Over 69 stalwarts of the Peoples Democratic Party, including the immediate past senator, who represented Ebonyi South senatorial zone, Chief Micheal Amah-Nnachi; the 2023 deputy governorship candidate of the party, Senator Paulinus Igwe-Nwagu; and a former Commissioner for Information, Chief Abia Onyike; among others, have threatened to dump the party over alleged manipulation of names in the Caretaker Committee list in the state.
Recall that the National Working Committee of the PDP had, on Tuesday, June 4, convened a meeting of stakeholders of the party from Ebonyi State. At the meeting, the immediate past caretaker committee was dissolved and the party faithful were asked to nominate each person from the 13 local government areas of the state to constitute a substantive caretaker committee; an exercise they joyfully carried out, investigations revealed.
South-East PUNCH, however, reports that a face-off ensued when the list that was eventually ratified and turned out by the NWC featured names of persons, who have allegedly defected to the All Progressives Congress in the state.
Speaking in a communique, which had over 71 signatories, on Saturday, the Ebonyi PDP stakeholders vowed to resign their membership of the party if the alleged sabotage was not addressed, by its leadership at the centre.
The communique read in part, “We the undersigned members and stakeholders of the PDP, Ebonyi State chapter, wish to alert the Board of Trustees, the National Executive Committee, the National Working Committee, and the general public as follows:
“That it is on record that critical stakeholders of the PDP in Ebonyi State, led by the 2023 deputy governorship candidate of our great party, Senator Nwagu, who represented the governorship candidate, High Chief Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii, who was unavoidably absent due to flight disruptions occasioned by the nationwide strike of the Nigeria Labour Congress on Tuesday June 4th, 2024 at the NWC Hall of the Wadata Plaza, the national headquarters of the party met with the NWC of our great party with the acting National Chairman, the National Secretary, the National Organizing Secretary among other members of the NWC present.
“The above-stated meeting was on the invitation of the NWC.
“That the NWC at the end of the highly successful meeting resolved as follows
“That the former caretaker committee in place in Ebonyi State stand officially dissolved.”
It added, “The NWC mandated the PDP stakeholders and members present to nominate a candidate each from the 13 local government areas of the state to serve in a new caretaker committee to be immediately inaugurated.
“The Ebonyi State PDP members subsequently made nominations, while the NWC announced that it reserves the right to appoint the Chairman and Secretary from any part of the South-East.
“It is, therefore, embarrassing and worrisome that the NWC made a volte-face and reneged on its own decision by throwing away the list submitted by the critical stakeholders of the PDP and produced an entirely new list that features even Hon. Udeh Akaji, Hon. Francis Ibiam and Hon Dave Odeh, who had since publicly resigned from the PDP and joined the All Progressives Congress, another party. The list also includes the name of Hon. Okoro Pascal Monday, who took the party to court in suit no: FHC/CS/AI/95/2024, between Hon Pascal Okoro and Ambassador Umar Illilya Damagun (acting National Chairman of the PDP and six others, which is still pending at the Federal High Court, Abakaliki Division.”
“It is also noteworthy that the four named individuals were not at the meeting convened by the NWC on June 4, 2024.
“From the above conduct of the PDP NWC, it is now crystal clear that they are either working as undertakers for the final burial of the PDP in Ebonyi State, or they are being misguided by arch-enemies of the PDP in Ebonyi State.
“We hereby state categorically that if the NWC reneges on the collectively agreed-upon list of the new caretaker committee as submitted by the various local government chapters of the PDP in Ebonyi State, we may not have any other option than to resign from the PDP.”
