During the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Special Non-Elective National Convention, the PDP extended the tenure of the party’s national caretaker committee, which is headed by Senator Ahmed Makarfi.
The committee, whose tenure expired on Saturday, was given another four months within which to organise a national convention where new national officers would be elected.
This was one of the resolutions passed and adopted by members of the party on Saturday.
Apart from organising a fresh election, the caretaker committee is also expected to settle all grievances by members of the party before leaving office.
With this extension, the tenure of the committee is expected to end on December 12, 2017.
A former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio, moved the motion for the extension of the tenure and was supported by a former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido.
The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, moved the motion for the dissolution and confirmation of the appointment of the caretaker committee for Anambra State. His motion was supported by a former Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Ina Ciroma.
The national caretaker committee had earlier given the sack to two factions of the state executive committee and appointed a former Minister of Health, Prof. ABC Nwosu, as the chairman of the caretaker committee.
Also, the party removed its executive committees in seven states where it said there were either rancorous delegates elections or where there were none at all.
The states affected are Lagos, Adamawa, Kebbi, Osun, Ogun, Borno, and Kwara. The caretaker committee was given three months to conduct fresh elections in the states.
Gombe State Governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo, moved the motion for the sacking of the state executives and was supported by his Abia State counterpart, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu.
A former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, also moved a motion for the confirmation of officers of the party in six geo-political zones of the country.
His motion, which was supported by a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha, affected North-Central, North-East, North-West, South-West, North-Central, and South-South.
With this, the party seemed to have resolved the crisis in the affected zones, especially in the South-West where two factions recently held different meetings in the name of the party.
While Mr. Makanjuola Ogundipe claims he remains the party’s authentic chairman in the zone, the convention on Saturday crowned Mr. Eddy Oyefeso from Ondo State as the recognised chairman.
Speaking, Makarfi insisted that there were five failed attempts to stop the convention.
Makarfi paid glowing tribute to the Supreme Court, which he said bailed the party out of the 12-months crisis that affected its fortunes.
He said the party was getting ready to assume power in 2019 and wished ailing President Muhammadu Buhari quick recovery, adding that the PDP would like to defeat him and his party.
“We mean well for President Buhari and we pray that he comes back (from London) fit and resume work. We want to defeat him and the APC in good health come 2019,” the former governor of Kaduna State added.
He said the convention was dedicated to the Nigerian youths who he said: “are hungry and their parents have no money to pay for their school fees.”
Also speaking, Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, said the PDP had recovered and returned to restore vibrancy and integrity to Nigeria’s democracy, and urged Nigerians to partner the party.
Okowa, who was the chairman of the convention committee, said that the past two years presented great challenges to the party.
He said the loss of presidential election and the gale of defections were enough to sink the party’s ship, but expressed delight that the party had overcome its challenges.
Describing the PDP’s travails as “baptism of fire,” Okowa said that the party had survived an untimely death and this was a testimony to the resilience of its grassroots’ structure, organisation, and appeal.
He said, “Ours is a party firmly anchored on the grassroots, connected to the people in a unique way that recognises that power truly belongs to the people.
“We are rebounding, realising that there is a champion in each of us in the party. A collective leadership and partnership, resolved to do things right, is all that we need to build the strength to recapture power.”
The committee chairman said the fact that the party became a victim of its own success was one of the sobering lessons that it learned from its defeat.
Also, the Chairman of the party’s Senate Caucus, Akpabio, assured Nigerians that the party would not support any separatist agenda in the country.
The lawmaker, who is also the Minority Leader of the Senate, condemned hate speeches in some parts of the country, adding that the unity of the country was non-negotiable.
He assured Nigerians of the PDP’s support for policies of the present administration, which are aimed at taking the country out of recession.
He, however, said the party would not support any policy that would plunge the country into the depression.
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