No going back on PDP’s zoning, all non-northern aspirants wasting their time –Makarfi

Caretaker Committee Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ahmed Makarfi, reaffirmed the party’s zoning of the 2019 presidential ticket to the north on Monday, while also stating that the process of reconciling aggrieved foundation members of the party, including former president Olusegun Obasanjo, former vice-president Atiku Abubakar, and Senate President Bukola Saraki, was well underway.

Makarfi stated that the party’s position on the zoning of the Presidency to the North and the national chairmanship to the South, which was taken at the Port-Harcourt May 21 convention of the party, would stand, while urging party members to respect the decision.

The former Kaduna State governor added that the position of the party was supreme and warned those already campaigning for the top position to abide by the party’s guidelines.

Makarfi said, “Anything that has to do with the party, it is from the leadership of the party that you will hear and that is why I have reaffirmed that the zoning position of the party has not changed. It was the decision of the Port-Harcourt May 21, 2017 Convention. The decision is supreme.

“But let me also remind you that while the Presidency was zoned to the South in 1999, some aspirants in the North contested and went against it in their rights; but the party went with the decision it took. So, it is up to an individual to make a choice whether to abide by what the party said or go against it.

Read also: ANAMBRA 2017: Crack in UPP widens as Offodile dumps party over ‘corrupt manipulation’

“However, at the end of the day, it is the position that the party adopted that will prevail. We won’t make choices for individuals but my advice is that individuals should respect the decision. The Presidency remains zone to the North.”

On reconciliation effort, Makarfi said that the newly-inaugurated reconciliation committee had made significant progress in this regard, adding that the party was working towards ensuring that the PDP grew into a formidable force in order to defeat the APC in the 2019 general elections.

Makarfi, who spoke to journalists in Kaduna, said, “We are happy they (reconciliation and disciplinary committees) have started well. We will not be reporting their progress because their progress is our strength. People will see it when they will see it.

“Just before the convention, you will recall that we inaugurated a committee for reconciliation and discipline. The reconciliation committee is mandated to reconcile all aggrieved members since the formation of the party, not only aggrieved members based on Makarfi-Sheriff squabbles, all aggrieved members of the PDP since the PDP was put in place. And also to try to bring in even those who have never been in the party before. So, their mandate is wider than the Makarfi-Sheriff political conflict.”

Stating that the party had learnt valuable lessons from its past, the caretaker chairman added that the convention slated for December “is part of the cleansing process to bring credible people on board for the party and also bring sanity to some states that have defied political solution.”

He added, “I am happy to say that all the factional divisions in those states, from the report I have received, have been sitting together and accommodating each other to participate in the caretaker committee.

“That is the first stage of bringing all elements in the party together. I heard reports from Lagos and Kebbi, they are all doing fine. Other states are meeting over the weekend, based on the reports I have received. At the end of the day, we will be there, God willing.”

Makarfi was defiant in dismissing corruption allegations against PDP members, accusing the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for victimising past PDP leaders. He stated that the same allegations of corruption were already trailing the current government.

 

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