•To set up caretaker committee, Makinde camp kicks

From Ismail Omipidan, Abuja

Crisis-ridden Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may have decided to go back to the drawing board with a view to charting a way forward.

Sources close to the various camps within the party hinted that it has decided to heed the advice given by the former Senate president,  Dr. Bukola Saraki,  and was considering setting up a broad-based caretaker committee to midwife the affairs of the party,  following the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) decision not to recognise any of the warring factions as at press time.

Dr. Saraki had suggested that PDP leaders should manage their affairs such that they will not need to resort to court because he envisaged that going to court would impact negatively on the progress and unity of the party.

He had also urged them to avoid factionalisation, saying creating factions within the PDP would only see them playing  into the hands of the “enemy.”

Similarly, the former Senate president advised that the leaders should endeavour to manage the party to get to the National Convention, where they can now fix all the issues and review the constitution, and chart the  way forward. But all his suggestions fell on deaf ears, as the party leaders failed to heed his wise counsel.

“They pushed the matter until there are resultant court cases and factions. With the litigations, Saraki advised that the best move is to stop the convention and set up a caretaker committee that will be used to resolve all the issues and reconcile the various factions and groups. Still, the feuding parties refused to listen, and they went to hold a convention that has now become an exercise in futility. With the decision of INEC, PDP has now become a flock of sheep without shepherds. A ship without a captain. A rudderless entity.

“The next move is to return to the Saraki formula. As the former governor of Kwara State has counselled, the leaders should not wait for the court to give judgement in any of the cases. The party leaders should  move among themselves and start talking about resolving the disagreements. Saraki and some others are already talking about bringing the party together, “ one of the sources said.

Daily Sun gathered that all the parties with the exception of  Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and a few others, appear disposed to adopting the Saraki Formula to restore sanity to the PDP.

And leading this new efforts, apart from Saraki are former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido and Senate Minority Leader, Senator Abba Moro.

The move, Daily Sun gathered, is the outcome of a series of consultations and meetings on how to resolve the crises that have held the party down since after the party’s scandalous loss to the then opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC).

The immediate task of the stakeholders, it was further gathered, is to bring everyone together first, and fashion out modalities for a fresh national convention of the party.

“Part of what is being proposed is to have Senator Adolphus Wabara as chairman,  Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi as Secretary, while two prominent members from each of the six geopolitical zones of the country would be nominated to join, and one nominee from the FCT,  making it a 9-member caretaker committee.

“I can confirm to you that both Bala (Bauchi Governor) and Wike (FCT minister) are comfortable with this arrangement.  Makinde (Oyo State Governor) is the only one that is still adamant.

“He is saying we should wait for the outcome of the court case because he appears confident that the camp would win. He probably had forgotten that Lamido had a valid court ruling stopping that convention from being held.  So, if it takes four months to dispense with the case,  it means the party will be without direction for four months and you think the entire membership will be intact till then? We are not giving up . We are still talking to him,” another source familiar with the goings on within the party, added.

But sources close to the Oyo State governor insisted that Ayo Makinde,  having expended energy and resources to put the Ibadan convention together, with its attendant outcome is not favourably disposed to the setting up of a caretaker committee.