The Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday moved to save the party from imminent political oblivion by taking over the running of its affairs pending the resolution of its leadership crisis.
The Inspector General of Police, IGP, Solomon Arase on Tuesday ordered the re-opening of the national secretariat of the main opposition party after sealing it for nine days to prevent breakdown of law and order by the various factions jostling for the national chairmanship of the PDP.
The BoT members, who last week tried unsuccessfully to prevail on Senator Ali Modu Sheriff to recognize the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led caretaker committee by withdrawing his court case against the party, arrived the Wadata Plaza national secretariat of the PDP in Abuja shortly after noon and went straight to the National Executive Committee (NEC) hall.
The BoT, led by its Chairman, Senator Walid Jibrin, held a meeting with the secretariat staff on latest developments in the party.
Senator Jibrin said the board remained the only legal body that is not involved in any of the court cases by the contending parties, hence, the decision to take over the affairs of the party.
“Nobody has taken the BoT to court. Today, the BoT remains the only legal body that is not in court with anybody, and that is why we are here to play our role”, Mr. Jibrin said.
“We are here to perform our duty, according to the PDP constitution, hoping that our problems will soon be resolved.
“Members of the board will be operating from the boardroom. They will not be occupying any of the offices used by members of the disbanded National Working Committee (NWC)”, the BoT chairman added.
He also explained that the sealing off of the party’s secretariat by the police on the instructions of Mr. Arase was to protect lives and property.
“We the BoT have been asked under the constitution of the party to be in charge of the assets and the liabilities of the PDP generally.
“It is in that respect that the Inspector General of Police, having considered the importance of our constitution and having considered the importance of the staff of the PDP headquarters here, that this place be opened and entrusted in the hands of the BoT”, Jibrin asserted.
While describing the party’s problem as “temporary”, the PDP chieftain disclosed that the BoT had reached out to parties in the lingering crisis, with a view to reconciling them.
He said: “We have gone very far to resolve this matter, we are making contacts and consultations and we are not here to blame anybody, but to resolve the problem.
“PDP will never die; we are only on sabbatical and once the sabbatical is over, we are going to take over our leadership. We are coming back in 2019”.
Speaking in the same vein, the BoT Secretary, Ambassador Ojo Maduekwe, said the board decided to oversee the party’s affairs to prevent a vacuum in the face of conflicting court orders.
“We are giving members opportunity to withdraw all cases in court so that PDP can rebrand”, Maduekwe said.
