22 PDP states chairmen back Dickson, Sheriff on convention
Atotal of 22 of the 36 states chairmen of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said they are set for the national convention of the party as proposed by the party’s National Reconciliation Committee headed by Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, which recommended that the convention be held not later than June 30.
The chairmen said if the ongoing leadership crisis within the party is allowed to continue, it would jeopardize the party’s chances of winning the Ekiti and Osun States governorship elections and the 2019 general polls, especially as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released the 2019 election timetable.
But reacting, the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led PDP National Caretaker Committee described the chairmen as fake, saying their action was a ruse and mere continuation of what it described as the impunity of Senator Sheriff and “his dissident backers within the party”.
In a communique signed by the 22 chairmen under the leadership of chairman of the Bayelsa State chapter, Moses Cleopas and read by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) PDP chairman, Yunusa Suleiman, yesterday, in Abuja, the chairmen said ‘‘as supporters of the rule of law, we have decided to back Sheriff following his affirmation by the recent Court of Appeal judgement.
“In line with the only template presented by the Peace and Reconciliation Committee of our party headed by Henry Seriake Dickson, Governor of Bayelsa State, we wish to state that we support the recommendation that a political solution is the best and only solution to our crisis without prejudice to the ongoing judicial processes.
“We are also in support of the committee’s recommendation of an all inclusive unity convention to be held as soon as possible.
“The PDP chapter chairmen are very concerned about the crisis engulfing the party as it is degenerating into decamping from the party across the nation.
“We also call upon the national chairman Senator Ali Modu Sherriff and the National Working Committee (NWC) to abide by the recommendations of the Peace and Reconciliation Committee for the sake of our great party,” the communique said.
But the spokesman of the PDP National Caretaker Committee, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, said the meeting was an illegal assembly of ‘‘fake PDP state chairmen’’.
...They are fake chairmen - Makarfi