The chairman of the National Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmed Makarfi, on Wednesday said the Supreme Court verdict on the leadership tussle in the Party is a victory for democracy.
Speaking with newsmen shortly after the court ruling in Abuja, Makarfi stated that the ruling has further proven that there is a future for democracy in Nigeria.
According to him, “We thank the rest of party men and women across Nigeria for their loyalty and steadfastness. We must thank and appreciate the judiciary for the wonderful job it has done. We never lost faith in the judiciary. We have always been saying that ultimately justice will be done.”
“This victory is not just for PDP, it’s for democracy. This affirms the powers of political parties. This affirms the powers of convention of all political parties. The battle we fought was not a battle for PDP alone.
“It was a battle for democracy, it was a battle for supremacy of party men and women to decide their destiny. And it’s a battle to do away with dictatorship in political parties and this will never repeat itself.
“As Governor Fayose mentioned, the Deputy Senate President and the Board of Trustees (BoT), Chairman represented by Prof Jerry Gana, there’s no victor, there’s no vanquished.”
“We must be open to reconciliation. But there’s a caveat: reconciliation does not mean we take what belongs to people and give it to you. Reconciliation must be based on equity, equality and values.”
“With this caveat, we should be prepared and willing to reconcile with everybody. Anybody that can meet this criteria, we should be willing and open to reconciliation with such a person no matter who they are.”
“Please, in our personal interactions, we should not throw insults because our other party men and women lost. We should continue as friends, knowing that there are things we can do together, there may be things we may not be able to do together.”
“But we are willing to do everything to do everything on the foundation that I had mentioned. And I urge them to come forward, join hands with us and let’s see how we move PDP forward.”
“And I assure you that those who have been waiting for this judgement were not just PDP. The whole of Nigeria today was waiting for this judgement. And the eagle has landed.”
“We are going to consult within the next two to three days. And come up with a programme of meetings between Monday and Tuesday. These meetings will include Expanded Caucus, BoT and NEC so that we can make far-reaching decisions on how to take the party forward.”
Makarfi promised to unite all aggrieved members in the overall interest of the party ahead of the 2019 general elections.
