An interest group, The Reformers has said the decision of former Governor of Ogun State to contest for PDP national chairman was not his and as such cannot step down from the race.
This is contained in a statement by the group on Saturday after reports that the former Governor has relinquished his ambition to become the National Chairman of the main opposition party.
According to The Reformers, “Otunba Gbenga Daniel is carrying the aspirations of a whole lot of people, a political tendency, a whole race and interests looking for the revitalisation of the Peoples Democratic Party as an effective opposition in Nigeria.”
The group maintained that, “Otunba Gbenga Daniel is yet to announce his ambition, neither has he accepted nor declined our calls among several other stakeholders to join the Party Chairmanship contest, but we shall continue to impress it on him and all people of good conscience to make his emergence as PDP National Chairman a reality. We reassure Nigerians, and particularly members of the Peoples Democratic Party, that consultations are ongoing among various interest lines in the Party.”
The group further stated, “We recognize and respect the longstanding friendship between High Chief Raymond Dokpesi and His Excellency, Otunba Gbenga Daniel. We understand both have enjoyed a cordial relationship that spans beyond their political activities and their political interests cannot come in-between their over four decades of friendship. We however affirm that Otunba Gbenga Daniel’s chairmanship ambition is beyond him to relinquish because he is carrying the aspiration of a whole lot people.
“We are deeply convinced that either of Otunba Gbenga Daniel and High Chief Raymond Dokpesi will make excellent leader in reorganizing the PDP, and return sanity to the party, and their relationship can be complimentary towards revitalizing the troubled party.
“In this regard, the visit of Chief Dokpesi to Otunba Gbenga Daniel should be seen as an effort to synergize on their bids for the National chairmanship of our great party, PDP which is what is greatly desired at this material time. As a matter of fact we envisage that more of such visits among leading Chairmanship hopefuls will still occur in order to explore the opportunity for the best leadership that PDP craves for at this time.”
