by ‘Jola Sotubo

Plans to achieve a peaceful resolution of the crisis plaguing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have been further stalled as President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday announced the postponement of peace talks.

The meeting, which was to be between the President and the 7 aggrieved governor members of the “New PDP”,was shifted to an indefinite date after being initially slated to hold yesterday night.

President Jonathan is said to have attributed the postponement to fatigue from his long flight and health challenges which he was recovering from.

Leadership reports:

The president said the deferment of the parley became necessary considering “an almost six-hour flight”. He spoke to reporters on arrival at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, after a five-day visit to London.

The president, whose plane arrived at the Abuja airport from London about 7:08pm, said he would continue to dialogue with the governors in line with the tenet of politics which is all about discussions.

But as President Jonathan spoke, the G-7 governors with whom he was to hold the peace meeting were also in a closed-door session at the Sokoto Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja.

On whether he was meeting with the G7 governors last night, he said: “Tonight? No, I don’t think I will be able to hold any meeting tonight. You know six hours’ flight is quite a distance. Also following from my health challenges, I think the meeting will be rescheduled. But we will meet within the week.”

Asked to specifically announce the actual date he was going to meet with the governors this week, he said, “I don’t know; I’m just coming in, but I believe within the week we would be able to meet.”

President Jonathan disagreed with those who claimed that his meeting with the G7 governors was not yielding any fruitful result since some of them were already deeply rooted in the camp of the opposition against him, just as he noted that he and the governors belong to the same party.

“You see, politics is all about discussions. This is all about politics. We belong to the same political party; even people from different political parties engage in discussions. Political discussions are continuous processes. Even during elections people discuss. So, we will continue to discuss.”