Senate President David Mark believes that the crisis bedeviling the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will soon pass away but said all hands must be on deck to ensure that the party survives it current travails.
A statement by the senate president’s Special Adviser on Media, Kola Ologbondiyan, said Mark made this known when he visited Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State in Dutse, the state capital.
The statement said Mark also pleaded with party leaders and supporters across the nation to work towards a permanent reconciliation.
He said: “When the crisis in our party started, I called my brother and friend (Governor Lamido) and asked him if what I was hearing that he was leaving the party was true. He replied me that he is not a fool. He said ‘How can I leave the house I built for somebody else?’ He spoke with courage.
“We cannot solve the problems of our party by running away from it. Governor Lamido is courageous and he speaks from his heart always. We must all work together to make sure that the PDP survives”.
The Senate President commended the zonal, states and local government executives of the North-West geo-political zone for ensuring the continued unity of the party.
He said: “The PDP problem is winding to an end while the problems of the other party are beginning to emerge. It is our (PDP) turn to sit down, rest our back and begin to laugh now the same way they were laughing at us”.
In apparent reference to the threat by some senators to defect to the All Progressives Congress, APC, Mark stressed that the Senate is united, adding that the “Senate is not partisan because we are not Senators of parties but Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
He commended his host for “truly providing noticeable democratic dividends for his people. Your democratic dividends are not songs that are being sung only on the pages of newspapers. The change in Jigawa is commendable because it is noticeable”.
In his remarks, Gov. Lamido described the senate president as a nationalist, who has taken up the responsibility of providing hope for Nigerians.
Mark, before leaving Dutse for Abuja, inaugurated a number of projects including the new Deputy Governor’s lodge, the State House of Assembly Complex and the State Ministry of Urban and Rural Development, among others.
