At a meeting of the committee, which was held at its national secretariat on Tuesday, it was resolved that the party would, as prescribed by the report of a committee headed by Senator Ike Ekweremadu, formally ratify the zoning of the party's presidential ticket for the 2019 presidential election to the North and the zoning of the national chairmanship position to the South of the country.
The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has resolved that the party will hold its national convention in Port Harcourt on Saturday. At a meeting of the committee, which was held at its national secretariat on Tuesday, it was resolved that the party would, as prescribed by the report of a committee headed by Senator Ike Ekweremadu, formally ratify the zoning of the party's presidential ticket for the 2019 presidential election to the North and the zoning of the national chairmanship position to the South of the country. These resolutions and others were contained in a statement signed by Chinwe Nnorom, head of the PDP Publicity Division.
In attendance at the meeting, according to the statement, were the National Chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff; Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu; Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Walid Jibrin; PDP governors, members of the National Working Committee (NWC), members and leaders of the National Assembly and other members of the NEC and BoT.
A High Court sitting in Lagos had, on May 6, given an order restraining the PDP from going ahead with the convention.
In addition to the decision to go ahead with the convention, attendees of the meeting agreed that due to the issues arising from the recently concluded congresses at the wards, local governments and States, especially Sokoto, Zamfara, Anambra, Lagos, Osun and Adamawa, that a special committee shall be constituted after the National Convention to look into the matter accordingly.
The PDP NEC also condemned what it perceived as the arbitrary arrest and detention of PDP members regarding the source of their campaign funds by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. It called on Nigerians and the international community to request the government to investigate the campaign funds of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). It similarly branded as selective the probe of PDP members by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), describing it as unnecessary oppression designed to silence its members.
The PDP NEC demanded the immediate release of the party's members in the custody of the EFCC or have them charged to court without delay.