The crisis in the Anambra State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has deepened over the purported suspension of its acting chairman, Mr Okey Asolo.
This is as a faction of the party issued a statement on Tuesday, saying that Asolo was suspended for allegedly insulting Chief Chris Uba, whom they claimed is a member of the Board of Trustees of the PDP.
Asolo’s suspension was contained in a statement signed by Mr Obinna Obialor and Mr Obinna Obichinyere, chairman and secretary of the party in Ward 13 Onitsha North respectively.
The statement reads in part: “Arising from a crucial meeting of the Ward Executive Committee held on April, 3, the PDP Ward 13 Onitsha North LGA of Anambra suspended Comrade Okey Asolo on account of his violation of the PDP constitution and anti-party activities.
“The suspension of Okey Asolo is anchored on the provisions of Article 58 (1) and 59 (1) and (2) of the PDP Constitution 2017 as amended.”
The suspension was allegedly upheld by the Onitsha North LGA chapter of the party, which met on Monday in a communiqué signed by Messrs Alex Anah and Chigbo Onyia, chairman and secretary of the party in area, respectively.
The party said it deeply considered the notice and came to the conclusion that Asolo actually violated the provisions of the PDP Constitution 2017 as amended.
“We upheld the said suspension and equally suspend him from the Onitsha North Local Government Area PDP of Anambra State,” the council leadership of the party stated.
However, there was a conflicting statement on the matter as the PDP Onitsha North LGA, in their reaction, denied that it had suspended Asolo, who is from Ward 13 in Onitsha North Local Government Area.
Addressing journalists in Onitsha, on Tuesday, the Deputy Chairman of PDP, Onitsha North LGA, Chigbo Onyia, and Chairman of Ward 13, Onitsha North LGA, Sir Ezekail Okechukwu, denied any knowledge of the purported suspension of Asolo.
Onyia, who represented the PDP Chairman of Onitsha North LGA, Mr Obumneke Inoma, said some “faceless people have been circulating a forged letter dated April 3, 2022, purported to have sacked the party’s state acting Chairman, Asolo, from the Ward and Local Government on account of his alleged violation of the PDP constitution and anti-party activities”.
“We are, however, here to tell the PDP both at the national and the state levels that the purported document suspending Asolo was forged, because I am the party Deputy Chairman and my name was used in the forged document as the Secretary in the fake document. The Chairman of Ward 13 where Comrade Asolo comes from is also here to denounce the said document,” he said.
In his own reaction, the Ward 13 Chairman, Sir Ezekail Okechukwu, said, “Some people who are not known in our Ward 13 circulated a letter that did not emanate from any member of my executive, and as you can see, here is the authentic list of the 17-member executive of Ward 13 PDP Onitsha North, signed by His Excellency Seyi Makinde, the Oyo State Governor, who supervised the PDP state congress.
“This is the authentic list of the executive members of the party and you can see that those names that signed the suspension letter are fake names and you can see the names on the document that they are not members of our executive in the Ward.
“We have called the people whose names appeared in the purported suspension letter and they denied knowing anything about it, one of them is even my ward legal adviser and he is supposed to be here but went to court for an important matter he is handling.
“We are, therefore, using this opportunity to pass a vote of confidence on the State PDP Chairman, Comrade Okey Asolo, and we are assuring him and the state executive of our great party that we have confidence in him and his position in the Ward, and local government and the state is not in any way threatened by us.”
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