Elders moved in yesterday to save the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from collapsing under the weight of its many problems. The Board of Trustees (BoT) took over the running of its affairs, pending the resolution of its leadership crisis. Addressing secretariat staff at the party’s office, BoT Chairman Walid Jibrin said the board remained the only legal body that is not encumbered by litigation.
Jibrin said: “Nobody has taken the BoT to court. Today, the BoT remains the only legal body that is not in court with anybody, and that is why we are here to play our role. “We are here to perform our duty, according to the PDP constitution, hoping that our problems will soon be resolved.” Members of the board will be operating from the boardroom. They will not be occupying any of the offices used by members of the disbanded National Working Committee (NWC), Jibrin said.
He explained that the week-long sealing off of the party’s secretariat by the police was to protect lives and property. “We the BoT have been asked under the constitution of the party to be in charge of the assets and the liabilities of the PDP generally. “It is in that respect that the Inspector General of Police, having considered the importance of our constitution and having considered the importance of the staff of the PDP headquarters here, that this place be opened and entrusted in the hands of the BoT,” Jibrin added.
The BoT chair described the party’s problem as “temporary”, adding that the BoT had reached out to parties in the lingering crisis, with a view to reconciling them.
