The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Ahmed Makarfi, has said his Caretaker Committee is open to reconciling with all aggrieved members of the party.
Addressing members and supporters of the party after the Supreme Court ruling which affirmed him as the leader of the PDP yesterday, Makarfi said reconciliation would strengthen the party for future.
The former Kaduna State governor described the apex court ruling as “no victor, no vanquished’’ adding that “we must be open to reconciliation, but there’s a caveat.”
He said, “Reconciliation does not mean we take what belongs to people and give it to you. It must be based on equity, equality and values.
“With this caveat, we should be prepared and willing to reconcile with everybody.
“Anybody that can meet these criteria, we should be willing and open to reconciliation with such a person, no matter who they are.”
Makarfi called on the sacked Chairman of the party, Ali Modu Sheriff and his supporters to team up with him in moving the former ruling party forward.
He also appealed to party members not to discriminate among members who belonged to different factions before the court’s judgment.
“We should continue as friends, knowing that there are things we can do together; there may be things we may not be able to do together.
“We are willing to do everything on the foundation that I had mentioned.
“I urge them to come forward, join hands with us and let’s see how we can move PDP forward,’’ he said.
He commended the judiciary for the fair judgment, saying PDP never lost faith in the judicial system.
“This victory is not just for PDP, it’s for democracy. This affirms the powers of political parties, the powers of convention of all political parties.
“The battle we fought was not a battle for PDP alone. It was a battle for democracy; it was a battle for supremacy of party men and women to decide their destiny.
“It is a battle to do away with dictatorship in political parties and this will never repeat itself,” he said.
Makarfi also disclosed that the National Caretaker Committee in the next few days would begin consultations and would come up with a programme of meetings with expanded PDP caucus.
“These meetings will include Expanded Caucus, Board of Trustees and National Executive Committee so that we can take far-reaching decisions on how to take the party forward,” Makarfi added.
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