PDP threatens to sanction members suing party

The Chairman of the National Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, has said the party will sanction members, who take legal actions against it.

He said members of the party must follow due process in their quest to redress perceived injustice.

Makarfi spoke in Abuja on Wednesday while inaugurating caretaker committees of the party for Osun and Adamawa states.

“The party will take a very hard stand on any party member who is in a hurry to go to court without exhausting all the avenues available in the party for grievances to be heard and to be addressed accordingly,” he said.

He warned against the practice of members taking the party to court, saying members must learn to take advantage of the internal mechanisms within the party to resolve feuds and grievances.

He added, “PDP is one family. At this stage it is not one side versus the other side; the only side that we’ll say is against us is anybody that may be taking us to court. Then, we will know you are against PDP.

“But if you are not, and you have accepted the Supreme Court judgment no matter your views and opinions, then we are one family.”

He asked members of the committees to accommodate all party members in the spirit of equity and fairness.

He said, “I want to begin by commending all of you for the sacrifice you made in the overall interest of the party. Give and take is what can earn us the idea on how to chart for victory.

“Without give and take, all of us have to be possible losers but when we give and take, all of us stand the chance to be possible winners. And if we are winners, if you don’t get carried along one way, you will be carried along another way.

“I want to inform all of you that this is not the end of the road. There are different interests but there is one overriding interest, the PDP. Those different interests may not at this moment be accommodated at this level.

“Those interests that cannot be accommodated at this level, by the time you go through the local government, some interests would be accommodated and those interests that cannot be accommodated at the local government level, by the time you go to do the ward caretaker committee, they may be accommodated.”

Meanwhile, a governorship aspirant of the party, Mr Olawale Rasheed, has commended Makarfi for the inclusiveness and fairness demonstrated in setting up the Osun State caretaker committee of the party.

Speaking at Wadata Plaza, the venue of the swearing-in ceremony, Rasheed said, “Senator Makarfi and members of the caretaker committee have demonstrated unequal wisdom and commitment to genuine reconciliation through the quality, the inclusiveness and fairness manifested in the caretaker list.

“By ensuring fair representation, the party leadership has set the party on a path of strength and future electoral victory. The composition of the committee is widely applauded by party members irrespective of factional differences.”

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