SAN FRANCISCO, 06, (THEWILL) – As the Supreme Court prepares to deliver judgment on the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, national leadership tussle, Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has advised political leaders to stop relying on the judiciary to resolve “what is essentially an internal party affair”.
Noting that the tussle has
weakened the PDP across the country, particularly in Edo, Ondo, Benue, Lagos and other states where governorship or local government elections had held and are about to hold, he insisted “that internal disputes can best be resolved through a political solution”.
Dickson, in a statement issued on Tuesday in Yenagoa by his Special Adviser on Media Relations, Mr. Francis Agbo, urged leaders and members of the PDP not to lose hope, assuring that the party will bounce back soon.
Regretting that some party leaders opted for the court which he said can only adjudicate and not reconcile feuding parties, he said some “political leaders in Nigeria exert too much pressure on the Judiciary by failing to do things rightly, like building consensus, as well as refusing to respect laid-down rules of politics”.
The governor averred that what the party, at this point, needs is to play its role as a leading opposition voice and genuine reconciliation founded on compromises and forgiveness.
The chairman of the PDP National Reconciliation Committee disclosed that he is speaking out of concern, following the defection of members to other parties as well as reports of leaders of the party floating alternative political platforms.
He maintained that if PDP leaders had accepted the reconciliation template formulated by his committee, a unity national convention would have held this month to elect a new national leadership. He pointed out that this course “would have put to rest the leadership crisis rocking the party”.
The governor however assured that his committee has not relented on reconciliation and confidence building in the party, irrespective of the lingering litigation and promised to address PDP faithful after the Supreme Court verdict.
