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| Former President Jonathan |
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has
said he needed to do more to reconcile aggrieved members of the party
and bring the two factions in it together.
He said though he had been doing it
silently without the media knowing, he nevertheless promised to be more
committed to get the warring factions to sheath their swords.
The former President said this after
members of the Board of Trustees of the former ruling party had a
meeting with him at his residence in Abuja on Wednesday night.
It was the first time he would be openly
meeting with any organ of the party since he was defeated during the
2015 general election.
The crisis in the party has polarised
it, and split it into two factions with Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff leading a
faction and Sen. Ahmed Makarfi leading another.
Also, while Makarfi has announced August
17 as the date for the national convention of the party, Sheriff has
asked the Independent National Electoral Commission not to monitor the
convention.
The former President said he was aware of the split in party.
He said he had been receiving briefings on the state of the party from its members since he left office.
Jonathan commended the Chairman of the BoT, Sen. Walid Jibrin, for allegedly leading the Board on the right party.
He told the BoT members, “I have been talking to individuals (members
of the party) but not in a way that is exposed to the media but I
believe I should do more.
“Unfortunately we have been challenged,
but I don’t think you should be discouraged. Challenges are part of
life; even in families there are challenges.
“There are challenges even in the church
more than what may be happening at political level. So you should not
be discouraged, and I believe, collectively, we can solve it.
“This should not be beyond us but I believe the collectively, we can
resolve it. Any sincere PDP members should know that PDP is bigger than
an individual. And many members have sacrificed their interest for the
party.”
The former President, in a solemn voice,
regretted the conflicting court orders that has continued to increase
the crisis in the party.
He appealed to members to sheath their
swords for the interest of the party, saying that Nigerians need strong
opposition party, and urged members of the party to unite for quick
resolution of the crisis.
Earlier, Jibrin had told the former
President that the BoT members’ visit was in recognition of Jonathan’s
position as a former president and to also interact with him and explain
the state of the party to him.
He said that the party was undergoing a
lot of difficulties and challenges, disclosing that there are about 15
court cases seeking to stop the PDP national convention.
He said, “We abide by provisions of the
party, article 10 of the constitution, which provides for internal
resolution of crisis. This provision is abandoned with various court
cases.
“There is court judgement in Port Harcourt, and there are court judgements and orders in Abuja.
“We have realised that we need
reconciliation. Some many committees have been set up for
reconciliation. The BoT decided to form a special committee to pursue
reconciliation. Some members of the party is concerned.
“That is why we appeal to former
president that he be party to the reconciliation; it is your
intervention that is very important for a way forward for the party.
“We have great respect for you despite the fact that you have not been appearing in our activities.
“We have embarked on programme of
visitations to our founding fathers; we have visited the National
Assembly. We are satsifed with level of cooperation between PDP and
other members in the National Assembly.
“They have played the opposition very well and have embarked on policy issues not on personalities,” Walid told Jonathan.
He added that despite all that is happening, “PDP is alive,” praying that “anybody who wants to destroy PDP will not succeed.”
Also speaking at th occasion, a former
National Deputy Chairman of the party, Chief Bode George, said he was
optimistic that the outcome of the meeting would bring to an end to the
leadership crisis.
George, who is one of the aspirants for
the office of the national chairman, said, “We are at a point where we
cannot afford to allow the party to go under. And this is the most
appropriate time as BoT to come to him to say we want you to intervene.
It was a very warm meeting and very encouraging.
“The meeting was perfect. I feel
completely elated. When we were in power for 16 years all these crisis
would have been resolved by the Villa. “Now there is no villa, it looks like a
community where there is no headship. Suddenly the spirit of discussion
and camaraderie that evolves gave me this personal happiness.”
A former Minister of Education, Prof. Tunde Adeniran, said he was happy with the outcome of the meeting.
Among members of the Board who were at the meeting were Abba Gana, Hajia Inna Ciroma and Shuab Oyedokun.
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