Saraki, Dankwambo meet Makinde in Oyo over PDP crisis

As part of moves to address the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the party’s Special Reconciliation Committee chaired by a former President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, on Monday met with the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, in Ibadan.

Saraki was in company of a former governor of Gombe State, Ibrahim Dankwambo.

The former Kwara governor disclosed this in a post on his social media pages.

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He said the meeting was part of the committee’s ongoing efforts on the party’s crisis.

Following the meeting, Saraki expressed hope that leaders will forge ahead to secure a common position on the challenge.

“Thank you, Your Excellency, Governor @Seyiamakinde, for making time to meet with us today—even though it coincided with your wife’s birthday. Warm wishes to Her Excellency Mrs. Tamunominini Makinde.

“Following today’s meeting, we remain cautiously optimistic as we forge ahead to secure a common position among the leadership of our great party,” he posted on his X handle.

Recently, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, pulled out of all reconciliation agreements previously reached within the PDP, accusing key party leaders of betrayal, dishonesty, and serial violations of mutual understandings.

In a statement, Wike traced the roots of the PDP’s internal turmoil to the aftermath of the 2023 general elections, lamenting what he described as a steady decline into “dishonesty and lack of trust amongst its key stakeholders.”

Wike, a former governor of Rivers State and a key member of the influential G5 group, blamed Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State for sabotaging reconciliation efforts, accusing him of being the “architect of our problems.”

PDP will not die – Wike

Meanwhile, the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, on Monday evening hosted critical stakeholders of the PDP under the aegis of “Concerned Stakeholders of the PDP”, vowing not to allow the party to die.

Those at the meeting include former Governors Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Samuel Ortom (Benue) and Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia).

Others at the meeting include the National Secretary of the PDP, Senator Samuel Anyanwu; former Senate Minority Leader, Philip Aduda; serving and former federal and state lawmakers, some zonal and state party executives, among a host of others.

Addressing the meeting, Wike said the concerned stakeholders were those who had always believed and who still believe in the survival of the party.

“All of you here are those who are committed to the survival of our party not just on TV or in the newspapers, but committed to the party at the various levels.

“Today, this country is stabilized because of the activities of the G5 Governors. You may like us, you may hate us. The truth of the matter is if G5 did not take the decision we took, this country would have been in crisis. It doesn’t matter who the beneficiary was but the right thing had to be done and we still stand by that decision.

“If the party had listened to what we said, we wouldn’t have been where we are today and we have continued to sound it to the party, let the constitution of the party and that of the country be respected. As an opposition party, we cannot continue to act with impunity. No opposition party acts with impunity. Ours is to continue to placate people and bring them together, not to say that they should go to hell.

“Let us not allow greed and ego to kill our party.”

On his part, Dr Ortom noted that he who pays the piper dictates the tune. He challenged anyone in Nigeria to tell Nigerians who else has contributed to the growth of the PDP more than Wike.

He said the president understands that the country cannot be a one-party state which was why he appointed Wike into a very sensitive position as the FCT minister.

From Peter Moses (Lagos), Baba Martins & Hussein Yahaya (Abuja)