By Yemi Adedeji, Abuja
Tunde Adeniran, a former Minister of Education and one of the candidates gunning for Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national chairmanship position, said the number of aspirants vying for the position has shown that the party is moving beyond the era of imposition.
Speaking with Elendu Reports in an interview, he said it would give the delegates the opportunity to choose the best among the contestants.
Adeniran pointed out that a situation whereby more than seven persons are contesting for a single position is an indication that all the candidates are out to test their popularity so that any one that wins would direct the affairs of the party the way he believes it should be run.
He stated: “I think we are moving out of a situation in which people believe in the process of imposition.
“I believe what the party is trying to do is to encourage, everybody has his own idea as to how to run the party. For instance, I have my own blueprint, I assume that others too would have their own idea as to how they want to run the party if they take over.
“The idea I have might not be acceptable to others and as such, everybody wants to test his popularity so that when they are there, they would be able to run the party the way they believe it should be run.
“It is also possible that some people may think they have seen the program of the agenda of my other colleagues, because of this, if some other people can do it, let them go and do it so that one would not have to continue to insist on doing it.
“But then what is really happening is not a negative development, it is a positive development. If the PDP is not a vibrant, viable party, you won’t see these many people showing interest.
“It is because of the potentials of the party and because the level of consciousness had been raised considerably, that is why you would see as many people as that showing interests in wanting to serve the party.
“Future aspirants would also learn some lessons from this so things would turn out differently from what it is obtaining now. In the past, some people would have sat somewhere and just impose a candidate, but now the delegates would have better and real people to choose from.”