PDP resolves feud, Sheriff is sole candidate for chair
PDP resolves feud, Sheriff is sole candidate for chair
The crisis that had rocked the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) preparatory to its May 21 national convention recorded a turn for the better yesterday as stakeholders shifted positions and reached compromises on earlier positions in search of peace.
The PDP National Chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff, and the party’s 12 governors agreed to suspend the contentious amendment of the party’s constitution while the Board of Trustees as well as the Jerry Gana-led Concerned PDP Stakeholders Forum shifted ground on their earlier opposition to the holding of the national convention and the candidature of Sheriff for the position of national chairman.
All parties equally agreed that the Presidency would remain in the North and decided to take a resolution at the convention to that effect.
At the 55th meeting of the BoT at the party’s national secretariat, in Abuja, Sheriff announced that a decision had already been taken at an earlier meeting with PDP governors to review the just- concluded congresses in states where there were problems.
Sheriff, who attended the meeting some minutes behind schedule, set the tone for the compromise when he apologised to members for his lateness and equally apologised to Gana over the derogatory statements issued by his media adviser, Inuwa Bwala, against Gana.
On the issue of the constitution amendment which had generated ill feelings between the Sheriff-led National Working Committee and the BoT, the party chairman said that he had met with the PDP governors and it had been resolved that the matter of the constitution amendment be suspended for more consultations.
He said: “As a result of dissatisfaction with the last congress, meetings have been called to resolve issues.
The governors met with Gana and invited me; as a result of the meeting, it was agreed that we step down the issue of the constitution amendment. Agreement has also been reached on states where congresses had become contentious.
We have not even received the report from the committees that conducted the congresses. So it was agreed that those congresses that had problems should be reviewed; a committee will be set up to review and correct what went wrong.”
