Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, the National Chairman of the Peoples
Democratic Party, on Monday said review of the party’s Constitution had
been suspended in the interest of its unity.
Sheriff stated this
while addressing members of the party’s Board of Trustees during their
meeting at the PDP National Secretariat in Abuja.
He said the
decision to suspend the Constitution’s review stemmed from agreements
reached during the party’s leadership’s recent meeting with some
stakeholders and elders of the party.
Sheriff said: “In order to solve the problem in the party, we have agreed to drop the issue of Constitution review.
“Although
I am yet to discuss with the National Working Committee of the party, I
am sure that since it is coming from the leaders and concerned members
of the party, I don’t think they will object to it.
“We will completely step down the issue of reviewing the Constitution.
“It will not be taken as a result of the agreement we reached with some of our elders who participated in the meeting.”
Sheriff recalled that the issue of reviewing the Constitution started before his emergence as chairman of the party.
He
told the BoT members that the party leadership was aware of issues
surrounding recent state and zonal congresses of the party, adding that
meetings were being held to address the problems.
Sheriff announced that the party would review congresses that had problems.
He
said: “It is from today that we will start receiving the reports and
look into where the problems are because the appeal committees have sat
and made certain observations on affected states.
“We have agreed
that a committee would be set up to look into the problems so that the
party can sit together with the view of correcting what has gone wrong
in some states.
“Party is dynamic and the views of the people you are leading are also very important.
“That is why we have agreed on some of these issues.”
The
chairman also said the issue of zoning of the party’s presidential slot
for 2019 election to the North East would be addressed at Saturday’s
National Convention in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
On the
possibility of a shift of the convention date, he said the date and
venue remained unchanged “except if something extraordinary happens”.
Sheriff,
who disclosed his intention to contest to retain his position as
chairman, said he had already been endorsed as a sole candidate for the
position during the North East Zonal Congress.
On recent increase in price of petrol, he said the party would meet soon to take a position on it.
Earlier, the Acting Chairman of the BoT, Senator Walid Jibrin, said the
board had been watching with keen interest recent happenings in the
party as well as working towards resolving the problems.
Jibrin
said: “As the conscience of the party, we must take the situations
critically with the view of solving them in a more democratic way
without necessarily destroying the party.
“We must exhibit highest morality, be upright and very sincere in trying to solve our problem.”
Jubrin,
who commended the BoT members for allowing him to lead them, urged them
to be calculative and cooperative in the way they handled party issues.
He said: “It is now evolving that what is happening is an exhibition of democracy.
“Since
we are in a democracy, we cannot stop anybody from saying anything, but
we should use various meetings positively with the view to moving the
party forward.”
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