As PDP National Convention Begins…

The quest to reposition
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after the loss in the 2015 presidential elections is gradually yielding fruits. While dissenting and aggrieved parties are yet to die down, in-roads are  being made by governors and stakeholders to mend fences ahead of the 2019 elections.
Controversy trailing the May 21st convention in Port Harcourt leading to the setting up of the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led Caretaker Committee(CTC) to oversee the National Secretariat of the party was being resolved
Governors and stakeholders are exploiting likely opportunities to ensure that the CTC does not get aground after its three months tenure expires. The legal fireworks that ensued after the May convention almost dimmed hope of finding a lasting solution to leadership crisis rocking one of Africa’s most virile political party.
To end the imbroglio, a reconciliation committee was set up by the Board of Trustees (BOT) of the party last week to find a way out of the impasse. The aim was to bring erstwhile chairman of the party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and others who were aggrieved back to the fold.
Chairman of the Peace Committee and former Minister of Information, Prof Jerry Gana, who was among the group that held a parallel convention in Abuja in May is spearheading the recent truce. He had implored on all the warring parties to sheathe their swords, and one of the conditions set by the body was for all combatants to withdraw their cases in court. But late last week and in deft move some governos namely , Ayodele Fayose (Ekiti), Nyesom Wike (Rivers) and Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe), met with Sheriff at Gombe Governor’s Lodge in Abuja last week Friday, pleading with him to withdraw all his cases against the party.
Though there are claims that Sheriff was yet to agree to all the terms, as he insisted that his conditions be met before he could yield to their demand.
Besides, The Tide learnt Sheriff also insisted that the National Caretaker Committee of the party headed by Sen. Ahmed Makarfi be disbanded immediately and people be appointed into the National Working Committee.
Before meeting with the governors, Sheriff and his team had met with the Reconciliatory Panel of the BoT led by Prof.  Gana. At the meeting he had with the Gana-led BoT panel, it was gathered that a seven-point undisclosed recommendations in response to the conditions given by Sheriff were presented again to Sheriff’s committee.
Details of the recommendations were not known as of press time, but it was gathered that the Sheriff Camp would meet on Saturday to respond to the recommendations by the Gana-led reconciliation committee.
While presenting the recommendations, Gana said his committee, “is here to present a set of recommendations that we believe if well considered and accepted and effectively implemented will promote reconciliation in our party.
“We presented the recommendations and of course being weighty recommendations. Sheriff and his team have accepted to receive this document, study it and then we will resume our study tomorrow (today) to get the responses to these recommendations and then by the grace of God reach a conclusion that will give a new lease of life to the PDP.”
In his response, Sheriff said the “BoT sat and made this set of recommendations that in their views are way forward to have a resolution of the impasse that is going on in our party.
“Having seen and received the recommendations, it is natural that myself and the members of the working committee will study and also we will make the recommendations that we feel will be the way forward.
“At last, we have started talking. After due consultations with the members of the working committee, I will get back to them (the committee) so that we will continue from where we stopped.
He, however, told the members of the committee that any building without sound foundation would collapse.
Sheriff said that in all the meetings he had, he would not “agree on anything that will affect our integrity, followership and our political interests.
“As some of you rightly said, some of them were ashamed to identify with the party. Now the PDP has become a strong party, everybody is looking up to PDP and we will not be distracted.
Consequently, as part of steps to unite the party after it lost in the 2015 elections, the BOT has zoned the presidency to the North while zoning the party chairmanship to the South.
The northern caucus had in a last minute move last week Saturday set up a 16-member committee to screen and pick consensus candidates for offices zoned to the region ahead of the national convention of the party in Port Harcourt. The committee headed by former Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu, signaled an intention by key politicians from Sheriff’s native region and core political base to go along with the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led national caretaker committee. It was also an apparent abandonment of Sheriff, whose opposition to the caretaker committee formed at the party’s controversial convention on May 21 in Port Harcourt lies at the root of the current leadership crisis in PDP.
On their part, stakeholders from the South-West are yet to agree on a candidate. A meeting convened by Governors Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti and Dr. Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo states, it was gathered, had ended in a deadlock, as they failed to agree on how to approach the convention. Two of the national chairmanship candidates, Professors Tunde Adeniran and Taoheed Adedoja indeed dissociated themselves from the meeting. Chief Bode George, one of the chairmanship candidates was, however, present. Among the leaders present were Senator Teslim Folarin, Erelu Olusola Obada, Senator Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, the Ondo State deputy governor, Alhaji Lasisi Oluboyo  and the former deputy governor of Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore and  former Works Minister, Oluseye Ogunlewe, among others.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Publicity sub-Committee of the expanded PDP Convention Planning Committee, Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, has debunked the misconception that the convention had once again  been postponed, advising members to disregard any such rumour.
Ugochukwu observed that the only recognisable interim executive of the PDP by law, empowered to organise a convention, is the one led by Senator Makarfi.
He singled out for special appreciation, Nyesom Wike, the Rivers State governor, for his generosity and conscientiousness in hosting two critical conventions of the party, within the short span of three months, despite the current economic crunch.
The good news is that the court has sealed the legality of the Port Harcourt convention.  A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt validated the August 17th , 2016  National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party , PDP, scheduled to hold in Port Harcourt, directing the  Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to monitor the party’s national convention.
The Federal High Court in Port Harcourt also directed the Inspector-General of Police, the Rivers State Commissioner of Police the Director-General of the Department of State Services, DSS, the Police and the DSS to provide security for the national convention billed to hold in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, 17th August, 2016.
Already   57 candidates who have purchased forms to contest the elections have been screened by the Convention Screening Committee led by former Governor Gabriel Suswam.
Among chairmanship candidates screened on Monday include Former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Chief Bode George, Former Education Minister, Prof Tunde Adeniran and Chairman of Daar Communications Plc, Chief Raymond Dokpesi.
All three chairmanship candidates declared that they would accept the outcome of the National Convention, pledging that their loyalty remain with the party.
They declared  that they would  support the process to rebuild the PDP  after the 17th August National Convention.