• Wike-backed faction unveils 19-member Lagos caretaker committee
• Nothing wrong if PDP supports Tinubu in 2027, says Doherty
• Settle or merge with ADC, APC chieftain taunts PDP

Concerned Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders have commenced moves to broker peace between the two factions in accordance with the peace formula suggested by former Senate President Bukola Saraki.
 
The National Working Committee (NWC) faction of the party loyal to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, yesterday inaugurated a 19-member State Caretaker Committee (SCS) for the party in Lagos State.
 
Meanwhile, former Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, Farouk Aliyu, advised the PDP to put its act together or merge with the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
 
According to PDP sources, party leaders interested in averting uncertainties ahead of the 2027 polls have reached out to the factional leaders, Wike Samuel Anyanwu and Saminu Turaki, to consider withdrawing pending court cases and agreeing on a new national convention date.  A source, who is a party to the proposed reconciliation deal, said, “PDP has to return to the Saraki suggestion to restore sanity and survive.”
 
From the beginning of the protracted crisis, Saraki had urged PDP leaders to manage their affairs in a manner that would prevent them from resorting to litigation.
 
The former Senate president, who also cautioned against factionalisation, had envisaged that going to court would stall the progress and unity of the party.
 
Saraki said factions would only play into the hands of foes plotting their future electoral downfall. He also advised that the leaders should manage the party to get to the National Convention, where they can fix all the issues, review the constitution, and chart the way forward.
 
A Lagos PDP chieftain, who lamented the neglect of Saraki’s advice, said party elders were trying to bring the two camps into amity. He said: “The party leaders did not listen. They pushed the matter until there were resultant court cases and factions. With the litigations, Saraki advised that the best move is to stop the convention and set up a caretaker committee that will be used to resolve all the issues and reconcile the various factions and groups. Still, the feuding parties refused to listen, and they went to hold a convention that has now become an exercise in futility. With the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), PDP has now become a flock of sheep without shepherds; a ship without a captain.”

THE national leadership crisis rocking the PDP recently took a new turn when the Wike-backed NWC announced the dissolution of the party’s state executives in some states, including Lagos.The faction has Abdulraman Mohammed as National Chairman and Anyanwu as National Secretary.
 
Speaking at the inauguration in Ikeja, Deputy National Secretary of the factional NWC, Adedeji Doherty, who represented the National Chairman, decried “disrespect for the party’s constitution” by some members.
 
Doherty, a former Lagos PDP Chairman and governorship candidate, blamed some PDP leaders, including Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Olabode George and others for the party’s lingering crisis.
 
Describing the November PDP convention as a kangaroo process, Doherty said it was not done according to the dictates of democracy, and so lacked legitimacy.
 
“I want the new caretaker committee to be so guided. We must return this party to the great days. We must not go against the tenets of the party and its constitution.
  
“PDP in Lagos is going to witness a serious turnaround. I call on all those who left the PDP in Lagos for one reason or another to return and take managerial positions. We must join hands to rebuild our party again. Rebuilding the party at this period is more important to us than who becomes President in 2027,” he said.
 
On the 2027 general election and the issue of a Southern presidency, Doherty said there was nothing wrong with the PDP backing President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to complete a second term for the region.
 
“It does not mean that we are going to abandon our PDP and declare for the APC. It also does not mean that when you see PDP governors declaring for the APC, they cannot return.
  
“I believe in Wike’s decision to support President Bola Tinubu in 2027. It is his prerogative,” he added.
DURING an interview on Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’, yesterday, Aliyu said: “I call on my brothers and sisters in PDP and ADC to put their acts together and, in my opinion, PDP should merge with ADC,” he said.
 
According to him, if PDP is “dying,” one way to revive it is for it to merge with the ADC.