PDP throws NWC positions open

New candidates have the chance to contest for the vacant positions in
the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party following the
decision of the party to throw the contest open in the national
convention slated for July 20.
The National Executive Committee approved the guidelines for the
convention after the resignation of eight members of the National
Working Committee, their deputies and national ex-officio members
following the Independent National Electoral Commission’s declaration
of the process of their election as flawed.
For the purpose of the convention, NEC approved the list of delegates
and statutory delegates used in the 2012 convention but left the
possibility of adjustment, in case some of the previous delegates have defected from the PDP or are even dead.
The guidelines approved showed that the election would be by secret
ballot and in the event of a tie, a run-off would immediately be
conducted between the candidates with the highest equal votes.
Chairman of the Convention Planning Committee, Professor Jerry Gana,
who said over 4000 delegates would participate in the convention,
confirmed on Friday that all the vacant offices could be contested by
interested members of the party.
He promised that the committee would conduct a credible election to
enable delegates to vote for candidates of their choice.
“We also want to make sure that there is a credible system of election so that when we conduct the elections, the elections are so
excellently conducted to ensure a free, fair and credible choice by
the delegates,” he said.
Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who is the Secretary of the
Convention Planning Committee, also affirmed that nominations for the
positions would be open, but added that the offices would remain in
the zones where they were originally allocated.
“We are going to keep all the positions within the zones, but if there
is any strong reason for us to change a particular candidate, that
will happen.
For now, we are going to keep all the positions in the zones that are
keeping them presently. We are not changing the zoning formula of the
NWC members,” he stated.
In a related development, indications have emerged that the suspension of the embattled Rivers State governor and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Rotimi Amaechi, may soon be lifted.
Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum and Akwa Ibom State Governor,
Chief Godswill Akpabio, who gave the hint, told newsmen in Abuja on
Friday that reconciliation of governors was ongoing in the party,
which he said led to the attendance of most PDP governors in the just
concluded NEC of the party.
“Reconciliation among governors is ongoing. If you noticed, almost all the PDP governors were in attendance. Even the recently recalled
brother of mine, governor of Sokoto, also attended the meeting. If
there was any PDP governor that was not there, probably he was on
official duty for the Federal Government and for this nation,” he
said.
Akpabio added: “I recalled I said when I was asked when the NWC lifted
the suspension on governor of Sokoto and they wanted to know about the governor of Rivers State, I pointed out that the governor of Sokoto did not go to court and the other matter regarding my brother
(Amaechi) was in court and therefore was subjudice. We are exploring
all means to ensure out-of-court settlement and to bring everybody
back to the fold.
Delta State governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, corroborated him, saying
that the PDP Governors’ Forum was intent on ensuring reconciliation of aggrieved governors in the party. He recalled that the PDP governors were responsible for the lifting of the suspension of Wammako, after pleading with the leadership of the party.
“As a PDP Governors’ Forum, within ourselves, we are doing a lot of
reconciliation. You would have noticed that even the coming back of
Wammako had a lot of input from us. We had to appeal to the leadership of the party that the suspension should be reversed, and the party graciously agreed to reverse it. So, whatever is left, we are handling it at that level,” he said.
He stressed that the PDP was “still very much intact and very strong”
and had never been threatened by the merging opposition political
parties.
Meanwhile, following the successful conduct of the party’s NEC
meeting, the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, has
thanked President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP for standing solidly
behind him and providing strong and unifying leadership, which has
made it possible for the party to be a great political family.
A statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Oliver Okpala,
in Abuja on Friday, said: “The outcome of the NEC meeting shows that
the PDP is a strong and peaceful political association of like-minded
patriots and nationalists united in their resolve to take our country
to greater heights, irrespective of minor political differences.”
Nigerian Tribune.