THE Senator David Mark-led eight-member committee of the Peoples Democratic Party is racing against time to foreclose the chances of any pending litigation altering plans for a smooth national convention scheduled for October 30-31.

It was gathered in Abuja, on Tuesday that the panel which is still reaching out to the feuding parties in the dispute on the need for them to sheath their swords in the interest of the party, is getting to its wits end in trying to convince the River State Governor, Nyesom Wike, to withdraw court cases against the embattled National Chairman, Uche Secondus.

A source privy to happenings in the panel said, “The committee is not resting on its oars, while it is reaching out to Wike to soft pedal, it is also pleading with Secondus to consider the survival of the party.

“The legal team of the nation chairman is optimistic that the appeal of their client will succeed. If that happens, we may be going back to square one because other issues will definitely come up.”

Aware of the risks involved in going into the national convention without dealing with outstanding legal issues, the Forum of Ex-PDP National Working Committee members, urged the party’s convention planning committee to work closely with the legal department to avoid unpleasant surprises.

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This was contained in a statement titled, “Position of Forum of Former PDP National Working Committee Members Ahead of October National Convention,” signed by Dr. Kema Chikwe and Mark Jacobs, Chairman and Secretary respectively, in Abuja, on Tuesday.

It read in part, “We advise that as the Party plans the Convention, the leaders, especially the Convention Committee should work closely with the Legal Department to ensure that there are no existing legal impediments and also forestall possible legal issues that may spring up.”

The group equally insisted that the party must elect a credible, competent and independent minded national chairman during the October convention.

The forum which is made up of former NWC members including National Chairmen, Secretaries and other national officers expressed concerns over the lingering crisis in the party.

It also recommended that, “The National Convention must be free, fair, transparent and credible to eliminate avoidable frictions in the party.”

It charged all organs of the party to ensure that the candidates to be put forward for the position of National Chairman and National Secretary must be credible and independent-minded persons.