PDP chairman says no victor, no vanquished

Sen. Ahmed Makarfi, Chairman, National Caretaker Committee, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said the committee was open to reconciliation that would strengthen the party.

Makarfi gave the assurance while addressing members and supporters of the party after the Supreme Court judgment on the party’s leadership crisis delivered in favour of the committee on Wednesday.

He described the judgment as “no victor, no vanquished’’ and said, “we must be open to reconciliation, but there’s a caveat.

“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.”

He urged Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff and his group to join hand with him to move the PDP forward.

Makarfi also called on members of the party 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.

Makarfi commended PDP members and the judiciary for the fair judgement, saying PDP never lost faith in the judiciary.

“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.

“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.”

He promised that the committee within the next few days would begin consultation and come up with a programme of meetings between it and expanded PDP caucus.