PDP NWC Members in Shouting Match over Leadership Crisis

•BoT to continue truce meeting with Wike in Abuja

•Housing allowance passed through due process, not bribe, party insists 

•Atiku salutes UN for supporting Nigeria’s democracy 

•Kicks off campaign Oct 10 in Uyo

Chuks Okocha in Abuja and Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

Members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Working Committee (NWC), yesterday, had a chaotic meeting in Abuja over the post-presidential primary election crisis rocking the party.

THISDAY observed that while the meeting progressed at the NWC hall of the party’s national secretariat, members got into a loud quarrel, with some banging angrily on the tables.

The development caused security officials attached to the NWC to rush in to save the situation.

In their on-going effort to resolve the crisis in the main opposition party, members of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) said they had agreed to continue further discussions with the governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, in Abuja, as they could not conclude their peace meeting at Government House, Port Harcourt.

The party said the housing allowance it paid its national officers was not a bribe.

The PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, commended the United Nations for its interest and sustained commitment to the growth of the democratic processes in Nigeria.

That was as Director General of the Atiku Abubakar/Ifeanyi Okowa Presidential Campaign, and Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal, disclosed that PDP would flag off its presidential campaign on October 10 in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.

Tuesday’s NWC meeting was the first to be presided over by the national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, since he returned to Nigeria from his medical check up last Friday.

An eyewitness told THISDAY that part of the issues on the agenda of the meeting was the money paid to NWC members as housing allowance

The NWC had been sharply divided between members, who received the housing allowance and those who did not collect.

PDP BoT to Continue Peace Meeting with Wike in Abuja

Members of the PDP BoT, yesterday, agreed to continue their peace meeting with the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, in Abuja.

The meeting was part of efforts to resolve the post-presidential primary crisis plaguing the party, which has Wike at the centre, following his call for the resignation of the national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu.

Led by former Senate President Adolphus Wabara, the BoT members said their meeting with Wike was progressive and expressed the hope that soon, the party’s internal crisis would be sorted out peacefully.

The meeting with Wike in Port Harcourt had lasted four hours. It had in attendance, from the BoT side, Dr. Ibrahim Idris, Chief Okwesilieze Nwodo, Chief Shuaib Oyedokun, Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN), Dr. Esther Uduehi, and Hajiya Zainab Maina.

On Wike’s side were the Rivers State PDP chairman, Ambassador Desmond Akawor; Rivers Elders’ Forum chairman, Chief Ferdinand Alabraba; former Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Chibudom Nwuche; Senator Adawari Pepple; Elder Emmanuel Anyanwu; Senator Olaka Nwogu; Dr. Sam Sam Jaja; and Chief of Staff, Government House, Emeka Woke.

Addressing journalists in Port Harcourt after the meeting, Wabara said the meeting afforded them the opportunity to properly understand Wike’s concerns and become better informed about the crisis.

Wabara stated that they were taking what they had gathered from Wike back to the larger BoT house in Abuja for proper decision to be taken on the issues.

According to the former senate president, “We’ve been rubbing minds with His Excellency, the performing Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Project. I think the meeting took about four hours.

“We have not concluded. It’s always easy to destroy but to make up, to make peace, takes some time. But I think we are better informed, we have gotten some information. Every coin has two sides. We have been briefed by His Excellency. We will go back to Abuja to re-digest all that we gathered from His Excellency. We had very frank talks.

“I’m acting chairman of the Board of Trustees of this party. I do not have the exclusiveness to stand here and tell you what the Board of Trustees will come up with. We have come here, we are going back, we will convene a meeting of the Board of Trustees, brief them and that is when Nigerians will hear where the Board of Trustees stands.

“Since it is an advisory body, conscience of the party, we will be there to tell the party the truth and nothing but the truth about our findings.”

Wabara said since it was the first meeting of the BoT intervening in the crisis, they were optimistic of attending to the issues as a family, and with the cooperation of Wike and the other aggrieved governors, PDP would win the 2023 general election across the country.

The former senate president added, “But one good thing is that this family remains one. You know, we are still under the umbrella called PDP and by the special grace of God, we will end up very victorious and we will end up in the villa in May 2023 with his cooperation and support of other governors – four of them. I think we will make progress, no doubt about it.”

Wabara described Wike as an important asset to the PDP and pointed out that the governor’s infrastructure development in Rivers State was already campaigning for the party.

According to him, “Presidential campaign has started and it is the policy of our great party that we will all go home. His Excellency is here and campaigning for the party. I will go to Abia State, where I come from and campaign, you know there is no ballot box for me in Abuja.

“Every one of us here are from one zone or the other. Our governor here is a PDP governor. Even if he doesn’t come out to campaign, he has campaigned already with all the projects he has done in Rivers State and Nigeria as we speak.”

