1 week ago
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From Ismail Omipidan, Abuja
There appears to be no end in sight in the crisis of confidence rocking the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as plot by a section of the party to sack the Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party, Senator Adolphus Wabara, thickens.
Daily Sun gathered that the move to sack Wabara may not be unconnected with the long-drawn battle within the party that has sharply divided the party into Nyesom Wike camp and the other camps, with Wike currently having the upper hand. Wike, a former Rivers State Governor, is the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Although the Abia State chapter of the party, through its chairman, Abraham Amah, claimed that the BoT chairman was suspended for allegedly endorsing Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, who is of the Labour Party (LP) for a second term, just five months into his administration in October 2023, Daily Sun gathered that the claim was far from being true.
Speaking with Daily Sun on the development, sources within the party said that “if you notice, the only time they decided to move against our BoT chair was when the elders of the party insisted that Senator Anyanwu should vacate his position as the National Secretary of the party. In their claim, the party in Abia is claiming that his offence was endorsing Governor Otti. When did that happen? How come they are just realising the offence?
“Well, the truth is that, as a party we are in soup. Unless there is a divine intervention, Senator Wabara is gone. You know, that was how Senator Iyorcha Ayu’s case started as a joke, today, it is history,” the source added.
The PDP, after the 2023 presidential election, ran into crisis, following the removal of its National Chairman, Senator Ayu, through the court.
During its 98th National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, held on April 18, 2024, party leaders approved the formation of a reconciliation and disciplinary committee, as well as the conduct of ward and state congresses. The North Central caucus of the party was also tasked to consult on the issue of replacing the acting national chairman with a permanent one.
However, the 99th NEC meeting, originally set for August 15, 2024, where some of the issues were expected to be looked into, was suddenly postponed to October 24, 2024, and then from that date, it was further rescheduled for November 28, 2024, and later postponed indefinitely.
After initially proposing February for the NEC meeting, the party again, through the PDP governors, is proposing that the meeting should be held on the 13th of next month.
Daily Sun, however, gathered that even the proposed March meeting may not hold following the new twist in the party’s crisis.
Following the contest for the position of the National Secretary of the party between Senator Samuel Anyanwu and Sunday Ude-Okoye, the PDP BoT recently recognised Ude-Okoye as National Secretary and directed the National Working Committee (NWC) to inaugurate him without any further delay.
Daily Sun gathered that the Wabara-led BoT reached the decision after adopting a report of its committee headed by former Minister of Special Duties, Tanimu Turaki, which mediated on claims by the two litigants.
The BoT, at its meeting on January 29, constituted a panel headed by Turaki, to mediate between Anyanwu and Ude-Okoye, study the situation and report back to it.
The Turaki panel, in its report, stated that “after perusing and painstakingly going through all the court documents and processes given to me by the parties, that from December 22, 2023, S.K.E Udeh Okoye is the authentic and Bonafide National Secretary of our party. That he has not been sworn in by the acting National Chairman and allowed to perform the functions of that office as directed by the Enugu State High Court and affirmed by the Court of Appeal is immaterial.”
The Turaki panel further noted that though Anyanwu has appealed to the Supreme Court, “in our jurisdiction, like in other common law countries, courts do not stay declaratory judgments, as in actual fact there’s nothing to stay in a declaratory order. The cause of confusion is what was the status quo ante bellum as of January 13, 2025? With all due respect, the status quo ante bellum as of January 13, 2025, as I have stated earlier on in my conclusions, is one that has Okoye as the substantive National Secretary of our party.
“If the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, therefore, says that the status quo ante bellum should be maintained, the plain meaning of the directive of the court is that he should remain in office until the 27th, when the court will hear the application and determine whether his continued occupation of the office should be interfered with or not,” Turaki said.
On his part, the PDP National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade, in his legal opinion to the NWC on the tussle, said since the contending parties have submitted themselves to the intervention of the BoT, it behoves them, as well as the party, to accept the position of the PDP elders, cautioning that any attempt to ignore the BoT resolution would hurt the opposition party, since according to him, by virtue of Article 32(5) (a) to (i) of the party’s constitution (as amended in 2017), the BoT remains the conscience of the party.”
English (US) ·