• Top members ask NWC to resign
Following the not-too-impressive performance of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in this year’s general elections, anger pervades the party, with members demanding the resignation of the National Working Committee (NWC) or its sack. They also asked President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure the constitution of a caretaker committee to organise and reposition the party before handover.
The PDP lost the presidential election on March 28 to the All Progressives Congress (APC), whose candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, will be sworn in as President on May 29, 2015. In last Saturday’s governorship election, the PDP won only seven states, to APC’s 19, out of 26 states, whose results were released. When added to states where governorship election did not hold, the PDP currently controls 11 states, as against 21 it controlled before the general elections. Polls in Abia, Imo and Taraba states are inconclusive.
Sources revealed that angry members of the PDP, including incoming governors, National Assembly members-elect and aides to the national leaders have directly or indirectly requested that NWC members resign immediately or get sacked, since their leadership could not bring the party electoral success.
Membership of the NWC include, National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu; Deputy National Chairman, Mr. Uche Secondus; National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh; National Legal Adviser, National Organising Secretary, National Financial Secretary, National Treasurer, National Women’s Leader and National Youth leader.
The agitated members, it was gathered, say that they have passed a vote of no confidence in the party’s leadership, just as voters did, as shown by their reactions at the polls.
According to them, in civilised nations, members of the NWC should have resigned immediately after the elections, following the poor performance of the party, insisting that if they do not quit by next week, President Jonathan should cause the dissolution of the committee, ahead of the expiration of its tenure in March 2016. The NWC has a three-year tenure.
One of the sins of members of the NWC, as listed by the aggrieved PDP members, sources revealed, is that they gave Jonathan wrong impression of the feelings of Nigerians as well as false hope.
“The NWC members are living in a fool’s paradise and they gave false hope. Even after the loss of the presidential election, they still gave false hope that the PDP will win not less than 23 states. We saw what happened at the governorship election,” one of the aggrieved members, who pleaded anonymity, told Daily Sun.
In their demand, therefore, the angry PDP members asked Jonathan to effect the dissolution of the NWC by next week, if members refuse by resign and constitute an 18-man caretaker committee, made up of three members from each pf the six geopolitical zones.
According to these members, if Jonathan does not take immediate action, there will not be any member of substance left in the PDP before handover, as they would defect to the APC. They said that the mass defection of members to APC since after the presidential election is an indication of what will happen if nothing is done.
When constituted, one of the terms of reference of the caretaker committee, the angry members said, is the reorganisation of the party and rezoning of offices, towards 2019 elections.
Meanwhile, mixed reactions have greeted the demand for the resignation of members of the NWC or their sack.
Speaking in a telephone interview, a member of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Ebenezer Babatope, aligned himself with those calling for restraint. He said: “I am a member of BoT. It will be wrong for me to comment on call for the dissolution of the NWC.
“All of us in leadership position should be tactful. Let us hold on, exercise patience. We have our teething problems and I am sure, we shall bounce back.”
Former aspirant for the position of national publicity secretary of the party, Okey Muo Aroh, said the PDP needs a forum to do a post-mortem on the just-concluded elections, but did not agree that the NWC should go.
Aroh said:” I don’t think it is necessary. All of us should sit down and do a proper post-mortem and all of us take a position on the way forward.
“ A party in government is different from a party in opposition. We must face the fact that it is no longer business as usual. We need individuals that can put the new ruling party on its toes. But we need to sit down and tell ourselves the truth.”
Another chieftain of the party, Dr. Katch Ononuju, however, said the NWC performed poorly and called for its dissolution.
He stated: “Those who let us down should give way. Let us have a new set of leaders to provide adequate, meaningful and honest opposition for the democracy we have built in the last 16 years.
“PDP needs a new set of leaders. The present NWC suffers from a disease called complacency. If they don’t do that, they will be setting themselves up for another conquest. That’s the way for us to go.
“The new PDP should be embraced by young men, who can ask questions so that Buhari can redeem his promises to the electorate,” he said.
Source: Sun
