PDP holds fresh national convention August 17

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) announced yesterday that it would hold fresh national convention next month in Port Harcourt to elect its national officers.

Rising from a meeti‎ng of party stakeholders that lasted over five hours, the party said the convention would also provide an opportunity to amend its constitution.

Chairman of the National Caretaker Committee of the party, Ahmed Makarfi, who presided over the meeting attended by five state governors and a deputy governor, stated that the party was making progress in its peace drive.

Cit‎ing the presence of Senator Kashamu Buruji at the meeting as a sign of progress, Makarfi said the caretaker committee had not foreclosed the possibility of widening the peace move to bring back the party’s former National chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff to the fold.
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He said another peace committee led by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu to reconcile party members in the south west has been set up while a committee will be set up to make recommendations on appropriate zoning formula for the party.

According to him, while the committee membership would be announced in the next 48 hours, it has been agreed that the National Chairman of the party would come from the South while the Presidential candidate would be retained in the North.

Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), Walid Jibril told journalists after the meeting disclosed that moves were being made to persuade party members to withdraw litigations from courts adding:”‎We are still negotiating.”‎
‎”If you see Kashamu coming to our side fully embracing our national caretaker committee, whatever this group says will be acceptable to him.”
Jibril disclosed that “We have been meeting with Sheriff. Even yesterday we met until 4am this morning and progress is being made.”

On the kind of concessions expected from Sheriff, Jibril said :”What other kind of concession than for somebody to come on his own to announce that he is in support of the caretaker committee?‎”