The leadership of the new Peoples Democratic Party in the All Progressives Congress will today (Monday) meet with President Muhammadu Buhari.
The leader of the nPDP, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, who disclosed this in an interview with journalists in Ilorin on Sunday, said the meeting with Buhari would take place after the dialogue with the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.
He stated that he was hopeful that at the end of meetings with Osinbajo and President Buhari, the APC would come out stronger and become more united in the general interest of the citizenry.
According to him, the next line of action of his group will be determined by the outcome of the meetings.
Baraje stated, “After meeting with the Vice-President, the attendees at the meeting are expected to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari later in the day to intimate him about the outcome of their meeting.
“I am optimistic that at the end of the meeting with the Vice-President, and later with President Muhammadu Buhari, our party, the APC, will come out stronger and become more united in the general interest of the citizenry.
The nPDP had, in a letter, given the APC leadership a one-week ultimatum to address its grievances, which, it stated, included marginalisation.
The group was reported on Sunday to have listed fresh grievances including complaints about the conduct of the recent states’ congresses of the APC and the alleged refusal of the party leadership to stamp its feet on parallel congresses in some states.
Meanwhile, the opposition PDP has started moves to take advantage of the crises rocking the APC, The PUNCH has learnt.
It was gathered on Sunday that the PDP had sent its leading figures to their wards, local government areas and states to woo aggrieved members of the governing APC.
One of our correspondents learnt in Abuja on Sunday that party leaders were given the mandate to go back home in order to complement the efforts being made by the Senator Lyel Imoke panel to woo APC members.
The committee, which was set up by the PDP leadership a few months ago, was saddled with the responsibility of meeting with Nigerians willing to join a coalition, which would include the main opposition party. The coalition is aimed at ending the APC’s rule in 2019.
It was gathered that following the APC’s ward, local governments and states congresses, which led to crises in many states, the PDP decided to deploy its chieftains to their respective states to woo aggrieved members of the ruling party.
When contacted, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, confirmed the deployment of party chieftains in their various localities to boost the party’s chances.
He confirmed the development in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja, on Sunday.
Ologbondiyan said, “I am just coming from my constituency and members of the APC and other political platforms met with us to discuss the way forward for our nation because they, like most Nigerians, are tired of this APC regime.”
The deployment of the chieftains is coming at a time members of the nPDP bloc within the APC have scheduled a meeting with Osinbajo to discuss their grievances.
The PDP also said it was not threatened by the news that its former members would hold a meeting with the Vice-President and later with Buhari.
It was also learnt that the APC would begin the consideration of reports from its various committees set up to conduct congresses at various levels.
A high-ranking member of the party’s National Working Committee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said the APC was fully aware of the PDP’s plot.
He said that the APC remained confident that Nigerians “will not swallow their (PDP’s) bait this time.”
He said, “Look at it this way. In 2015, members of the nPDP who joined us came from a position of strength; they had five serving governors with all their structures, is the scenario the same today?
“Do you think any governor, especially in northern Nigeria, would want to take the risk of acting in a manner considered injurious to President Muhammadu Buhari’s second-term bid in 2019?
“These are some of the issues you must consider. Members of the nPDP, who have aired their grievances, are our party members; they don’t want to leave, they want to be better treated. The PDP is simply building castles in the air.”
We further learnt that the APC’s NWC would commence deliberations on the appeal committee’s reports submitted to it after the congresses.
The National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, confirmed this development to one of our correspondents via a text message on Sunday.
Responding to a question as to when the NWC would commence the consideration of the reports, he said, “Starting tomorrow (Monday).”
Asked how the party intends to deal with the issue of parallel congresses, he said the party’s constitution did not make provisions for such congresses.
According to him, the only congress the party will recognise is the one conducted by the committees duly constituted by the party’s NWC.
