Amid Buhari’s health challenge, PDP kick-off coalition talks with more than 16 political parties to oust APC from power

- The chairman of the PDP, Ahmed Makarfi, says said the party will be able to take back power from the APC if it forms a coalition with other political parties

- Makarfi states that the health condition of President Buhari has made the government unsettled

- The PDP chairman states that now that the party has resolved its leadership tussle, it is focused on the next election

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has begun talks with more than 16 political parties aimed at building a coalition capable of defeating the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led by President Muhammadu Buhari in the next general elections slated for 2019.

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The chairman of the PDP, Ahmed Makarfi, who disclosed this in interview in Abuja on Wednesday, July 19, said the party will be able to take back power from the APC if the coalition talks succeed.

“Once we come together, we should be able to take back the government,” he said.

Speaking on Buhari’s health, the party’s chairman said the PDP would not want to politicise the state of the president’s health, but noted that the health condition of Buhari had made the government unsettled.

Makarfi said: “We have an acting president with full constitutional powers to function, but they keep giving excuses. There’s no way they can have cohesion in such a manner and give effective leadership.”

He said now that the party had resolved its leadership tussle, it was focussed on the next election.

The party's chairman stated that the PDP has scheduled a national convention on August 12 in Abuja to amend its constitution and deal with disciplinary processes for straying members.

Makarfi said the PDP intends to adopt the report of a 2014 national conference that calls for devolving more powers to the regions as a solution to the ethnic tensions that has arisen in parts of the country.

He said: “We have tested men and women that will come out to contest for elective offices, and with enhanced internal democracy, the best candidates will emerge.

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Having been in government for 16 years, we know what our mistakes were and we’ll correct them.”

NAIJ.com recalls that top members of the PDP met in Abuja on Wednesday, July 19, to discuss the future of the party following the Supreme Court’s judgement which resolved the leadership crisis which rocked the party.

Organs of the party have had been having a series of meetings which began on Monday, July 17.

Some of the members who met on Monday, included former presidents and vice Presidents, PDP governors, national executive committee (NEC) members, Board of Trustees (BoT) members, National Assembly members, former PDP governors, former PDP Ministers and all former National Officers of the Party.

In another meeting scheduled for Tuesday, July 18, the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party met by 11am, while the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party had a meeting by 2pm.

All the meetings took place at the PDP National Secretariat in Abuja.

In the NAIJ.com video below, former president, Goodluck Jonathan, said that the PDP must work towards strengthening itself because Nigerians still have faith in the party.