By Chijioke Agwu, Abakaliki
A chieftain of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and aspirant for the chairmanship position of the party in the August 17, 2016 National Convention, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, has said that neither the party’s former National Chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff; the National Publicity Secretary nor any other member of the Sheriff’s faction can stop the incoming Port Harcourt National Convention of the party.
Sheriff, Wale Oladapo (National Secretary), Dennis Alonge-Niyi (Deputy National Youth Leader), Alhaji Bashir Maidugu (Deputy National Legal Adviser), Mrs. Hanatu Ulam (Deputy National Women Leader), Alhaji Lawa Dutsima Anchi (Deputy National Auditor), Chief Okey Nnadozie (Deputy National Organising Secretary) and Chief Olisa Metuh (National Publicity Secretary) had gone to the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking for an injunction to stop the National Convention.
But addressing journalists on Thursday at the Ebonyi State PDP Secretariat in Abakaliki after meeting with the state’s delegates for the proposed National Convention, Dokpesi who is on campaign tour of the 36 states of the federation and the FCT, accused Sheriff and members of his faction of manipulating the system with impunity and disrespecting the party’s rules and regulations even as he denied any crisis in the PDP.
His words: “i don’t think there is any crisis in PDP and I don’t know of any faction in the party. A group of persons think they can manipulate the system. In the past, there was a lot of impunity, a lot of disrespect for party rules and regulations and some people in the party are still living in that era and think they will disturb and distort the position of the party but the party is united. 99.9 per cent of the party faithful and party members are solidly behind the organization of the convention.
‘‘There is no nothing they can do to stop the National Convention. There is nothing that those that are trying to stop the convention will not try but by the special grace of God, the wishes of the 99.9% members will definitely prevail and convention will hold, no man can stop the Port Harcourt August 17 National Convention of our great party, PDP.
‘‘There is no crisis in the PDP. What we need to do is to rebrand the party, re-energize the party, re-build the party, and put the party on the proper pedestal in the proper path to face the challenges of the present and the future.
‘‘The APC has shown very clearly that they are incapable of handling the problems of Nigeria; they have no experience, they are not prepared for governance and they came to power by accident’’, he said.
He said that he was in the state to identify with delegates for the National Convention.
‘‘I am an aspirant for the office of the National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and am currently on a nationwide tour to the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory meeting the National Delegates to the proposed August 17, 2016 National Convention of the party and I am soliciting for the support and the delegates to the convention because in them actually the powers of the party reside. So I am here soliciting their votes and support for the convention,’’ he said.