By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
The newly-elected National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has postponed its inaugural meeting slated for Tuesday, November 18, over a violent clash with a rival faction of the party at the national secretariat.
PDP National Chairman, Tanimu Turaki, who announced the postponement, said the decision was as a result of the “actions of those undermining democracy and progress.”
Turaki, joined by the Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, and his Bauchi State counterpart, Bala Mohammed, disclosed that the meeting would now be held on Wednesday, November 19.
He said: “Due to some incidents caused by those who are the enemies of progress, the enemies of democracy, we have decided that this meeting will be postponed till tomorrow.
“Meanwhile, I want to appreciate our leaders, our governors, members of the National Assembly, former governors, former ministers, members of BoT, state chairmen, and indeed members of the immediate past National Working Committee, who have also come here to show solidarity with us.
“We in PDP are peace-loving people. We want peace to reign because we want to take over governance in this country. And so, if we want to take over governance in this country, then we need to have one country in place.”
Turaki also commended the Commissioner of Police of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for providing security that enabled the leadership access to the secretariat.
The opposition party has been embroiled in a leadership and internal crisis amid defections to the All Progressives Congress (APC) by members.
The crisis heightened in the days leading up to the party’s elective national convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State, on November 15 and 16, which saw the election of Turaki and other members of the NWC, amid conflicting court rulings on the convention.
At the convention, the party suspended the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike; former National Secretary of the PDP, Samuel Anyanwu; former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose; Mohammed Abdulrahman, and others for alleged anti-party activities.
Subsequently, the Turaki and Wike/Anyanwu-led factions scheduled an inaugural NWC meeting and National Executive Council (NEC) and Board of Trustees (BoT) meeting, respectively at the party’s national secretariat on Tuesday.
The parallel meetings saw supporters of both factions arrive in the vicinity of Wadata Plaza with placards demanding the sack of the leaders of the other faction.
There was also a heavy security presence in the vicinity to prevent breakdown of law and order. The security operatives fired several canisters of tear gas to disperse supporters of the rival factions of the party when the situation turned violent.