Wike, who also addressed journalists, said what was important to all was to ensure that the unity of the party was not endangered. He reiterated that he and his allies were not leaving the party, but were more interested in addressing the internal issues.

The governor stated, “What’s important is that the house is united for the war that is coming in front. So, for me, the issues of whether they achieved peace or not today is immaterial. What is material is that PDP is united. What is important is to have unity, even if it takes you longer days. I think that is the message he (Wabara) is conveying.

“We have said repeatedly that we are not leaving the party. We have said so. But that does not mean that there are no internal issues that ought to be sorted out. I think what they are here for is to see how they can sort out some internal issues.”

Wike said, “Once you are alive, why won’t you be hopeful. It’s only a dead person that is not hopeful. So, being alive means you are hopeful.”

Housing Allowance Passed Through Due Process, PDP NWC Insists

In a statement by PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, the party reacted to the controversy over the payment it made to NWC members. The statement said, “After a thorough scrutiny of the payment by the party, the NWC in session established that the payment was not a bribe but housing allowance duly approved and paid to national officers of the party in line with the Conditions of Service and Entitlement of the Staff and Principal Officers of the Party.

 “The NWC also established that the payment passed through due process procedures of the party in accordance with all extant financial regulations and payment approval processes of the party.

 “It is also instructive to state that the national officers who returned their housing allowances equally confirmed and affirmed at the meeting that the payment was not bribe, but their due entitlements in line with the Conditions of Service and Entitlement of the Staff and Principal Officers of the Party.”

Ologunagba said. “Considering the above, the NWC resolved to conduct an extensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding the said publication.

“Consequently, the NWC has set up an Investigative committee headed by the national legal adviser to conduct an inquiry into the source of the said malicious and injurious publication contained in The Nation Newspaper of September 26, 2022.”

Atiku Salutes UN for Supporting Nigeria’s Democracy

In another development, Atiku Abubakar, commended the United Nations for its sustained interest and commitment to the growth of the democratic processes in Nigeria. Atiku made the remarks, when he received a delegation of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel, led by Ambassador Mahamat Saleh, the Under Secretary-General of the United Nations and Special Representative of the Secretary General, in Abuja yesterday.

The former vice president also hosted diplomats from the South African Development Community, led by Ambassador Pule Mphothwe of Botswana, and officials of the South Korean Embassy to Nigeria, led by Ambassador Kim Young-chae.

Saleh noted that the United Nations had a special interest in on-going events in Nigeria, because of the special influence Nigeria held in ECOWAS and the continent. He noted that the UN and its agencies would continue to support Nigeria in its democratic processes, because, “when Nigeria sneezes, it’s the whole of West Africa that catches the cold.”

Responding, Atiku thanked the United Nations and its Secretary General for the “continuous interest in Nigeria”. He used the opportunity to present Saleh with a copy of his policy document titled: “My Covenant with Nigerians”, noting that the document underscored the entirety of his policy plans if elected as President of Nigeria in next year’s general election.

Atiku Kicks Off Campaign Oct 10 in Uyo

Director General of the Atiku Abubakar/Ifeanyi Okowa Presidential Campaign and Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, disclosed that PDP would flag off its presidential campaign on October 10 in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

Tambuwal said the campaigns would be issue-based and focus on how to provide solutions. He said it would be  violence-free, and devoid of rancour.

Tambuwal stressed that as the campaigns proceeded, all issues and controversies that dogged the post-presidential campaigns would be resolved.

Addressing press conferences at the Atiku/Okowa presidential campaign office, Tambuwal said,  “We are pleased to report to you and, indeed, Nigerians that the campaign is ready to move. By the grace of God, we are flagging off the campaign this coming Monday, the 10th of October 2023 at Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

“All arrangements have been made to have for a very successful flag off of the campaign. Our campaign is going to be issue-based. We’re going to be marketing our candidates based on the programme that we brought out, which is generally solution-based.

“Atiku is very well-prepared to provide the required leadership for this country at this time. He has the experience in governance at the federal level, which I believe none of the rest of the candidates can match.

“This is not the time for Nigerians to go for trial and error. It’s time for Nigerians to give it to the person that has been tested and who has experience to do a good job, who would from day one hit the ground running as we have done for the inauguration of campaign council the very day INEC lifted the ban on campaigns for presidential election campaign on the 28th.

“Even that should confirm to Nigerians that this is the only party and, indeed, candidate that is prepared and ready to go. We seek the collaboration of Nigerians and the understanding as we go about campaigns. As I said, ours is going to be based on issues and we seek to have violence-free electoral process. In any case, our principal has been known to be a peaceful man and his personality speaks for him as a gentleman.”