PDP Crisis: Suspension ’ll Harden G7 – Saraki

Former governor of Kwara state and Senator representing Kwara Central, Senator Bukola  Saraki described the suspension of four key members of the Peoples Democratic  Party faction (New PDP) on Monday by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) as a serious setback capable of truncating all the reconciliatory moves on ground and will only harden the G7 governors of the party.

Senator Bukola Saraki expressed this feeling in a media chat with Senate Correspondents in Abuja yesterday.

Saraki, one of the strong supporters of the G7 governors expressed surprise over why the suspension of the former National Secretary of the party, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Kawu Baraje, among others, should come when the appeal court sitting in Abuja passed a judgment recognising Oyinlola as the authentic national secretary of the party.

He said that the court judgment was an opportunity for reconciliation, regretting that the recent suspension of the four aggrieved members of the party was an attempt to circumvent the court judgment.

His words: “We woke up to read in the papers today that some key members of a faction in the Peoples Democratic Party had been suspended. I believe its unfortunate. It is a means of circumventing the ruling of the court.

“We should not take the issue of the rule of law with levity. Since a court had ruled that Oyinlola should resume as Secretary of the party, PDP should comply with the judgment of the court. These are some of the issues that some of us are angry about. The PDP will be there, long after Oyinlola, long after everybody.

“Apart from the issue of reconciliation, there is other issue and this cannot help our democracy. The party is an institution that we are all holding in trust. We must all protect that institution not by being emotional or by expressing sentiments. The process sometimes could work in your favour, sometimes it may not.

“The executive there now will not be there forever. It is very, very sad because some of us have continued to fight on how we can bring peace to the party. All these things being done are behind the scene. We should give peace a chance.”

Senator Saraki said that the Party’s NEC decision was an ill wind that will blow nobody good and that if the  leadership of the party should insist on suspending the aggrieved PDP members, every peace move already in motion and as intanced by the court pronouncement on Oyinlola  would only be scuttled.

On the wranglings tailing the recent LG elections in his state, Kwara, Saraki pointed out that the National executive of the PDP participated in the local government election and that there are evidences to show that.

“Unfortunately 24 hours to the election, the national executive got lawyer to write a letter saying this is the new list of candidates. How did the list emerge? These are some of the actions that we are seeing in the party and before it is too late, this action must stop.”He concluded.

L-R: Dean, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Rev I. C. O. Kattey JP, former Military Administrator of Rivers State, Maj.-Gen. Godwin Abbe and member, Rivers State House of Assembly, representing Gokana Constituency, Hon. Innocent Barikor, during Life Member Conference Fund Raising for the Bible House Project, organized by the Bible Society of Nigeria, Rivers/Bayelsa Area, in Port Harcourt, yesterday. Photo: Obinna Prince Dele