectively protect and defend the interest of our party,” the president said.

He said the PDP remained the party to beat, noting that it would win the rescheduled general election.

He flayed what he called the poor marketing of the PDP by its members, saying that besides its numerous achievements; only the ruling party could guarantee unity and peace of the country.

Accordingly, he charged PDP stalwarts to work hard in marketing the party especially at the grassroots, using the media so that the elections could be a walk over.

The president said the consistent attacks on his person and the party was a strategy by the opposition to destabilize him since he remained the first image bearer of the party and government.

On his own part, Ali said the insecurity in the country was not peculiar to Jonathan’s administration, saying the nation had the experience under former President Shehu Shagari in the Second Republic.

“People talk about security, this has been going on. It’s not the first time. Shehu Shagari had to deal with Maitasaine riot in Kano. Now what is happening is an international thing. ISIS is all over the world. They are in Iran and Lebanon. You can see their flag; it’s the same flag. We are coping very well.

“It does not matter what our former partners feel because we didn’t pass the same sex bill. We are a nation with culture; we have tradition. We have taken our decision and we will abide by it and believe you me, the whole of Africa are looking up to us in Nigeria.

“Democracy is not a panacea for all cultures; every culture has to interpret a bit of its own culture into it to be able to understand and work it. So, for us to think that what is happening there must happen here is wrong. We must be able to nurture democracy from our own perspective and that is what we are doing. We may falter; they have been there for more than 200 years, yet they are still faltering,” Ali averred.

Source: THISDAY