by ‘Jola Sotubo
Peace is yet an elusive destination for the Peoples Democratic Party as the rival factions seem to be growing farther and farther apart by the day.
Another attempt to make peace has been rebuffed by the aggrieved PDP members as they shunned the party’s post convention dinner which held at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja.
The dinner which held yesterday witnessed the noticeable absence of all the “new PDP’ governors, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, as well as other members of the new faction. President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice President Namadi Sambo and other Bamanga Tukur-led PDP leaders attended the dinner.
According to reports, the dissident governors and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar were invited to the dinner despite their walking out of the convention venue and setting up a parallel PDP faction. A source at the PDP secretariat reportedly said that invitations to the event were extended to the governors as part of the ongoing reconciliation efforts.
When contacted, Atiku Abubakar’s spokesperson, Garba Shehu, said the former vice president travelled to China. He could not confirm if the former vice president was invited to the dinner, saying such “invitations are usually sent to his residence”.
Also, former Nigerian leaders, Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida, who tried to broker some sort of truce between the two PDP factions, did not attend the dinner.
