PDP quietly begs Obasanjo to come back?

– The PDP has tacitly urged former president Olusegun Obasanjo to return to the party

– But Obasanjo says the main opposition party is gasping for breath

– The party dismisses this insinuation, adding that it “is alive and kicking”

The Peoples Democratic Party has disclosed that former president Olusegun Obasanjo will be received should he decide to come back to the party, This Day reports.

This was disclosed by Senator Walid Jibrin, the chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) on Monday, August 8.

Jibrin’s statement comes against the backdrop of the last weekend’s outburst by Obasanjo that the PDP was gasping for breath after media reports that he was in a meeting with leaders of the party.

But contrary to Obasanjo’s conviction, Jibrin says the PDP “is alive and kicking” as he urged the former president to have a change of mind.

READ ALSO: Obasanjo reveals why he met with PDP members in Abuja

Speaking on efforts to resolve the protracted problems of the party, Jibrin said: “Leaders who are talking in newspapers that this party is not alive, the party is alive. It is only in the imagination of those saying that this party is dead and that it will not come back.

“Such people should change their minds. If he comes back to this party, we are ready to receive him.”

While inaugurating an 18-member peace committee headed by Prof. Jerry Gana, the BoT chairman said the party has decided to pursue a political solution as a means of resolving the face-off with its former national chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff.

READ ALSO: Analysis: Sheriff, Makarfi and the confusion in PDP

According to Jibrin, the Jerry Gana peace committee has seven days to complete its assignment and submit a report to the party.

He said: “We are gathered to inaugurate the special committee of the BoT to reconcile our members. You are aware that the BoT have been meeting with some organs to review the situation in the party. We have therefore decided to set up a special committee with a view to resolving the problem.

“With the calibre of the people we have chosen to represent the BoT, I am very optimistic that the end of this conflict has come and that we shall all come out smiling very soon before our convention.

“We want to thank other groups that have tried and particularly the PDP caucus in the Senate, the party’s caucus in the House of Representatives, our able governors and so many other bodies that have tried their best to resolve this problem.

“We’ve had sleepless nights, trying our best so that the party’s integrity is maintained with reference to the dreams of the our founding fathers. We should not let the PDP to die.

 “We must also agree that this party is supreme, this party is above every one of us. It is above individuals and therefore we must all join hands to ensure that we resolve this matter politically.

“It is on this issue of political consideration that we decide to form this committee.  It is an 18-member committee made up of well recognised Nigerians of high integrity that will be able to resolve this problem.

“Even those who believe that there are problems should cool down, so that their names will be written in the history of not only the PDP but Nigeria. With PDP being the greatest and biggest in Africa, we should maintain that position.

“I should also thank the governor of Bayelsa state, Hon. Seriake Dickson who is heading a very important committee and has been in Abuja for a very long time trying to resolve this our problem. I want to encourage him and his members to try their best so that we can join hands together with the BoT.

“The BoT is the conscience of this party and I think God will not forgive us if we sit down and do nothing. With all the court cases all over the place, about 15 of them, the way we can bring an end to them is to allow all the aggrieved persons to come together and agree to withdraw all the cases out of the courts and give support to this very important committee that will start work immediately.

“The committee is expected to submit its report to us within seven days to resolve this matter once and for all.

“We want to use this opportunity to clam down our members and to tell them that what is happening is normal in a democracy. After various consultations, efforts are being made to end the crisis. They should remain, resolute and determined, they should not listen to rumors, that this party is gone; it is not gone.”

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com fact check has shown that Jibrin has made a u-turn on Obasanjo’s purported return to PDP as he had earlier said that the former president would have to apologize in order to be re-admitted into the party.

Jibrin was quoted as saying by Premium Times in February 2015: “Obasanjo must offer unreserved apology before he is admitted and his card re-issued.”

Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo had on Monday, February 16, 2015, tore his Peoples Democratic Party  membership card, saying he is no more a politician.

Obasanjo who finally dumped the party in the presence of PDP members from ward 11 in Abeokuta North local government, said he would prefer to be an elderstateman.

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