PEOPLES Democratic Party (PDP) chairman Senator Ali Modu Sheriff has boasted that the party will bounce back into power in the 2019 elections winning the presidency and 30 of the country's 36 states. 

Last year, the PDP was voted out of office by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) after 16 uninterrupted years in power. Since then, the PDP has been trying to reposition itself and prepare for 2019 when it hopes to reclaim power in the national assembly, recapture states it lost and regain the presidency. 

Senator Sheriff has been appointed as the party's national chairman pending its forthcoming congress and he is seeking to woo back disaffected members who left. Yesterday, the former minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Alhaji Bala Mohammed, led a delegation of Bauchi State stakeholders to the PDP national secretariat where Senator Sheriff received them and promised to turn the party's fortunes around. 

Addressing the party faithful from the state, Senator Sheriff, challenged them to go beyond a mere show of solidarity and go back to work as a family to rebuild the party. He added that unless other aggrieved political bigwigs from the state agree to sheath their sword like the former FCT minister is doing, there would never be headway in the reconciliation effort of the party. 

Senator Sheriff said: “With the present efforts at reconciling ourselves and rebuilding process taking place in the PDP, the party stands a good chance of reclaiming our lost glory. I like to see us emerge from the 2019 general election with at least 30 governors.” 

According to Senator Sheriff, Bauchi is one of the most important states of the federation and he added that the state chapter of the party should try to summon a stakeholders’ meeting to kick start reconciliation among its aggrieved members. He said he was aware of the crisis rocking the leadership of the party in Bauchi but expressed the hope that time had come for all involved to reconcile their differences and to work together in the interest of the party.

Meanwhile, the PDP has approved the suspension of the chairman of the Borno State chapter of the party, Alhaji Baba Basharu. National publicity secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the party said it reached the decision after preliminary hearing on reports of various activities inimical to the progress of the party, especially flouting the provisions of article 58 (1), (b), (c), (f) and (h) of the PDP constitution.