PDP begins fence mending ahead convention

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has intensified its efforts to reconcile its warring leaders ahead its October 30 national convention.

Daily Sun gathered that the  Peace Committee headed by former Senate president, David Mark, met with the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike in Port Harcourt, yesterday.

The panel is scheduled to meet with the PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus, in Abuja.

The crisis rocking the party assumed a dramatic twist, last Monday, after a Rivers State High Court, in Degema, restrained Secondus from functioning as national chairman pending the determination of the substantive suit.

However, last Wednesday, a Kebbi State High Court, in Birnin Kebbi, issued a counter order and directed the embattled PDP chairman to resume his functions, immediately.

Nevertheless, a Federal High Court, in Calabar, Cross River State, on Friday, issued a fresh order barring Secondus from presiding over a meeting of the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) held last Saturday.

In its immediate response to crisis, the PDP national caucus,  last week, set up a peace committee to resolve all the lingering crisis.

A source told Daily Sun that the Mark Committee, which is planning a soft-landing for all the warring parties, wants the gladiators to stop all litigations instituted at various courts across the country. The calculation, it was gathered, is that immediately all the legal encumbrances are removed, it would be easy for the party leaders to reach an amicable resolution  of the crisis, possible before its next PDP NEC meeting scheduled for September 9.

It was also gathered that the inability of the PDP to agree on the composition of  its Convention Planning and Zoning Committees, at its last NEC meeting was traceable to the crisis rocking the opposition party.

The PDP  at the end of the NEC meeting, last Saturday,  had deferred the consideration of nominations into the two committees to September, 9, by which time, it hoped to broker a truce between the warring parties.

Daily Sun gathered that amidst fears that suits and counter suits by  the various camps in the tussle for the control of the PDP structure, ahead of the 2023, may derail the national convention and ultimately affect the opposition party’s preparation for the next general elections, party leaders are making efforts to resolve the issues as soon as possible.

This is as former national legal adviser, Mark Jacob, has said the party has not zoned its presidential ticket to the North.

Jacob, who is also a former attorney general and commissioner of justice in Kaduna State disclosed this when he appeared on Arise TV’s The Morning Show, yesterday.

“Nobody has discussed anything on zoning in our party. We have not zoned our party’s presidential ticket to the North. In fact, the feeling among members is that it should be zoned to the Southern part of the country”, he said.

According to him,  though it’s democracy and every member has the right to their opinion while the party would not take unpopular opinion from any of its members. 

During its 92nd National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting at the weekend, the party had announced that it would arrive at a zoning formula for the National Working Committee (NWC) at a meeting billed for September 9.

Political commentator, Adetayo Balogun warned the PDP against zoning its presidential ticket to the North.

Speaking with journalists in Abuja,  he said discussions about the region to produce the next president has begun and the PDP should not make the mistake of giving the ticket to the North.

“In searching for the next president, there’s a debated preference for a southerner to emerge. However, a section of the populace and those in the political space have clamoured for a united approach to the determination of the next President”, he said.

But, Katch Ononuju, director-general of the Heritage Centre, argued that there was no politician of the northern extraction that can bring Nigerians together again.

(Adapted from Daily Sun)