The Standing Committee on Reconciliation of the Peoples Democratic Party headed by Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has recommended that the party should hold its national convention on June 30.
Dickson submitted the recommendations of the committee to the National Chairman of the party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff in Abuja on Tuesday, the PUNCH reports.
He said that the committee took the decision and others at its meeting which was held in Abuja on the same day.
The governor restated the commitment of the committee to find a political solution at resolving the ongoing crisis facing the party without prejudice to the ongoing judicial processes.
In other words, Dickson stated that the appeal lodged by the sacked National Caretaker Committee of the party headed by Senator Ahmed Makarfi against the judgment of the Court of Appeal which validated the appointment of Sheriff as the chairman should go on.
“No date has been fixed for the hearing of the appeal pending before the Supreme Court.”
“Also, the Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, had yet to fix a date for the stay of execution of its judgment. The stay of execution was filed by Makarfi.”
However, the governor said that there was a need to provide a template that he said would culminate into the holding of what he called ‘unity national conversion’.
He said the committee proposed that the national Convention Planning Committee should consist of seven governors, seven senators, which he said must include the Deputy Senate President and 12 members of the House of Representatives.
The others would be six members of the Board of Trustees, six national vice-chairmen with one coming from each of the six geopolitical zones, three state chairmen per zone, state chairmen per zone (making 18 ), six serving Speakers of the State Houses of Assembly and six former governors.
Others include former presiding officers of the National Assembly who are still members of the party, six prominent women leaders, six youth leaders, six former ministers and 12 others to be nominated by Sheriff in consultation with stakeholders.