THE last may not have been heard about the crises rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as the leadership of the party, on Thursday, again, suspended its South-West zonal congresses and special national convention slated for July 11 and 20 respectively. The acting national publicity secretary ot the party, Mr Tony Okeke, in a statement in Abuja, said the National Working Committee (NWC) had approved that the South West zonal congresses and the special national convention of the party be rescheduled, in view of the forthcoming Ramadan fasting. The statement said the new dates for the congresses and the special national convention would be announced in due course. However, feelers from the national secretariat of the party and the Professor Jerry Gana-led mini-national convention planning committee indicated that the action was taken to save the party from another round of fresh crisis. It was learnt that some northern governors protested the all Christian membership of key members of the special convention planning committee, to wit, Professor Gana, chairman; Governor Godswill Akpabio, deputy chairman and Senator Ike Ekweremadu, secretary, while they also protested that dates of the zonal congresses and the special convention fell between Ramadan period. “It is true that some of the northern governors and concerned party leaders raised the issue and was resolved at the NWC level that both the zonal congresses and the special convention should be put on hold, so as to allow for further consultation in the interest of peace,” a source close to the leadership of the party told the Nigerian Tribune on Thursday night. However, the special convention planning committee met behind closed doors, during which the various sub-committees for the convention were put in place. When newsmen asked the Bauchi State governor, Mallam Isa Yuguda, after the meeting, he said he was not aware of the suspension, but a member of the committee told the Nigerian Tribune in confidence that the matter was raised but no date had been fixed. National secretary post not vacant —Ogun PDP The Ogun State chapter of the PDP has petitioned the mini-national convention committee, over plan to conduct a fresh election into the office of the national secretary of the party, insisting that the office was not vacant, despite the removal of its occupant, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, from office by the Federal High Court. The position of the state chapter of the party was contained in a petition to the chairman of the convention planing committee, Professor Gana and signed by Mr Ajibola Oluyede, counsel for chairman and secretary of the party, Mr Adebayo Dayo and Alhaji Semiu Shodipo, the plaintiffs in the suit no/FHC/AB/504/2012, in which judgment Oyinlola was removed from office. In the petition, it argued that it was wrong for the party to contemplate on conducting zonal congresses, with the aim of beginning a process that would lead to the election of a replacement of Oyinlola, saying the conduct of the proposed zonal congress would be contrary to the court pronouncement on the matter. The copy of the petition, made available to newsmen in Abuja, on Thursday, was also sent to other party leaders, including Senator Ekweremadu; chairman of Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party, Chief Tony Anenih and President Goodluck Jonathan. Also, the national chairman of the party, Dr Bamanga Tukur; Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Mike Ogiadomhe; chairman, caretaker committee of the party in the South-West, Chief Ishola Filani and the Political Adviser to the President, Mr Ahmed Gulak, were also copied. It advised that the planned July 11 zonal congress aimed at electing Oyinlola’s replacement should be put on hold, so as not to run foul of the law, adding that the court’s judgment allowed the zone to send a replacement for Oyinlola as the national secretary and not to elect another person. The party expressed its happiness that the leadership of the party had complied with the judgment up to the point of accepting the invalidity of the South-West zonal congress of the party conducted in March 2012 and the consequent invalidity of the nomination of Oyinlola.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- A bearded and much skinnier Oscar Pistorius was "overcome with emotion" as he pulled on his carbon fiber running blades for his first track training since the killing of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, his agent says. With a short beard and a blue hooded Nike sports top, the lean-looking double-amputee Olympian did some light jogging at his first formal session in around five months on Thursday. He then described his return to a regular track routine for the first time since he fatally shot Steenkamp at his home on Feb. 14 as "bittersweet" to his agent, Peet van Zyl. "It was a very emotional experience for him to put the blades back on, to walk back onto the track, get the smell of the track," Van Zyl, who went to the track at the University of Pretoria with Pistorius, told The AP on Friday. "It was tough for him. He said to me it was like a bittersweet feeling and emotion for him to be back on the track." Pistorius' return to training was seen in a brief video clip released by his family. In the footage, which is around two minutes long, the athlete is first sitting on a chair at his usual training track at the university pulling on his running blades. He then does some light jogging on the sunbathed track and, finally, wipes his face with both hands as he walks off the track, hinting at the emotion Van Zyl described. Pistorius was charged with premeditated murder for Steenkamp's Valentine's Day shooting death. He denies murder and says he shot his girlfriend accidentally, believing she was an intruder in his house. Pistorius' next court appearance is Aug. 19, when prosecutors may indict him and a date could be set for the start of his murder trial, possibly in September or October. He faces a life sentence with a minimum of 25 years in prison if he is convicted by a judge of premeditated murder. There is no trial by jury in South Africa. South African police said the investigation into Pistorius' shooting of Steenkamp was "at an advanced stage," but declined to give further details, saying they "cannot be drawn into discussing the merits of the case." Prosecutors have said police will conclude their investigations by August and continue to probe the circumstances of Pistorius' pre-dawn killing of Steenkamp, whom he shot multiple times through a toilet cubicle door. In the last few months, the 26-year-old Pistorius has lost weight -- about 10-12 kilograms -- and spends much of his time doing household chores at the Pretoria home of his uncle as he awaits his murder trial, Van Zyl said. Pistorius looked much leaner in the video footage than he was at the London Olympics and Paralympics last year. Pistorius telephoned Van Zyl and his coach, Ampie Louw, about a week ago to say he was ready to train again. "(He) said, 'Guys I think I'm ready to resume training," Van Zyl said. Van Zyl and Pistorius' family, who also released a statement along with the footage, said Pistorius' return to regular training was to help his own mental process ahead of a likely lengthy murder trial, and he was still not planning on competing anytime in 2013. "His focus at this time remains entirely on the court case," the Pistorius family said. "His family and those close to him have encouraged him to spend a few hours a week on the track to assist him in finding the necessary mental and emotional equilibrium to process his trauma and prepare for the trial." Thursday's visit was the second time Pistorius has been seen on the university track since he killed Steenkamp. A March sighting spurred speculation he was back in training, which was denied by his family, who described him then as being in "an extremely traumatized state" and not willing to contemplate training at that time. Then, Pistorius was photographed by a schoolgirl on a cellphone while he was walking on the track, but he made that visit without the knowledge of anyone else, his agent said, and waited for a group of athletes he took to the track to leave before he put on his blades and just walked around. His new routine will involve around three to four sessions a week and be run by Louw, Pistorius' longtime coach and the man who introduced him to athletics when Pistorius was a teenager and still at school. Van Zyl said Pistorius had discovered he was desperately missing running and training. "I think the emotions yesterday show how much he really did miss being back on the track and being able to run," Van Zyl said. "Obviously with the world championships, both Paralympic world championships and IAAF world championships getting closer, it's even tougher for him not be running or training or competin ctvnews