Immediate-past Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. David Iorhemba, has called on all aggrieved members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to sheathe their swords and work collectively for the unity and strength of the party.
The former Speaker’s advice is coming on the heels of the crisis bedeviling the party, which culminated in a walk-out at the mini convention held in Eagle’s Square, Abuja last weekend, by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and about seven governors of the party.
They subsequently announced the formation of “New PDP”.
Governors that walked out of the convention last Saturday included: Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Magartakarda Wamakko (Sokoto) and Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara).
A statement signed by the ex-speaker’s special assistant on media, Hon. Edendu Oroso, urged President Goodluck Jonathan and the aggrieved stalwarts of the party, to heed the call by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, for parties to maintain status quo, pending the meeting of elders, scheduled for the week.
The statement, however, commended the untiring efforts of Chief Obasanjo towards the unity of the country in general, and the PDP in particular.
According to the PDP chieftain, Obasanjo’s “timely intervention is symbolic of a father who does not will an inferno on a house he has painstakingly built.”
He added that the peace initiative “Will make the party stronger and better positioned to deliver on its cardinal objectives of moving the country forward.”