PDP crisis: My peace moves being misrepresented, says Jonathan

Former President Goodluck Jonathan says he will continue to work with stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), despite deliberate attempts to misrepresent his effort to resolve the party’s leadership dispute.

Ikechukwu Eze, Jonathan’s media adviser, said this in a statement on behalf of the former president on Friday.

Ali Modu Sheriff and Ahmed Makarfi have been locked in a fierce political battle over the leadership of the PDP.

An appeal court in Rivers state had recognised Sheriff as the national chairman of party. But Makarfi vowed to challenge the decision of the lower court at the supreme court.

However, Jonathan, who is mediating in the dispute, was reported to have endorsed Sheriff as the PDP chairman after a meeting at his residence.

But he later denied that he did, and he called for a political resolution of the matter.

In the statement, the former president commended members and leaders of the PDP for their support for the efforts at resolving the differences in the party.

“We have observed that since the meeting between former President Dr Goodluck Jonathan and the governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) last Tuesday, in continuation of the mediation efforts embarked upon by the ex-president, the media space has been inundated with clearly off-the-mark speculations, presenting often contradictory perspectives on the on-going consultations towards resolving the issues in the PDP,” the statement read.

“We wish to urge the public and well-meaning PDP members to ignore such misleading conjectures as they are obviously the handiwork of those who do not wish the party well, and are therefore not happy with the current reconciliation efforts.

“The fact that the chairman of the PDP governors’ forum and Ekiti state governor, Ayo Fayose, promptly addressed journalists at the end of the meeting, to the effect that an agreement was reached on seeking a political solution in resolving the differences in the party, clearly showed that there was no ambiguity in messaging.

“It is obvious that those behind the misleading publications have failed to achieve their aim, as the former president has seamlessly continued with the consultations and reconciliatory meetings. It is instructive to note that since the meeting of last Tuesday with the governors, ex-President Jonathan has also met with many other key leaders of the party, including the chairman, board of trustee (BOT) Sen Walid Jibrin, deputy senate president, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and Senator Ahmed Makarfi, in line with his resolve to carry all the organs of the party along.

“There is no doubt that the statesmanship evident in the former president’s reconciliation efforts precludes his laying preconditions, as is deliberately being misrepresented by a section of the media.

“We hereby reiterate that the former president is determined to continue on this path of inclusive dialogue, by working with the governors, the board of Trustees (BOT), members of the national assembly and other key stakeholders, until the internal dispute is finally resolved.”

Jonathan urged the public and party members to continue to support the peace process, and not to listen to rumours, saying he would address them on the positive outcome of the consultations at the appropriate time.