(AFRICAN EXAMINER) - The new Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ebonyi, Mr Peter Nwele, has promised that the newly constituted State Executive Working Committee will rebuild the party and restore its lost glory.
Nwele made the promise in a speech after his inauguration as the state Chairman of the party on Saturday in Abakaliki.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that he emerged at the state congress held at the party Secretariat on the Abakaliki-Enugu highway.
He said that the first major task before him was to bring back all the estranged members, reconcile them back and ensure that the party was restored back to its lost glory.
He said that the new leadership would strive to reposition the party and ensure that it played "a vital role as a leading and most populous opposition party in the state".
Nwele, who emerged in a peaceful, transparent and credible election, commended members for the trust reposed in him.
"We are going to bring back the lost glory of our party.
"And in doing this, we are going to embark on a mission to bring back all the aggrieved members who left the party due to one offence or the other.
"We all know that Ebonyi is a PDP dominant state and the story has not changed.
"We will embark on reconciliation because the party is large enough to contain everyone," Nwele said.
Earlier, Chief Ali Odefa, the National Vice Chairman of PDP, South-East, told newsmen in an interview that the mass turnout of delegates at the election showed the enthusiasm and interest that people still have in the party not only in Ebonyi but across the country.
Odefa said that PDP was being reinvented not only to play a major opposition role but to wrest power from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at the state and national levels in the next general election.
"What we are doing is that we are putting our house in order, getting our act together to wrest power from the ruling APC.
"My advice to the new leadership in the state is to go about building the party, helping to reconcile every interest because in partisan politics there is bound to be diverse interests.
"The ability to bring those interests together is what makes party stronger," the PDP chieftain said.
He further said that the party would welcome all its old members who defected to other parties wishing to contest on the party's platform in 2027 General Elections.
"An implosion awaits the other parties.
"This is PDP, we will open our arms and whoever wants to come in, we will welcome him back into the fold," he said.
Meanwhile, the Chairman, State Congress Committee, Mr Ugonna Ogbonna, said that the election, including the accreditation of delegates, was conducted in line with the laid down guidelines.
Ogbonna described the election as hitchfree, credible and transparent.