The board of trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party says the Saturday national convention in Ibadan must be held.

The BoT chairman, Adolphus Wabara, stated this when he received the report of the Reconciliation Committee in Abuja on Thursday. He said, despite the internal crisis and legal challenges facing the party, the convention must go ahead in Ibadan as planned.

The BoT chairman, Adolphus Wabara, was inaugurated on November 5 with the mandate to examine issues that would enable the party to hold a free and successful national convention.

Mr Wabara, in an interview with journalists after the submission of the report, said all the party’s organs had agreed to go on with the convention, before suggestions by individuals that the party should constitute a caretaker committee.

“You know the Governor’s Forum, the National Working Committee, the BoT in our last meeting, our communique made mention of us going for the convention. But, if for any reason, the court of law decides otherwise, because we are relying on the judgment of the Supreme Court, you know, which should have guided the lower courts as of now to take a decision.

“I mean, in a civilised world, these things are interwoven and interconnected. But as far as the organs of the party are concerned, the convention will hold. But, if we are stopped by the courts, we are a law-abiding party, we have always been there, we will still get there, then we will probably obey the law, or obey the last order, as the case may be,” he said.

Responding to concerns that the BoT intervention was coming too late, Mr Wabara denied that the crisis would worsen, insisting that “there is actually no crisis”.

He described the party’s problems as “self-inflicted problems” driven by “elective interests”, suggesting that some politicians are looking ahead to 2031 and want the party to die now to be resurrected for their future use.

Mr Wabara explained that the BoT had swung into action immediately after the 2023 elections, but lacked the required funds, which he said were not provided by those who were supposed to.

He reiterated the BoT’s commitment to the survival of the PDP.

“I am not thinking of contesting for anything. Naturally, whatever decisions the board takes under my watch will be something to really keep the party alive,” he said.

Presenting the findings, Mr Adamu described the mandate as “a very difficult assignment”, but thanked the BoT for the opportunity.

“We have gone round, we have spoken to various segments of our party, our leaders, Governors’ Forum and others, we have now come up with our recommendations for a hitch-free convention,” Mr Adamu said.

The committee’s secretary, Mike Oghiadomhe, while presenting the report, outlined the key stakeholders the committee interacted with over the week-long assignment.

The stakeholders, according to him, included FCT minister Nyesom Wike, the Umar Damagum-led NWC, the PDP Governors’ Forum, and others.

“Arising from that, we now decided to meet with the other members who were suspended, principally the national secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, the national organising secretary, and the national legal adviser.

“We met with them in the premises of Anyanwu, and they took their time also to explain things to us. They said quite a lot, and we believed that we had a very useful discussion with them.

“We still went on, and we felt we wanted to have an all-round consultation. We met with former Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, and he gave his own opinion to the committee,” he said.

Mr Oghiadomhe, who noted that the committee had weighed the pros and the cons, said that their recommendations were based on their desire to present a roadmap for sustainable and progressive party administration.

(NAN)