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.
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.
