By Kingsley Omonobi, Ben Agande & Innocent Anaba

ABUJA—The Ahmed Makarfi-led caretaker Committee and the Ibrahim Mantu-led faction of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, are to meet, tomorrow, to present a common front against Senator Ali Modu Sheriff.

A member of the Senator Mantu group who spoke with Vanguard, yesterday evening, said the meeting was at the instance of the Senator Mantu group.

The member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said “Sheriff is the problem of the party and if we are agreed on this, then we have to coalesce to present a common formidable ground. We have to rescue the party from these hawks, who don’t mean well for our party. With this alliance, my problem in the party will soon be over.”

He added that the meeting would have been held, yesterday, but had to be shelved till tomorrow because Senator Makarfi had to travel to Zaria to commiserate with Senator Shehu Sani, who lost his mother.

Meanwhile, the police siege at the national secretariat of of the party, entered its second day, yesterday, as a detachment of the police force deployed there kept the place under lock.

This came on a day the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, warned factions in the party not to threaten the peace and stability of the nation as a result of their internal crisis, threatening to deal firmly with any such group of persons.

Alimodu-Sheriff

Though some of the police vehicles at the party secretariat had been moved away, the two trucks used to block either side of Dalaba Street remained in place.

Contrary to the assertion of the caretaker committee set up at the convention of the party in Port Harcourt that it would take over reins of the party yesterday, neither Markarfi nor Sheriff made any appearance at the party secretariat.

Leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party were, yesterday, locked in series of meetings to resolve the impasse created in the party as a result of factions that emerged, following the botched conventions of the party in Abuja and Port Harcourt.

The Ali Modu Sheriff-led National Working Committee, the Board of Trustees as well as the Ahmed Makarfi-led caretaker committee were all locked up in meetings at different venues to work out a compromise that would take the party out of its present impasse.

A member of the Makarfi-led caretaker told Vanguard that the committee was meeting to find a way of reaching a compromise that would bring back all the disparate factions in the party together.