Makarfi inaugurates Ogun, Kebbi, Borno PDP excos

CHAIRMAN of the National Caretaker Committee (NCC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmed Makarfi has inaugurated the caretaker committees of the party set up for Ogun, Kebbi and Borno states.

This followed the dissolution of the executive committees of seven states including the three by the party’s last national convention.

Presiding over the ceremony at the national secretariat of party in Abuja on Wednesday, he assured that the NCC would work within its four-month mandate and hand over as its members did not want to be sit-tight leaders.

“We don’t have the latitude of time. We don’t want anything to tie us down. The convention gave us four months and we are working towards that. We are not sit-tight leaders,” Makarfi assured.

He explained that ‎the dissolution of the executive committees in the seven affected states was for the purpose of unifying party members because of the sharp divisions arising from the last congresses in the states.

Makarfi charged the committees to reconcile aggrieved members and make the PDP an attractive platform for Nigerians.

However, he said even though reconciliation was a continuous process for the party, it would not force those not ready to embrace the olive branch to return into the party’s fold.

According to him, “We will remain accommodative to both PDP and non-PDP members and as you are inaugurated today, be aware that reconciliation has not ended.

“Go back to your states and constitute ward and local government committees in conjunction with other stakeholders of the party.”

He also directed the committees, to conduct elective congresses “within the next three months,” adding, “Like I said before, we are ready to receive as many people as possible. The door is open but we cannot force anybody who is not ready to join us to move the party forward,”

While thanking the three states for setting up the caretaker committees, he warned that the PDP would not tolerate a situation where any state party executive committee would drag the party back to court again due to leadership crisis.

“We have to move further than this, we must remain flexible and reconcile with every member of the party, and even none PDP members. You should ‎create a level playing field for everyone,” he advised.

Ogun State caretaker committee chairman, Tunde Adesanya, in an acceptance speech, said the inauguration was ‎another step to move the party forward to where it properly belongs.

He promised to pursue reconciliation of members in his state as well as to organise transparent ‎congresses to elect party leadership at local government and state levels‎.

While administering the oaths of office and allegiance on members of the committees, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Kanu Agabi, admonished party members to stop fighting among themselves.

He observed that a united PDP was capable of doing “so much more” as according him, as a relatively unknown attorney, it was the PDP-led government of Olusegun Obasanjo that gave him the big break with his appointment as Attorney General.

He said the more party members fight, the more difficult it would be for PDP to win elections.