….Appoints substantive chairman, secretary
Following series of hard and shrewd bargaining, the Board of Trustees, (BOT) of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday decided to extend the tenure of the Party Chairman, Senator Ali Modu, by two years. He is to quit office in 2018 to allow for the advent of a new chairman from the southern part of the country, while the north produces the party’s presidential candidate for 2019 election.
The chairman of the party and its governors made an amendment proposal on the party’s constitution to be carried out at the convention in Port Harcourt, while also promising to analyse the conduct of state congresses that were stalled in some states.
The Board confirmed the position of its chairman, Senator Jibril Wali, who had been in acting capacity, while Ambassador Ojo Maduekwe was appointed as secretary of the board.
Senator Jibril was appointed, after a concordant agreement while Senator Stella Omu, Ojo Maduekwe’s sole contender stepped down before he was appointed.
While addressing journalists after a long meeting of the board that lasted over six hours, the Secretary of the board, Ambassador Ojo Maduekwe, stated that the decisions made at the meeting were influenced by the over all interest of the unity of the party.
He revealed that, the decisions made by the Board were after ‘intensive and heated arguments’ which he said had helped in moving the party “away from the brink.
He said, “In spite of the well articulated reservations by some members of the board calling for postponement of the forthcoming convention in Port Harcourt, we have decided to support the National Executive Committee of the party that the convention should hold.”
He added that the decisions made by the Board based on general agreement, since a divided BOT would foreshadow a “divided conscience of the party”. Before now, members of the BOT had opposed the continuation of Senator Sheriff in office, faulting the process of his emergence which was said to be against the principles of equity and justice that the party professed. The National Chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff, who spoke shortly before the party’s BOT, said the proposed constitution amendment which he had inherited from the former leadership of the party had been suspended while states and zones where the outcome of congresses had been controversial would be reviewed by the party.
The decisions by the national chairman of party were perceived as a way of pacifying some members of the party who had stood against his leadership, leading to the setting up of a parallel leadership structure to take over from the chairman when his tenure expires on 21st May, 2016. He said the party’s position that the presidency was zoned to the North remained constant and would be endorsed at the party’s national convention in Port Harcourt later this month.
Sheriff apologized to Professor Jerry Gana for some insulting remarks made against him by one of his aides, Inuwa Bwala, who threatened to drag Gana to EFCC for collecting loan in the name of PDP. In his welcome address, the acting chairman of the Board of Trustees, Senator Jibril Wali, admonished members of the party to bury the hatchet and act in the interest of the party.
He applauded the national chairman of the party for his efforts to mentain the unity of the party he futher encouraged him to sustain the impetus, Some members of the board in attendance at the meeting were Ibrahim Mantu, Tom Ikimi, Adolphus Wabara, Chris Uba, Josephine Anenih, Ojo Maduekwe, Shettima Mustapha, Professor Tunde Adeniran, Esther Audu, Stella Omu, Ina Ciroma, Vincent Ogbulafor, Jerry Gana, Tanimu Turaki, Mike Oghiadome, Ahmadu Ali, Bode George, Dan Suleiman, Margret Icheen, to name just a few.
