Former Imo State Governor, Ikedi Ohakim has said judicial verdicts alone would not heal political wounds in Imo PDP.
Reacting to the Supreme court ruling on the protracted leadership dispute in the party, Ohakim said there is need to look beyond mere sloganeering or clichés to activate a genuine passion for true reconciliation.
He said the court ruling merely provided the party elders and leaders with a handle to pursue genuine reconciliation, saying “to achieve that requires a lot of maturity and readiness to make sacrifices”
The former Governor called for greater sacrifices if the Imo State chapter of the party must return to the path of stability and cohesion.
He said “ For reasons that we do not need to go into here, the state witnessed more fragmentation than in others. But the good news is that in spite of that, the teeming members and supporters of the party remained steadfast in their loyalty to the party. In spite of obvious temptations and frustrations, the state chapter witnessed little or no defections”
Part of the statement reads:
“The least the elders and leaders of the party in the state could do, therefore, is to reciprocate that gesture by exhibiting the highest sense of maturity and decorum as we tackle the challenges of putting the different tendencies back to one page. This is not the time to peddle influence or connection. Rather, it is time to show humility, love and, for those who feel that the judgment was a victory for them, magnanimity.
“In all this, we should be encouraged by the fact that the poor governance in the state in the last six years has made the entire Imo collective both nostalgic of the past when the PDP provided it with purposeful leadership; and as well look forward to retrieving the mandate that was stolen from them and handing it back to the PDP.
“Needles to say, the people of the state are watching. How we go about the immediate post court ruling period will matter a lot. With the leadership dispute over at least at the national level, I believe that the stage is set for our dear state, Imo, to return to the hands of God” Ohakim stated