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PDP’s confusion over court rulings and peace parley

By Seye Olumide
27 March 2017   |   4:12 am
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is at a crossroad and might be on the verge of self-destruct if it fails to resolve its crisis and provide Nigerians with a credible opposition before the 2019 general elections.

PDP Secretariat, Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is at a crossroad and might be on the verge of self-destruct if it fails to resolve its crisis and provide Nigerians with a credible opposition before the 2019 general elections.

Though the party could not meet the expectations of Nigerians for a better organized and developed country, for the period of 16 years that it held sway, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) unfortunately, has not been able to convince the electorate that it is the better alternative given the almost two years it has been in power.

One of the achievements of the APC, when it was in the opposition, is that it was able to put the PDP on its toes, a feat the PDP is currently finding difficult to achieve since it was booted out of power in 2015.

Recently, a former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, South West zone, Chief Olabode George insisted that the ultimate solution to the lingering crisis in the party lies with the Supreme Court.

George was emphatic, when he said the stakeholders in the party should not be deceived nor pretend that its crisis could simply be resolved on some round table. He submitted that the ultimate resolution to the crisis between the two warring factions over the party’s national chairmanship involving Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led Caretaker Committee, resides in the Supreme Court.

By implications, what George had said was that it is either Sheriff steps down as the PDP national chairman after being recognised recently by the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt or there could be no other way forward.

A member of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the PDP, Chief Ebenezer Babatope corroborated Chief George’s position, saying that some charlatans would not be allowed to hijack the machineries of the PDP.

The duo, who belong to the Markafi leadership faction and some other notable stakeholders appear to have made up their mind on the rejection of Sheriff at whatever cost to the party.

Worried by the development, a group of prominent women in the party, operating under the aegis of PDP Women Forum, insisted that all the combatants to the party’s crisis should observe a period of verbal ceasefire and allow for genuine reconciliation efforts to be explored.

The women, led by Senator Abiodun Olujimi and others across 20 states charged former President Goodluck Jonathan and other with like minds to urgently resolve the party’s crisis with the sole aim to have a viable opposition platform. They argued that given PDP’s history and strong organizational hierarchy, is in the best stead to play this role.

Meanwhile, the Spokesman of the Sheriff’s faction, Mr. Bernard Mikko said it was in the best interest of the party to go for a truce “but since the other camp is insisting on resolving our differences through the courts, so be it.”

However, a South West stalwart of the party, Idowu Odewale commended the efforts of Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa for developing infrastructure in the state, despite the economic challenges in the country.

According to him, the governor has provided some basic amenities and transformed the state even though the difficult topography and the terrain of the littoral state made the feat a difficult task.

He noted that Dickson also made a difference by running an all-inclusive administration that believes in harnessing the state’s potential to enhance its status.

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