… Dickson to moderate peace talk

From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

There were strong indications, yesterday, that Senator Seidu Kumo and Ahmed Gulak may make the Reconciliation Committee being  put together by leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  to resolve its lingering leadership crisis.
Kumo represented Gombe Central in the Fourth Senate while Gulak was political adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan. He was also a governorship aspirant in Adamawa State.
A  source told Daily Sun, yesterday evening that  Kumo and  Gulak may form part of 12 nominees to be submitted  by former national chairman of the party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff.
Daily Sun  also  gathered that Bayelsa State Governor, Henry Seriake Dickson may likely moderate the peace talks between the two warring factions.
Dickson has  played prominent roles in several peace initiatives aimed at resolving the leadership tussle in the party and he enjoys the confidence of both groups.
The party’s National Caretaker Committee, led by Senator Ahmed Makarfi and a faction of the party led by Sheriff resolved last week, to set up a 24-member  reconciliation committee to resolve the crisis rocking  the PDP.
The two groups, Daily Sun gathered, would present 12 nominees each.
Efforts to get an official confirmation from the Sheriff group on the two nominees were  not successful as top members of the group contacted yesterday declined comments.
However, an ally of a former national chairman, who declined to be named said both factions met yesterday night. “It is after our meeting that I will know if I can talk to you on the composition of the reconciliation committee.”
It was also not clear those who would make the list from the camp of Makarfi. But, a top source in the group confirmed that the Reconciliation Committee list may be made public this week.
According to the source, nominees from the caretaker committee will be drawn from all the organs of the party to represent all the interest groups.
Sheriff  and  Makarfi met in Abuja recently to resolve the leadership tussle rocking the party for the past four months. At the end of the meeting, both men agreed to set up a joint reconciliation committee to reconcile aggrieved party members nationwide.
The opposition party broke into two factions after Sheriff was sacked as national chairman at its convention in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital on May 21.
Since then,  efforts by the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) to broker peace failed.
Both factions have since relied on conflicting court judgments from courts of coordinate jurisdiction to pronounce legitimacy.