The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked all those predicting doom for the party to have a rethink and come to join the party to rebuild and reposition it into a more formidable, all conquering outfit ahead of the 2019 general election.
The Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Walid Jibrin, who made the charge yesterday against the backdrop of last weekend’s outburst by former President Olusegun Obasanjo that the PDP was gasping for breath, said such an assertion existed only in the imagination of those making it.
In a veiled reference to Obasanjo’s dismissal of his former party, Jibrin said contrary to insinuations by some persons, PDP was not by any means gasping for breath, “but is alive and kicking”.
This is just as the South-west chapter of the party settled for a former Deputy National Chairman of PDP as the consensus candidate for the post of national chairman of the party.
Speaking on efforts to resolve the protracted problems of the party, Jibrin said: “Leaders who are talking in newspapers that this party is not alive, the party is alive. It is only in the imagination of those saying that this party is dead and that it will not come back.
“Such people should change their minds. If he comes back to this party, we are ready to receive him.”
While inaugurating an 18-member peace committee headed by Prof. Jerry Gana, the BoT chairman said the party has decided to pursue a political solution as a means of resolving the face-off with its former national chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff.
According to Jibrin, the Jerry Gana peace committee has seven days to complete its assignment and submit a report to the party.
“We are gathered to inaugurate the special committee of the BoT to reconcile our members. You are aware that the BoT have been meeting with some organs to review the situation in the party. We have therefore decided to set up a special committee with a view to resolving the problem.
“With the calibre of the people we have chosen to represent the BoT, I am very optimistic that the end of this conflict has come and that we shall all come out smiling very soon before our convention.
“We want to thank other groups that have tried and particularly the PDP caucus in the Senate, the party’s caucus in the House of Representatives, our able governors and so many other bodies that have tried their best to resolve this problem.
“We’ve had sleepless nights, trying our best so that the party’s integrity is maintained with reference to the dreams of the our founding fathers. We should not let the PDP to die,” he said.
Jirbin assured that the party would henceforth rely on its constitution, adding that the principle of party supremacy must be uppermost in the minds of party members.
He advised those fuelling the leadership crisis in the party to have a change of heart so that their names will be written in the history of the party.
“We must also agree that this party is supreme, this party is above every one of us. It is above individuals and therefore we must all join hands to ensure that we resolve this matter politically.
“It is on this issue of political consideration that we decide to form this committee. It is an 18-member committee made up of well recognised Nigerians of high integrity that will be able to resolve this problem.
“Even those who believe that there are problems should cool down, so that their names will be written in the history of not only the PDP but Nigeria. With PDP being the greatest and biggest in Africa, we should maintain that position.
