the newly-elected Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum, Ondo’s Olusegun Mimiko, on Thursday said that the opposition party would regain power at the centre come 2019.

Mimiko said the PDP had in fact commenced the process of taking back power from the All Progressives Congress during the next general elections.

He said this at the Akure airport during a mini-reception organised for him on his return from Abuja, where he was voted as the new PDP governors’ chairman on Wednesday.

Mimiko said the governors were determined to give the PDP a new face as the opposition party, pledging that the party’s engagement of the ruling APC would be robust and offer alternative policy platform and programmes for the country.

He said the PDP governors had resolved to collectively work assiduously and excel in governance with a view to re-branding the party and selling it to all Nigerians.

He said, “We must sustain enthusiasm in our party; and as governors who have pivotal roles to play in re-branding our party, we must show in governance term the difference between us and the APC and these are the challenges ahead of us.

“As opposition party, our engagement will be robust; we must offer alternative policy platform and programme when we criticise one. We must show Nigerians that we are a different party. We will not be abusive in opposing the government and we will praise where it is worthy of praise and criticise in a very robust manner”

He said that the PDP in Ondo State had reached an appreciable level of repositioning and that the party was “overwhelmingly” in charge in the state.

The Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Jumoke Akindele, noted at the reception that the emergence of Mimiko as the chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum was well deserved.