THE Presidency, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and governors elected on its platform have accepted to play down the ongoing debate on state police and the onshore-offshore oil dichotomy.

The Guardian learnt after a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday night at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, that the party leadership and the governors agreed to consult widely with their constituencies before making further comments on the two issues.

Participants at the talks disclosed that the meeting also agreed to reach out to some of its aggrieved members, who have dumped the party, with a view to bringing them back to the PDP.

The sources said that the meeting charged the PDP leadership and the governors to work more in the area of confidence-building among members as well as reaching out to some of the big-time members, such as former national chairman, Audu Ogbeh.          

The calculation, according to sources, is that the next election would be tougher than the 2011 general elections for the PDP unless the party puts its act together.

Some party members allegedly expressed fears of disunity and stiff opposition within the party, citing the apparent inroad of the opposition, especially the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) into predominantly PDP states as indication that all was not well within the ruling party.

“It was agreed that there is need to do more and ensure cohesion among party faithful so that we can all support the President to deliver on his transformation agenda. This is one of the ways we can work towards future elections. The opposition is doing everything possible to discredit our party and we should not give them the room,’’ a source told The Guardian.

It was also learnt that the party leaders agreed to raise a reconciliation panel next week with the sole objective of reaching out to some prominent members of the party, who left for other political parties due to one reason or the other.

“We are going to raise a reconciliation panel out of the advisory committee headed by former Vice President Alex Ekwueme to embark on reconciliation of members of the party because the PDP is one large family,’’ the source added.

According to sources at the meeting, the issue of constitution amendment and the discordant tunes of the PDP governors on some national issues were raised and the position of the President, which flows from the consultation with the Council of State, was stated. It was therefore reiterated just as President Jonathan announced at the recent conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Abuja: That he had been advised that the country was not yet ripe for state police.

On the vexed issue of onshore, offshore oil dichotomy, The Guardian learnt that the meeting, which also had in attendance some principal officers of the National Assembly, who are members of PDP, decided that some enlightenment campaign be done because most of the comments on the matter did not capture the essence of the matter.

National Chairman Bamanga Tukur, it was learnt, would speak on the matter during the inauguration of the reconciliation panel next week in Abuja.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Olisa Metuh, confirmed that in pursuit of unity and harmony in the PDP, its leadership is prepared to put machinery in motion to ensure the realisation of the dream of the founding fathers of the party.

“I can tell you that in line with the vision and mission of the party led by Bamanga Tukur, we have started putting things together to put the party on the path envisioned by the founding fathers. That vision is to have a people-oriented party that will take Nigeria to the next level where the country will command global respect.  In subsequent weeks and months, you are going to witness activities that will convince Nigerians and the world that the new PDP means well for the country. We are certain that even the opposition will rise to join us as we rally behind the President to transform the country,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Lateef Fagbemi, has accused state governors of stalling the planned review of the nation’s constitution.
Fagbemi, who was a guest speaker at the Ibadan Network Centre of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), said the proposed review of the 1999 Constitution will continue to meet a brickwall as long as the nation fails to prevail on state governors to allow the move sail through.
In his lecture titled: “The essence of political leadership: The Nigerian Situation,” Fagbemi said Nigerians might need to “worship at the feet of the governors” to achieve the dream of amending the constitution
“There is no hope of amendments of the constitution in this dispensation. This is the third attempt. People were deceived into submitting memoranda but it ended nowhere. The only area they touched was the area that concerned the political leaders. Unless a more serious move is made, but I have not seen one now, the amendment of the constitution cannot be achieved.”

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