Under the banner of the PDP Umbrella Force, members of the Peoples Democratic Party have attributed their recent defeats in the recently concluded governorship elections in Imo and Kogi States to inadequate leadership.
The ruling All Progressives Congress, or APC, defeated the PDP in the polls conducted on Saturday in Imo and Kogi states, according to results released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, or INEC.
Hope Uzodinma, the APC candidate and the state’s governor, received 540,308 votes in Imo, defeating PDP contender Samuel Anyanwu, who received 71,503 votes.
Usman Ododo, the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), defeated Social Democratic Party opponent Murtala Ajaka with 446,237 votes, narrowly defeating her with 259,052 votes.
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In response, the group blamed the development on the lack of a substantive national chairman, the party discipline of noncompliant stakeholders, and the purported exclusion of women and youth from party activities in an open letter sent by Prince Yemi Adebowale, the organisation’s convener.
The Umbrella Force urged the party’s leadership to see to it that the party is reorganised and reformatted.
“The alienation of key stakeholders and demographics contributed to our overwhelming defeat and embarrassing losses in two out of the three off-cycle elections this past weekend, which underscores the need to reform the way our party functions,” the letter continued.