PDP NEC Ratifies Zoning of Chairmanship Seat to N'East *Party woos aggrieved members

PDP NEC Ratifies Zoning of Chairmanship Seat to N'East

*Party woos aggrieved members

After weeks of controversy and intriguing battle for the soul of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting last Wednesday finally affirmed the zoning of the chairmanship position to the North-east.

But the atmosphere at the poorly attended NEC meeting painted a picture that all may not be well with the opposition party after all.

Most of those who spoke at the opening of the NEC meeting were all calling for truce including for those who may have disagreed with the decisions reached at the NEC meeting to still remain in the party.

Speaking to journalists on the outcome of the meeting, the National Chairman of the party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, said the NEC has approved the report of the zoning and convention committees.

Regarding the highly contested chairmanship position, Sheriff said the seat has been zoned to the North-east by the NEC without any dissenting voice.

"The NEC meeting has adopted the report of the zoning committee 100 percent without any dissenting voice. It approved the zoning of the post of the national chairman to the North-east," he said.

Sheriff disclosed that the party's NEC would meet again on May 11 to approve proposals for constitutional amendments ahead of the national convention.

According to the report of the zoning committee, the South-west is to retain the position of the national secretary while the national organising secretary and youth leader are to be produced by South-east. Similarly, the committee zoned the deputy national chairman (South) back to the South-south.

When asked whether he will contest for the chairmanship position in the next convention, Sheriff said: "The issue is a personal decision for me to make, and when I make up my mind on it, I will let you know."

Earlier, Sheriff had expressed satisfaction over the recent outing of the party during a rally in Jigawa State, describing it as a sign of great things to come.

"We are telling all Nigerians that what happened in Jigwa State is just the beginning, and we are going to organise similar rallies in all the states of the federation," he said.

While addressing the NEC meeting, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekwerenmadu, urged party members not to dwell on their differences but to resolve it amicably and be ready to move ahead as one family.

According to him, “As we our national convention approaches, it is expected that there will be disagreements. The important thing is that when we have these disagreements, we will quickly resolve them and move ahead, and that is the resilience PDP is known for.

"So I like to appeal to our party members that if there are areas where we have differences, we must find a way of resolving them in the best interest of our party.

 “PDP is the only party in Nigeria that belongs to everybody and to nobody. So that is important for us as we will all keep faith with this party that belongs to all of us.

"The time is now for us to make sacrifices and show compromise so that the party will remain strong. It is also a time for us to show alternative for what is going on in the country presently so that Nigerians can trust us again with governance in 2019. This responsibility belongs to all of us."

Speaking in a similar vein, the Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustee (BoT), Senator Walid Jibril, urged members of the party who may be aggrieved at the decisions of the party not to leave the party. 

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Among key leaders of the party who attended the NEC meeting were governors of Enugu, Delta, Gombe, Akwa Ibom States, Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio; former governors, state party chairmen and other stakeholders.