Court of Appeal ruling to re-lunch PDP as a potent party—Markarfi

THE Chairman of the National Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmed Makarfi, is confident that the impending ruling of the Court of Appeal over its leadership crisis would serve as a platform to re-launch the party into potent political machinery.

The Court sitting in Port Harcourt is due to deliver its judgment on February 17, 2017 to lay the lingering leadership crisis to rest.

Speaking while receiving in audience Forum of PDP State Chairmen in his office in Abuja on Tuesday, he expressed the hope that the judgment would favour the National Caretaker Committee which would use it to reposition the party in time for the 2019 general elections.

Makarfi said his leadership would not be distracted by the present crisis which he hoped would end soon, saying that he was intent on returning the party to its lost glory.

He said: “No matter the distraction, we will not look in a different direction.

“When you are running and somebody is holding your cloth, if you have scissors, cut it off because if you look behind somebody behind you will overtake you.

“We have confidence in the judiciary that sooner or later the crisis will be over and PDP will bounce back.”

Makarfi stated that party’s leadership was looking forward to receiving report of the Strategy Review and Inter-party Affairs Committee headed by Professor Jerry Gana.

He said the report would be subjected to thorough scrutiny by various organs of the party before adoption.

In his remark, Chairman of the Forum of PDP State Chairman, Paul Ekpo had commended the caretaker committee members for their maturity in handling the affairs of the party.

He assured the National Caretaker Committee that it had always had the backing of the forum since the Chairmen were part of the decision to set up the committee at the last national convention of the party in Port Harcourt.