The five governors of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) from the South South geo-political zone on Sunday, May 8, 2016 took far reaching decisions, with a view to strengthening the party and get it repositioned for the 2019 general elections.
Briefing journalists after the indoor meeting which took place at the Delta State Government House, Asaba, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa flanked by the governors of Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers and Akwa Ibom States, Nyesom Wike, Seriake Dickson, Ben Ayade, and Emmanuel Udom respectively, Okowa stated that far reaching decisions were reached, including addressing security challenges posed by Fulani herdsmen in the zone.
“We discussed issues concerning our great party, the People’s Democratic Party. You will recall that our convention has been fixed to hold in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on May 21 and we are putting plans in place for that convention,” Okowa said.
“The chairman of the committee for the convention is Governor Wike of Rivers State and we use this medium to call on all our supporters and members of the PDP to desist from any form of crisis before, during and after the convention.
“We accepted as a party and the leadership of the party agreed that the national convention should hold at Port Harcourt. We stand by that and resolution.
“We also discussed issues bordering on the People’s Democratic Party in Edo State which is our sister state. Recall that they will have elections in September and we tried to map out strategies in order to strengthen the PDP in Edo State.”
Asked about the strategies to muscle power from the All Progressive Congress (APC) led government in Edo State, Governor Okowa, beaming with smile alongside his colleagues said, “we will not let the cat out of the bag because we are putting things in place at the moment.
“We had a very useful meeting and it was the first of such meetings that we had as PDP Governors in the South South ego-political zone after our elections.
“On the issue of security including the menace of Fulani herdsmen, we agreed to discuss that with Mr. President and on other security issues.
“As a state, we condemn the blowing up of pipeline and we have convened emergency security meeting in that direction”.
