Intrigue Rocks PDP Convention Plan

President Goodluck Jonathan

•   S'West nominates Wale Oladipo to replace Oyinlola 

Chuks Okocha in Abuja                      
A big fight is brewing among President Goodluck Jonathan’s men over the special national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party earlier slated for July 20 by the National Executive Committee of the party. The date of the convention had been decided at the June 20 PDP NEC meeting in Abuja to enable the party conduct new elections into its National Working Committee following a report by the Independent National Electoral Commission which declared 12 of the 16 NWC members as inappropriately elected. 

But the convention was moved to August 31 without the consent of the PDP National Chairman Bamanga Tukur, who also heads the NWC, whose interim members were sworn in by him on June 24.

This unilateral action has intensified the muscle-flexing between NWC and the Professor Jerry Gana-led Special Convention Planning Committee, which has been brewing almost since the formation of the convention committee.

Despite the brewing trouble, the Gana committee announced the special convention sub-committees saturday.
And meanwhile, the South-west PDP also at the weekend nominated Professor Wale Oladipo from Osun State as a replacement for Chief Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who has been battling to overturn his court-ordered removal as national secretary of the party. 

All the combatants in the present supremacy battle are perceived allies of President Jonathan. Tukur, all members of the interim NWC, Gana, secretary to the convention committee, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who is also the Deputy Senate President are all Jonathan’s men.

Gana and Ekweremadu had tried in vain to meet Tukur and the other members of the NWC last Wednesday. Rather than meet the Gana committee, the national chairman met with members of the interim NWC before travelling to his Adamawa home state.

Since the meeting that was meant to brief Tukur and the NWC members on the preparations for the special national convention could not hold, and with Tukur out of Abuja, Gana and Ekweremadu decided to address the press, during which they announced the new date for the convention as August 31.

THISDAY gathered from the camp of the national chairman that NWC members had been dissociating themselves from the new convention date.

According to a source from Tukur’s camp, “There are lots of irregularities that could render the new date announced by Gana and Ekweremadu ineffective. The NEC of June 20 mandated the Gana special convention committee to conduct the national convention on July 20. The convention was put off by the NWC in a statement by the Acting National Secretary, Tony Ceasar Okeke, without even informing the Gana committee.

“Gana and Ekweremadu announced a new date of August 31 without informing the Tukur-led NWC. Though, attempts were made by the Gana committee to meet Tukur last Wednesday, the meeting did not hold.

“By the constitution of the party, the NWC acts on behalf of NEC. Therefore, since the Gana committee did not meet with Tukur and the members of the interim NWC, from where did the committee derive its powers to announce the new date and the commencement of the sale of forms for the South-west congress of August 24 and the national convention of August 31?

“Who gave Gana and Ekweremadu the new nomination forms that they were displaying during the press conference. This is because the office of the National Organising Secretary did not release any set of nomination forms for sale.  If aspirants to offices have been collecting nomination forms, to which bank account are the aspirants paying the nomination fees. Who gave the Gana committee the party’s account details?”

THISDAY was told that since the Gana committee is a product of NEC, it is only NEC or NWC, acting on behalf of NEC, that can authorise or direct any subsequent changes and this would be communicated to the NEC in session whenever it is summoned.
The source explained that the special convention committee was not a standing committee, but an ad hoc committee that must do its duties in consultation with the NWC.

He explained that since the earlier dates for the congress in the South-west and national convention had been invalidated because of the Ramadan fast, the way forward for the Gana committee would have been for a new NEC meeting to be called or the committee takes further directives from NWC, as it acts for the NEC.

The source from the Tukur camp further stressed, “This is why we expect the president to speak out now before the battle of supremacy gets out hand. The president must speak. His perceived silence is not a good omen when his perceived allies are fighting.”

All efforts to speak with the PDP national chairman or the head of the convention committee failed, as their telephone lines were switched off.
Amid the battle of wits, Ekweremadu released the names of the various sub-committees for the August 31 special convention saturday.

A statement from his office, as secretary to the convention committee, said the chairman of the Police Service Commission, Mr. Mike Okiro, will serve as the chairman of the convention security committee, while the contact committee will be headed by the former Minister of Defence, Dr. Mohammed Harilu Bello, while Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio will chair the finance committee.

The statement listed other sub-committees and their heads as follows: chairman of the venue committee, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Bala Mohammed; chairman of the accreditation committee, the secretary of the PDP Board of Trustees, Walid Jibrin; head of the screening committee, Senate Leader Victor Ndoma Egba; leader of the electoral committee, former Senate President Ken Nnamani; chairman of the essential election material committee, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State; and chairman of protocol committee, former acting national secretary of the party, Dr. Musa Babayo, who is also the deputy secretary of the convention committee.

The release further stated that the office of the chairman of the convention committee would head the publicity committee, while Senator Ita Giwa would chair the welfare committee. Katsina State Governor Ibrahim Shema will head the transport and accommodation committee, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, will chair the medical committee, and the deputy senate president will chair the secretariat committee.

Meanwhile, the South-west zonal leadership of PDP at the weekend nominated Oladipo for the post of national secretary ahead of the zone’s congress slated for August 24 and the special national convention scheduled for August 31.

The chairman of the South-west caretaker committee, Chief Ishola Filani, disclosed this to THISDAY last night.
The South-west zone had protested the listing of the national secretary position as one of those to be filled at the special convention, insisting that the court order that removed Oyinlola in January only asked for his replacement by the zone, and not an election to fill his position. 

politics 7:36:00 AM