The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party has called on all its members who lost at its national convention and primaries to concede defeat and cooperate with those that emerged victorious.



It said with the conclusion of the submission of candidates names to the Independent National Electoral Commission on Monday, those who lost in the primaries must learn to eschew bitterness and rancour.



Prominent among those who did not succeed in their bids to contest the presidential election on the platform of the PDP are a former Vice-President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Dr. Sarah Jibril.



Apart from Jibril who on January 25 asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to stop the PDP from fielding President Goodluck Jonathan as the party’s presidential candidate, many other aspirants for state, National Assembly and governorship positions are also currently in courts contesting the outcome of the party’s primaries.



Some governorship aspirants in Oyo State on February 1, had succeeded in obtaining a court order stopping the Independent National Electoral Commission from recognising Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala as the PDP governorship candidate.



A faction of the PDP in Ogun State led by the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Chief Martins Jubril-Martins, had also secured an order restraining the electoral body from accepting a list from a rival faction led by Governor Gbenga Daniel.



Abubakar, who promised not to go to court, had sent in a petition to INEC cataloguing the malpractices which he said characterised the PDP presidential primaries.



But the Acting National Chairman of the party, Dr. Haliru Mohammed, said in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, that there was no need for litigation and rancour among members.



Mohammed said it was the wish of the National Working Committee of the party that all aspirants worked together with Jonathan and the party to achieve success in the general elections.



He reminded the aspirants, in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Rufai Alkali, that now was “the time to move on and confront the challenge posed by our opponents.”



He said, “Now that we have submitted our list of candidates to the INEC, we call on all members of the PDP, especially those who also sought to fly the flag of our party unsuccessfully to eschew all bitterness and rancour and rally round our presidential candidate, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, his running mate, Alhaji Namadi Sambo, and all candidates of our party at all levels to ensure that our collective interests as a party are advanced and protected.



“We appeal to all our partymen and women to realise that no matter who the candidate of our party is, the ultimate consideration is the PDP which is the only party in Nigeria that accommodates all the creeds, cultures and socio economic tendencies in our country.



“We are happy that the tortuous process of nomination is now behind us. It is time to move on and confront the challenge posed by our opponents in the forthcoming general elections.



“With the zeal and enthusiasm demonstrated by our members during the nomination exercise and the transparent manner of our national convention, it is clear that the PDP remains the most organised, most democratic and most detribalised party in the country.



“We are therefore confident that Nigerians will continue to identify with this great Party which represents every interest in Nigeria.



“Finally, we wish to assure all Nigerians that we shall continue to sustain their trust by remaining faithful to the ideals of good governance, the rule of law, transparency, justice and respect for human dignity.



“We look forward to the renewal of our mandate to serve our fatherland in the forthcoming general elections. This is indeed part of our deep commitment to restoring our core values.”



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