By Johnbosco Agbakwuru ABUJA — Aggrieved members of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) in Edo South Senatorial District have rejected the party’s national reconciliation committee, describing it as a charade that cannot heal the wounds of injustice caused by its leaders. They said a stolen mandate cannot be reconciled away and stressed that injustice does not become legitimate simply because a committee has been established to manage the anger it created. A statement issued by Agbonaye Osazee Ofo on behalf of the aggrieved members said the disputed election cannot be wished away. The members contended that the committee’s main objective is to persuade aggrieved members to accept an unfair outcome. The statement read: “The decision by the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) to constitute a National Reconciliation Committee following its controversial primary elections is, on the surface, presented as an attempt to restore peace, unity, and cohesion within the party. But beneath the carefully chosen language of ‘reconciliation,’ ‘fairness,’ and ‘internal democracy’ lies a much more troubling question:” Asking who is to be reconciled and on what terms, the statement noted: “A reconciliation committee cannot become a substitute for justice. It cannot be used to paper over disputed primaries, silence legitimate grievances, or compel aggrieved members to accept outcomes they firmly believe were imposed upon them. “If the underlying disputes arose because members believe their mandates were manipulated, overturned, or denied, then the first responsibility of the NDC leadership should be to establish the truth — not to assemble a committee and expect the victims of the process to simply move on.” The aggrieved members claimed the committee is not intended to reconcile anyone but to force compliance, saying: “This panel was never assembled to heal wounds; it was deployed to enforce compliance. “It invites the betrayed to sit at a table set by those accused of betraying them, offering hollow assurances of peace in exchange for surrender. “That is not reconciliation. That is an attempt to manufacture acceptance. “You cannot rig the process, produce a disputed outcome, and then establish a committee to persuade those who lost their mandates to accept the result in the name of party unity.” Ofo, speaking for other members, said: “Unity without justice is not unity. It is forced conformity.” He urged the NDC leadership to understand that political parties do not become stronger by suppressing legitimate grievances. “They become stronger by confronting wrongdoing honestly and correcting it where necessary,” he said. Maintaining that peace cannot be built on unresolved injustice, the group said the leadership’s declaration of commitment to “internal democracy, fairness, inclusiveness and party cohesion” raises an obvious question: Where were these principles when the disputed primaries were conducted? The statement continued: “If fairness truly matters, let the party demonstrate it by reopening the issues that have generated controversy. If democracy matters, let genuine winners retain their mandates. If inclusiveness matters, let aggrieved aspirants and party members be heard without intimidation, manipulation, or predetermined conclusions. “There can be no meaningful reconciliation where the facts remain contested, and the disputed outcomes are treated as untouchable. True peace cannot take root in the poisoned soil of unpunished injustice.”A committee cannot legitimize a flawed process “The appointment of respected personalities to the committee does not, by itself, confer legitimacy on the process that produced the disputes. “Prof. Pat Utomi, Engr. Buba Galadima and the other members may bring credibility and experience to the assignment, but even the most respected individuals cannot transform an unjust process into a just one simply by sitting on a reconciliation panel. “The real test is whether the committee has the independence and authority to question the party leadership, examine the primary-election records, hear all sides, overturn illegitimate decisions where necessary, and recommend the restoration of mandates where wrongdoing is established.” The statement warned that anything less would amount to political theatre and emphasized that the aggrieved are not the problem. “The NDC should stop treating those who are challenging disputed outcomes as obstacles to party unity. The real threat to party unity is not the member demanding justice. “The real threat is a system that tells a legitimately aggrieved member: ‘Accept what happened or be accused of destroying the party.’ That is an unacceptable distortion of democratic principles. “Members have every right to demand transparency. They have every right to question primary-election outcomes. They have every
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