Barely 24 hours after the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, announced a National Reconciliation Committee headed by Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, some members of the party have expressed their displeasure over the development.
One of such is a governorship aspirant of the party in Adamawa State in the last elections, Umar Ardo, who has appealed to the National Chairman, Bamangar Tukur, and members of the National Working Committee,NWC, to reconsider Dickson’s appointment.
The NWC of the PDP had on Monday set up the committee in order to harmonise all interests and ensure unity within party members ahead of the August 31 national convention.
Ardo said in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday that “Dickson lacks the national exposure and experience that such a task requires and that he is also a subject of controversy within the party.”
“As a Governor, Dickson would have little time to devote to such an onerous and time-consuming task.
“I also think that he is eminently unqualified to handle such an assignment. In the first place, Dickson lacks the national exposure and experience that such a task requires.
“Secondly, Dickson himself is a subject of conflict within the party apparatus and membership. The way and manner in which he was brought in as Governor, and the furore and controversy that it generated across the country drain him of all moral standing to undertake a reconciliatory mission.”
Ardo noted that “as a Governor of the President’s own state, and the number one hatchet boy of the President, Dickson cannot be objective and fair in his judgment.
“Given that one of the most central causes of the present disputes within the party is the inordinate ambition of the President for 2015, I cannot see how Governor Dickson can depart from this goal should it be imperative for the committee to do so in the course of its assignment.
“In fact, Dickson’s appointment will only be seen as an act of nepotism aimed at satisfying the impulsive determination of the President to achieve his aspiration.
“This perception will automatically estrange most aggrieved members and stakeholders of the party. The committee will thus be dead on arrival,” he added.
The chieftain opined that “such an important committee would be better handled by more experienced hands such as members of the Board of Trustees,BoT, of the party or by the eminent 50-member Advisory Committee constituted by Bamanga himself last year when he came into office.”
“If one may respectfully ask, of what significance is this Advisory Committee headed by no less a personality than Chief Alex Ekwueme if it cannot handle issues of this nature?
“For the party to bypass such eminent personalities within its fold and pick Gov. Dickson who is hardly known outside his governorship office is to me a clear indication of how far alienated the PDP is,” he added.
Also reacting, another PDP chieftain in Osun State and an associate of former National Secretary, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the move is “a mere palliative to buy time for the President and his men to consolidate ahead of both the mini-convention and the 2015 primaries.”
According to him, “I don’t think the party leadership is sincere in its quest to reconcile some of us who are not comfortable with the scheme of things.” He said.
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