The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State has called on its members to remain united ahead of the local council and governorship elections slated for July 27 and November 2, 2019 respectively.

Chairman of the party in the state, Hon. Cleopas Moses, made the call at a media briefing in Yenagoa the state capital shortly after a closed door meeting with some critical stakeholders of the party.

He said the party has the spread and capacity to win any election that is freely conducted in the state but that will be more realistic if it sustains the current peace and togetherness within its fold.

Hon. Moses disclosed that the stakeholders meeting became imperative in view of the release of the guidelines for the forthcoming elections by the electoral umpire.

He explained that the party leadership saw the need to engage the stakeholders to brainstorm on the best approach for the elections which include mass mobilization of grassroots support across the state.

The PDP chairman who announced tentative dates for the conduct of the party's primaries for the local council election said the dates will be confirmed after the national secretariate has given its nod.

Hon. Cleopas urged intending chairmanship and councillorship aspirants to go about their aspirations and consult widely as well as engage in consensus building in order to have a rancor-free electoral process.

“We met today in view of the coming elections. The meeting had in attendance the leadership of the party, the political desk and some critical stakeholders. It was mainly to brainstorm on how to go about the election.

“Like you all know, the PDP is one big family and we have the capacity and spread to win elections provided it is freely and fairly conducted. We call on our members to continue to maintain the peace and oneness that is currently within the party.

“What we discussed here will be transmitted to His Excellency the Governor by the deputy who directly is supervising whatever we are doing. We have rolled out a tentative plan of activities for the elections but because we are a very organised party we are waiting for our national to approve it and give us the go ahead. So, by this weekend, everything will be clear.

“Like our leader the Governor will say, all legitimate ambitions are welcomed. However, we don’t want any rancor; so we advise all aspirants to consult widely and engage in consensus building. The time for the local government election is short so we want to see how we can if possible have single chairmanship and councillorship aspirants before the election.”