PDP pledges non-interference as c’ttee submits report on PDI

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has promised not to interfere in the process of repositioning and getting a new leadership for the Peoples Democratic Institute (PDI), the training, capacity building, and research arm of the party.

Addressing stakeholders and members of the Establishment Committee of PDI at the party’s headquarters on Thursday shortly after receiving the report of the committee set to shop for new leadership of the institute, acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, said: “I appreciate the effort that you have taken to come out with this report and the exercise you have undertaken. We will look at the report as the National Working Committee (NWC) holistically.

“Like I told you earlier when you were being inaugurated, we were not going to interfere in your work and I am glad your Chairman said this was done without interference. We will look at the report on its merit and come out with the best candidate out of the list submitted.”

Submitting the report, Amb Taofeek Arapaja, Deputy National Chairman (South) of the party and Chairman Establishment Committee, said PDI was established in 2000 by the founding fathers of the party “to serve as a think tank for the PDP and to promote democracy in Nigeria, Africa and beyond.”

He noted that when the party was in power at the national level, the institute successfully hosted programmes for both domestic and international audiences engaged in research-based publications and contributed significantly to capacity building of the party’s elected functionaries nationwide, as well as at the international level.

Arapaja, however, said it was disheartening to note that the performance of the institute was brought to its lowest ebb following a staff rationalisation exercise carried out in 2020.