TheCable

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has fixed April 10 to hold its suspended zonal congresses in the south-west, north-west and north-central.

The date was communicated to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) via a letter signed by Uche Secondus and Umar Tsauri, respectively, the party’s national chairman and secretary.

Internal party crisis had stalled the congresses and forced the party’s national working committee (NWC) to postpone them.

Part of the challenge was the leadership tussle between some zonal leaders including in the south-west where Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo, and Ayodele Fayose, former governor of Ekiti, have been at loggerheads over the issue.

But the letter dated March 31 indicated the party’s readiness to hold the remaining congresses, with that of the south-west scheduled to take place in Ibadan, Oyo state.

The letter reads: “Please refer to our earlier letter with ref No.PDP/DOM/GF.2/VOL.IM/21-015, in which we informed the Commission (INEC) of the postponement of our planned zonal congresses in North West, South West and North Central.

“We now wish to inform the commission of new dates for the North West, South west and North central zones.”
The letter gave the location and dates for the congresses to include Ibadan for South west, Kaduna for North West and Makurdi for North Central.

“Please note that all our party’s activities shall be in accordance with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) guidelines on COVID-19 as they concern social/physical distancing if people gathering in one place.”