Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State yesterday held talks with leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state who have expressed support for the Abubakar Baraje-led faction of the party.
The meeting, according to inside sources, was to find peaceful means of dissuading aggrieved members of the PDP in Katsina from carrying out their threat of opening a parallel secretariat of the PDP in the state in solidarity with the New PDP.
The meeting, a source said, involved Shema, national leaders of the Former Elected Local Government Chairmen Association (FELGOCAS), PDP elder statesman Alhaji Bilya Sanda and leader of the New PDP in Katsina, Alhaji Bala Saulawa.
Speaking to newsmen shortly after a closed door meeting at the government house in Katsina, Saulawa said he was invited for the reconciliation meeting by the FELGOCAS’s national President, Alhaji Ilyasu Danmusa and some PDP elders.
“Our meeting today has indicated that both the new and old PDP are one family. But we haven’t achieved anything yet. The meeting is still on because I have told the governor at the meeting that I am not alone in this move, therefore I should be given enough time to consult my people,” he said.
The meeting, a source said, involved Shema, national leaders of the Former Elected Local Government Chairmen Association (FELGOCAS), PDP elder statesman Alhaji Bilya Sanda and leader of the New PDP in Katsina, Alhaji Bala Saulawa.
Speaking to newsmen shortly after a closed door meeting at the government house in Katsina, Saulawa said he was invited for the reconciliation meeting by the FELGOCAS’s national President, Alhaji Ilyasu Danmusa and some PDP elders.
“Our meeting today has indicated that both the new and old PDP are one family. But we haven’t achieved anything yet. The meeting is still on because I have told the governor at the meeting that I am not alone in this move, therefore I should be given enough time to consult my people,” he said.
“I was given up to Wednesday to meet with my people and come up with a stand concerning the issue. Government wanted us to come back and embrace the old PDP. The governor had promised us that he will carry everybody along but notwithstanding, my people will decide their fate before Wednesday.”
He added that they are going to hold a meeting yesterday with other supporters of the New PDP. “I am going to brief them on the outcome of our meeting with Governor Shema and whatever they decide I will convey their message to the governor in our next meeting slated for Wednesday this week,” he said.
Sanda, for his part, said he waded into the PDP factions saga with a view to uniting party’s members.
He expressed optimism that the reconciliation move will in the end yield positive results, assuring that party’s elders in the state will do all they can to ensure that PDP remains one entity in the state.
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