PDP divided over plans to reform party

Fresh crisis is brewing among the ranks of members of the Peoples Democratic Party on how to reposition the party.

While a group known as PDP National Reform Conference, which is headed by a former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, is planning to hold a conference on how to reform the party, the members of the National Working Committee have said the conference must not hold.

In a statement signed by PDP National Secretary, Prof. Wale Oladipo, the NWC said the Reform Conference must be postponed in order "to create room for further consultations and exhaustive consideration by critical stakeholders of the report of the PDP Post Election Assessment Committee, headed by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, which is due for submission this month."

The reform conference has been slated for October.

Gana said his group received its mandate from the National Caucus of the party and its Board of Trustees.

According to Gana, some of the issues to be considered by the committee include the best ways to "re-ignite the noble ideals and good image of the PDP and restore the party's core values and directive principles."

The committee, he added, would also generate fresh ideas on "people-oriented programmes for ensuring good governance, balanced development, human security with social justice, equity and fairness."

The conference committee, which also has Chief Raymond Dokpesi as member, had on Tuesday inaugurated various sub-committees to prepare for PDP Reform Conference.

The conference is expected to address the various challenges affecting the party with a view to reinventing it in tune with the vision of its founding fathers ahead of 2019 general elections.
However, members of the NWC stayed away from the International Conference Centre, Abuja, where the members of the PDP Reform Conference committees met.

Twenty-four hours after the committees were inaugurated, the NWC came up with a statement postponing the Reform Conference indefinitely.

Since PDP lost the general election, the NWC had failed to call for the quarterly meeting of the party's National Executive Committee.