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Tuesday, 16 July 2013

PDP cancels national convention over constitutional breaches

  • Written by  Leon Usigbe and Jacob Segun Olatunji - Abuja
  • Tuesday, 16 July 2013 
  • Published in Headlines
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    THE crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has assumed a new twist, as its National Working Committee (NWC) abruptly terminated the work of the Professor Jerry Gana-led mini national convention planning committee and cancelled the exercise earlier scheduled for August 31.

    Also cancelled was the planned South-West zonal congresses, which had similarly been  slated for August 24 in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

    The decisions, reached at a meeting of the NWC at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja, on Monday, followed weeks of wrangling between the NWC and the convention planning committee on how to proceed with arrangements for the event.

    According to a statement issued by the acting national publicity secretary of the party, Mr Tony Okeke, at the end of the meeting, the NWC considered issues surrounding recent developments in the party, before coming to the decisions which also affected Rivers and Anambra states.

    It said in view of the anomalies and breaches of the constitution of the PDP observed in the actions so far taken by the convention planning committee, the NWC had directed the committee to put on hold all activities relating to the South-West zonal congresses and the special national convention, pending the regularisation of the anomalies and breaches.

    Consequently, the statement said the dates recently announced by the planning committee “are, in the circumstances, untenable.”

    On the crisis in Rivers State, the NWC expressed concern at the developments and resolved to invite the national vice chairman, South-South, “to come and brief it, to enable it to take an informed decision that will lead to a prompt resolution of the crisis in the state.”

    In the case involving the Anambra State chapter of the party, it also resolved to invite major stakeholders in the state to an enlarged stakeholders’ meeting on July 18, so as to commence consultations towards finding a lasting solution to the problems of the party in the state.

    Before the cancellation of the convention and South West congresses, the convention planning committee had run into difficulties over the list of delegates expected to participate in the convention.

    It was learnt that the committee was worried that the outcome might be rejected by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) if it went ahead with list of delegates which it had prepared.

    The committee was at a crossroad over the list of delegates from, at least, nine states, whose congresses INEC had previously rejected last year.

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