Southern PDP leaders to share positions on Thursday

The leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party from the South will meet in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, on Thursday to share the national offices allocated to the zone in the forthcoming national convention.

The six zones in the North were said to have agreed on the sharing of the offices given to them by the party.

Our correspondent gathered that the PDP National Secretary is to be produced by the North-West; the party’s National Publicity Secretary goes to the North-Central;  the Deputy National Secretary is also going to the North-East, Financial Secretary has been zoned to the North-Central while the North-West is to produce the National Woman Leader.

Our correspondent gathered that out of the six states in the North-Central, Benue, Niger and Kwara states are seriously lobbying to produce the next National Publicity Secretary of the main opposition party.

The spokesperson for the National Caretaker Committee of the party, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, confirmed the meeting.

He said the party would now begin to sell nomination forms to interested members after the leaders must have agreed on the offices that would go to each state or geo-political zone in the South.

He ruled out the printing of only one form for each position in the National Working Committee.

The positions allotted to the South,  according to the Zoning Committee, are the offices of the national chairman, deputy national chairman, national treasurer, national legal  adviser and national youth leader.

Others are national organising secretary, deputy national publicity secretary, deputy national woman leader, deputy national auditor and deputy national financial secretary.

Adeyeye said, “The plan for the convention is ongoing. We will begin the selling of nomination forms after the two zones must have agreed on the allotment of offices in their areas.

“I learnt that the southern leaders are meeting on Thursday in Port Harcourt to deliberate on the zoning of offices allotted to the area.

“We are progressing and moving forward and I can tell you there’s no problem in our preparation.”

Meanwhile, the senator representing Ogun East in the Senate, Prince Buruji Kashamu, has warned that the August 17 national convention of the PDP will not solve the problem confronting the party.

He said it would be better for the elders of the party to intervene in the crisis by having a peace meeting with the two people laying claim to the national leadership of the party.

Kashamu stated this in a position paper he submitted to the two factions laying claim to the party’s leadership.

The paper was made available to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday.

A faction of the party is being led by Ali Modu Sheriff while Ahmed Makarfi is also the chairman of the party’s national caretaker committee.

Both factions have either court judgments or orders to back up their claims to the leadership of the party.

Makarfi, backed by the 12 governors of the party, has scheduled a national convention to be held in Port Harcourt on August 17 where national officers are to be elected.

Kashamu, who is known as the party’s mobiliser in the South-West, however, warned that the different court orders and judgments which were yet to be vacated might end up nullifying the outcome of the convention.

He said, “Going to Port Harcourt for another national convention on August 17, without addressing the issues that have stuck out like a sore thumb might turn out to be an exercise in futility.

“I appeal to all our leaders to wade into the crisis and resolve the issues.

“If we gloss over the issues and facts and go ahead to hold the proposed convention without resolving them, the perception of the PDP as a lawless organisation will sink deeper and ultimately public opinion will be against us.

“An air of palpable confusion pervades our party and the land, with one division of the court saying Makarfi’s appointment is right while another division of the same court says Sheriff is the authentic national chairman of our party.

“We cannot continue like this.  Already, the nomination (governorship) processes in Edo and Ondo states are being endangered by the current crisis.

“It is incumbent on all well-meaning leaders and elders of the party to court senators Sheriff and  Makarfi and look for a political solution to this crisis and resolve it once and for all. Nothing is too much to give, if we truly love the party.”

He said though the court did not make any order with respect to the proposed August 17 national convention, the “reality is that it is endangered because the Abuja court held that the caretaker committee cannot lawfully act on behalf of the PDP.”

Kashamu said that apart from the resources that might be wasted by individuals and stakeholders, going ahead with the national convention will be contemptuous of valid court orders and rulings, and all those found to have involved themselves in such an action could be cited for contempt.

Besides, he told the leaders of the party to note that there would be some people who would exploit a crisis situation such as this.

“They wait on the sidelines to analyse situations and then go to court when you least expected, to procure orders and judgments that they use to exploit the system,” he added.

He said that the party needed to guard against falling into the trap of such characters.

“Let us put an end to the culture of impunity and put these shady characters out of job.

“Thus, it is crucial for us to find a political solution to this leadership crisis, unite our people and resolve the issues so that the various court cases can be withdrawn. An assortment of court orders, rulings and judgments will only deepen the crisis and make it intractable,” he said.

He reminded the leadership of the party that none of them was above the law.

“Not a politician, not a priest, not a criminal, not a police officer; we are all accountable for our actions,” he added, just as he called on the members of the party to do the right thing so that when they were called to account for our actions, they would be found on the right side of history and the law.