Jonathan Blames His Electoral Downfall On Wrangling In PDP

President Goodluck Jonathan has said that his defeat at the March 28 Presidential election by the opposition All Progressives (APC) Candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari was as a result of internal wrangling amongst the leadership of his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
He said however that if the members of the party would remain committed to the vision of its founding fathers and work very hard, the party will return to power at the Federal level in 2019.
The President spoke today after receiving the report of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organization at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
President Jonathan said that the electoral losses were most likely as a result of problems within PDP in many states of the federation.
“Let us not judge PDP by the results of the presidential elections, because in some of the states where we saw the PDP score so low, it was probably due to problems within the PDP.
“We must continue to be united as a party. And continue to work hard so that as we move towards subsequent elections in 2019 and 2023, PDP will come out stronger.”
The President said that the party already had all that it will require to win the 2019 elections, but needed to return to the drawing board to re-strategize for the future.
“Whatever happened was like a slip. You don’t need to travel to America to know how power moves from the Republicans to the Democrats and from the Democrats to the Republicans.
“You can even go to Ghana that is very close to us. The present administration lost some  years back and of course they came back, and won the elections. So the problem is not whether we lost or won elections, which is already history, but how we can reconsolidate our party.
“If we are committed and we work hard, definitely the PDP will spring back.”
He said that the outcome of future elections will be determined by the party’s preparedness, even as he advised members of the party to be more united and remain loyal to the party.
“The party will come back stronger. PDP is still the most organized party. PDP is still the party that nobody owns. PDP is still the party that whoever you are, you can get to any level that you aspire to through competence. I encourage members of our party to remain faithful and not be disillusioned.”
In his remarks, the Director General of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Senator Ahmadu Ali, commended President Jonathan for putting the nation before his personal ambition.
“Our great party will emerge from this debacle stronger, wiser and prouder. Even in defeat, we are able to impart some valuable lessons to the Nigerian electorate.
“This is the first time in the history of this country that a sitting Government has handed over power peacefully to an opposition party after an election. We are proud of you.” [myad]