PDP crisis: NWC meets tomorrow to prepare grounds for NEC

The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will meet on Tuesday to reach resolutions on issues to be presented to the National Executive Committee (NEC), the second-highest decision-making organ of the party.

The PDP expanded stakeholders’ meeting, which includes state governors, Board of Trustees (BoT), former ministers, former governors and National Assembly Caucus, had last Tuesday met at the PDP National Secretariat in Abuja, where they directed the party’s National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, to convene the NEC meeting.

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The meeting also resolved that the PDP national convention would hold in October and not at the expiration of the Secondus-led NWC’s tenure of four years in December 2021.

There is a crisis in the PDP as some stakeholders of the party are calling for Secondus’ resignation.

There are accusations that Secondus failed to carry other members of the NWC along in the scheme of things.

Secondus is also under intense pressure to resign over the gale of defections that have hit the party in recent times.

But the embattled national chairman said recently that those plotting his removal were doing so to hijack the party’s structure ahead of the 2023 general elections.

Multiple sources at the party’s national secretariat confided in Daily Trust, last night in Abuja, that other PDP bigwigs were angry with Secondus for “failing” to lead the party to victory in the 2019 general elections.

Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Walid Jibrin, in a telephone chat with our correspondent, yesterday, said, “I’m not aware of the NEC meeting tomorrow (today). So I doubt if it will hold.”

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, however, told our correspondent in a telephone chat yesterday that the NWC meeting would hold tomorrow.

“The date for NEC is not fixed yet. NEC will meet after the NWC meeting,” he said.

Similarly, the Special Adviser to Secondus on Media, Ike Abonyi, told our correspondent in a telephone chat yesterday that the NWC meeting would determine the agenda for the NEC meeting yet to be scheduled.

Daily Trust reports that with the party’s national convention holding in October for the election of a new crop of NWC members, the NEC would meet to ratify the processes that would lead to the convention.

‘PDP’ll reclaim power’

The Arewa PDP Support Group has said the party would reclaim power in the 2023 general elections.

In a statement yesterday, by its National Secretary, Mr Desmond Minakaro, the group called on its members across the 19 Northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), to remain calm and focus on building the party towards a total takeover from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023.

“The leadership of Arewa PDP Support Group wishes to commend the efforts of its PDP critical national stakeholders, who include the 13 states PDP governors, BoT, NWC, former Senate presidents, former governors and many others, for the peaceful resolution of the crisis rocking our party, the PDP, in the last one month.

“The resolutions are highly commendable and accepted by all peace-loving members of the party. No winner, no loser.

“To this end, we demand that a good number of our youths should be included in the convention and zonal planning committees, while still appreciating all our party leaders for their positive intervention in rescuing the party.

“We also, wish to use this medium to call on our members across the 19 Northern states and FCT to remain calm and focus on building the party towards total take over from APC, come 2023.

“Finally, we pledge our support to the rebuilding process activated by our leaders and we promise to mobilize our members to fully participate in the ongoing membership E-Registration exercise,” the group said.