Confusion as splinter PDP emerge

…Sets up new secretariat … They are comical and outlandish individuals – PDP The dust raised by the just concluded convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is far from settling following the emergence of a splinter group known as “Concerned PDP candidates and stakeholders” which described the convention as a charade, and is planning to inaugurate a new National Working Committee (NWC) to run a “Fresh PDP”. The group in a Press Conference in their Asokoro office on Wednesday in Abuja accused the Senator Ahmed Makarfi led leadership of imposition and organising a tele-guided convention which turned to a charade.
They said that over the years, the ideas of the PDP founding fathers have been discarded which explains the colossal loss it suffered in 2015 and expressed concerns on the overbearing influence of the governors on the party. They stated that there was no election at the convention but a selection of members, a script which according to them was perpetrated by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State who was the Chairman of the convention committee and Senator Ahmed Makarfi.The group led by Prince Obi-Nwosu Emmanuel and who goes by the name “Fresh PDP” said, “As concerned candidates and stakeholders of our great party, we deem this perfidy that took place at Eagle Square, a charade orchestrated by the former National Caretaker Committee (NCC) of our great party led by the former governor of Kaduna State, Senator Ahmed Makarafi and perfected by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa led National Convention Planning Committee.

 “The NCC deliberately refused to release the delegates list as was agreed upon by all aspirants until barely 24hours to the convention which is contrary to our Party Constitution. “This is a complete aberration as it made it possible for aspirants to cross check the authenticity of the list and also have some time to interact with the delegates before the date of the convention. “The entire process of selecting the purported NWC was concluded days before the convention and a list of those selected was published, which eventually was circulated at eagle square long before voting commenced“

The most despicable part of the entire moonlight play was that the so called Unity List was printed on the letterhead paper of the party, the PDP, suggesting that it was authorized by the leadership of the party and the National Executive Committee (NEC). “To prove that there was no election but selection which was concluded long before the convention, every person on the purported Unity List emerged victorious, not one person on that list lost” they stated. The group who described these incidents as brazen impunity, electoral fraud and political corruption, vowed to establish a parallel secretariat from where the will commence the reformation of the party. “To this effect, we have officially opened a National Secretariat of the Party here in Asokoro, Abuja from where the authentic National Working Committee (NWC) of the party will be operating.We call on all members of our great party to cease forthwith any correspondences with the illegal NWC selected through the most undemocratic way ever witnessed in the history of our Party” they stated. The group claimed that with the Fresh PDP, the era of impunity, imposition and manipulation is dead and buried while delegate election system which has become subject of manipulations will be replaced by direct primaries through electronic voting

 The also stated that the Party Chairmen at all levels shall be the party leaders in their respective jurisdiction, adding that no political office holder shall be referred to as a party leader. To achieve these and ensure that the party is repositioned to sweep the polls in the 2019 general elections, they resolved to inaugurate an authentic NWC in January, work for the mass mobilization of new members and commence electronic membership registration. They also assured of full computerization of party activities and financial transactions as well as the commencement of party primaries in-line with the timeline to be released by INEC.

They boasted to bring into play a rebranded PDP that will sustain a robust engagement with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The group which stressed that they were not forming a new party, said that they are taking over the leadership of the party to reposition it for victory. Meanwhile, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP Kola Ologbondiyan in his reaction said that PDP remains united. He said that the party will not be distracted by the comical clams of outlandish individuals who are playing the script from the opposition party. The PDP Spokesperson maintained that the “The PDP is completely unperturbed by the comical act of some individuals who make outlandish claims in the media regarding our party “The fact is that we are happy with the efforts of the Governor Seriake Dickson-led Reconciliation Committee as well as the responses from all the respectable and responsible leaders of our party in that regard.

“We will however not be responsible or respond to any person or groups of individuals who decide to allow themselves to be used by forces from another political party in a laughable and childish attempt to distract us “The PDP under the Prince Uche Secondus-led national leadership will continue to focus on repositioning our great party to be the formidable opposition that will guarantee checks and balances in our polity and ultimately regain power in 2019” Ologbodiya maintained. However, no past leader of the party, national chairmanship aspirant or Secretary who lost during the convention was present at the briefing of the parallel PDP. Since the PDP convention, the Reconciliation Committee of the PDP led by Governor Seriake Dickson has been meeting with aggrieved aspirants for fence mending and reconciling aggrieved members. The PDP had announced a meeting with all aspirants with the NWC in the second week of January as part of the reconciliation moves.