PDP’s Board of Trustees: Speaking Truth to Power

Chuks Okocha in this report explains that the Peoples Democratic Party’s Board of Trustees under the leadership of former Senate President, Senator Adolphus Wabara, speaks truth to the party as the main soul and custodian of its assets and liabilities.

The Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) like every other political party is the soul of the party and is constitutionally empowered to intervene when there are disputes and crisis in the party.

In the PDP constitution, Part IX mandates the BoT as the soul of the party to intervene when there is any dispute, and is also vested with the custody of the party’s assets and liabilities.

And above all, the BoT is to ensure that the party has not only good image before Nigerians but good political health.

It is expected that the BoT guides the PDP when issues go wrong as is currently the case with the absence of a substantive national chairman and questionable circumstances around the national secretary who resigned to contest governorship election in Imo state while still clinging on to office as party scribe.

Other stakeholders of the PDP from the South east is asking that Anyanwu cannot occupy the national secretary’s office as well as contesting for governor at the same time. But the embattled Anyanwu claimed that the establishment manual of the party gave him the constitutional right to do so.

By implication, the BoT, speaks truth to the powers that be in the party, irrespective of whose ox is gored.

It was in line with the aforementioned constitutional duties of the party’s BoT that its Chairman, Senator Wabara, spoke truth recently to members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party, warning of the consequences of disobeying such advice.

Wabara had during the NEC and BoT meetings held on April 18, 2024 expressed concern that the Acting National chairman, Ambassador Iliya Damagum has over stayed in office.  He also said the issues surrounding the office of the national secretary presently occupied by Senator Anyanwu should be amicably resolved as it is generating unhealthy controversy in the party.

Before he made the position of the BoT known at the NEC meeting, there is the line of thought that the national secretary, Anyanwu ought to have resigned before becoming the party’s candidate in the last gubernatorial poll in Imo state.

There was also uneasy calm uneasy among the party folks over the continued stay in office of Damagum and perceived denial of the North Central zone of it’s rightful position of national chairman.

Wabara while speaking as chairman of the soul of the party and custodian of its properties clearly stated that the acting national chairman of the party, Damagum has over stayed in his acting capacity to the detriment of the North Central zone of the country.

As an elder, who will not allow the goat give birth in bonds, Wabara said, “the ambiguity surrounding this position has led to confusion and internal strife, hindering our collective efforts to pursue our noble objectives.

“The solutions to these two challenges are clearly imbibed in our party’s constitution but deliberate litigations have made the application of these constitutional solutions impossible.

“It is incumbent upon us to resolve this matter with utmost urgency, guided by transparency, fairness, and the best interests of our party and its members.

“As leaders, we feel the pulse of Nigerians and particularly members of our great Party in their demand and quest for direction at this critical time in the life of our Party the PDP and dear nation, Nigeria.

“Nigerians are currently passing through a perilous time and their earnest expectation is for us as a Party to put our house in order and effectively lead the charge to rescue our nation from the stranglehold of the All-Progressives Congress (APC).

“We must therefore go into this meeting with the determination and resolve to urgently come up with practical solutions to the challenges facing our Party at this time.

I must address a matter that weighs heavily on our collective conscience, the leadership of the party as it stands.

‘’Recalling the events that led to the ousting of the former Chairman of the Party in person of Senator Iyorchia Ayu, the current Acting Chairman has spent over a year in office whereas as the usual practice of the party, the region from whence the national officer hails from should have produced a viable candidate to complete the tenure of the former national officer.

“Furthermore, the contentious issue surrounding the office of the National Secretary has regrettably sown seeds of discord within our party.

 “As we stand on the cusp of a new era, marked by the impending expiration of the Ward and LGA executive structures of our party across several states, we are presented with a pivotal opportunity to reinvigorate and reposition our party for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”

According to him, the forthcoming congresses at various levels should serve as a beacon of hope, offering us a platform to reaffirm our commitment to democratic ideals, grassroots participation, and inclusive governance.

His words: “Let us seize this moment to embrace change, foster unity, and chart a course towards a brighter and more prosperous future for our party and our nation.

In conclusion, he said,  “let us approach the deliberations of this meeting with a spirit of fellowship, mutual respect, and unwavering dedication to the ideals and principles that bind us together as members of the great People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

“Together, we have the power to surmount any obstacle, overcome any challenge, and realize our collective vision of a stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive party ready to take over power at the centre in 2027.”

Wabara spoke at the last NEC meeting but the party did not heed his advice. This has led to the mass exodus of party faithful from the PDP in Imo state since last week when the former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Emeka Ihedioha resigned along with other members of the party. Most if not all the Executive at both the ward and local government levels of the PDP resigned their positions and membership of the party in solidarity with Ihedioha.

Unresolved grievances in the PDP have in recent times led many prominent members to dump the party, especially in the South-east geo-political zone, leaving the party in a shadow of itself.

The most affected states include Abia, Ebonyi and Imo. In the latest gale of defections, which occured in Imo State, no fewer than 13 party officials of PDP at zonal, state and local government levels quit the party.

The former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Emeka Ihedioha, had opened the flood gate of resignations when he resigned from PDP on April 23, 2024, citing dispute over the issue of the National Secretary of the party as reason for leaving the party.

In the same vein, former Governor of Katsina state, Dr. Ibrahim Shema, also recently defected from the party to the All Progressives Congress citing leadership insincerity as his main reason for leaving the opposition party.

However, the party’s BoT Chairman has given assurance that those still having grievances against the party would be pacified to stem further resignations and defections, saying: “the BoT did it (reconciliation) once and shall do it again no matter whose ox is gored.”

Notwithstanding his earlier caution during the NEC and Bot meetings, Wabara, has again said the gale of defections in the main opposition party is being orchestrated by the ruling All Progressive Congress.

He stated that APC was instigating defections in PDP in order to destroy the main opposition party to pave the way for its grand design of turning Nigeria into a one- party state.

Wabara said APC found some “self-serving characters in PDP” who offered themselves as willing tools to be used in executing the obnoxious agenda of one party system.

“The BoT will never allow the APC to use some characters in the PDP to turn this beautiful and sweet nation into a one-party state,” he assured Nigerians.

Wabara said the BoT of PDP got heightened alert and would move in without delay to nip in the bud the inter party destabilisation plot of the APC by tackling the root cause of defections in the main opposition party.

According to him, the BoT of the former ruling party comprised “array of distinguished men and women of invaluable experience and integrity (who) will surely salvage the party”.

The former Senate President, who represented Abia South in the red chamber of the National Assembly from 1999 to 2007, expressed confidence in the ability of those piloting the affairs of PDP to resolve the internal challenges confronting the party.

According to him, very soon, all grievances in the party would be amicably resolved, making it very difficult for APC to find willing tools to destabilise the main opposition party.

Wabara has not wavered in his belief that the party would weather every storm and come out stronger on all fronts including the supremacy tussle between former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, and FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.