PDP convention won’t hold in P’Harcourt again – BoT

PDP

Olusola Fabiyi, Abuja

The Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party has said the party will not go to Port Harcourt, Rivers State again for its national convention.

It, therefore, directed the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led national caretaker committee to hold the next national convention in Abuja.

This was one of the decisions reached at the board’s meeting in Abuja on Monday.

The meeting, which lasted about five hours, was described as stormy as members of the board insisted that the party must be rescued from the claws of its governors.

The party had attempted to hold its national convention twice in the state, but was not successful.

While the first convention which was slated for May 21 ended with the appointment of the national caretaker committee, the last one on August 17 was used to extend the tenure of the committee for one year.

The party had planned to use both conventions to elect its national officers but the actions of the faction led by Ali Modu Sheriff prevented it.

Sheriff, a former governor of Borno State, is currently in court contesting the leadership of the party.

At the BoT meeting on Monday, the members also directed that a new national convention committee be set up.

It, nevertheless, said the committee must be approved by the National Executive Committee of the party.

With this directive, the board had dissolved  the last national convention committee which was headed by the Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Nyesom Wike.

The Chairman of the BoT, Senator Walid Jubrin, read the communique of the meeting.

As part of resolving the crisis in the party, Sheriff had given the removal of Wike as head of convention planning committee as one of his conditions.

He also said the convention must be held in Abuja.

The BoT Reconciliation Committee headed by a former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, agreed with the demand in its recommendations.

The BoT communique read in part, “The next convention should be held in Abuja.

“To ensure a credible, transparent, free and fair convention, a new Convention Planning Committee should be constituted by the National Caretaker Committee and approved by the NEC.”

Walid added that the BoT should facilitate the raising of adequate funds for the party, just as he urged the board’s reconciliation committee to continue with all good efforts for reconciliation.

Jibrin also said the PDP governors should be positively encouraged to pursue programmes of good governance “so as to clearly project people-oriented  manifesto of the PDP.”

The BoT charged the committee to as soon as possible convene a meeting of the NEC to accordingly approve proposals for moving the party forward.

The meeting, which started with 21 members, ended with 26 members as four others joined them before the end.

Among those who were at the meeting were Adamu Waziri, Mike Ogiadome, Senator Ibrahim Idah, Dan Suleiman, Prof. Tunde Adeniran,  Gana, Vincent Ogbulafor, Senator Ibrahim Mantu, Hajia Ina Ciroma, Senator Stella Omu, Alhaji Shuaib Oyedoku, Makarfi, Abdulkadir Kure and Chief Bode George.