APC’s new PDP bloc petitions party leaders over unfair treatment
A Faction of the new People’s Democratic Party (PDP) bloc of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday stormed the national secretariat of the APC to bare their minds on how they were unfairly treated since the inception of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration in May 29, 2015.
The group, led by Abubakar Kawu Baraje, in the petition dated April 27, 2018 entitled “Request for repressing of grievances of the former new PDP bloc within the APC”, gave Odigie-Oyegun-led National Working Committee (NWC) and President Muhammadu Buhari a seven-day ultimatum to address their grievances.
The group, linked to Obasanjo’s third force movement, Coalition of New Nigeria (CNN) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), claimed that they have not only suffered intimidation and harassment, but had been sidelined from the scheme of things in the APC since 2015.
Baraje, who was evasive when asked whether they would dump the party, said their visit to the party leadership was aimed at exploring avenues to resolve their grievances.
However, the Chief Jide Awe-led State Executive Committee (SWC) of the Ekiti State Chapter of the APC yesterday said it had regained custody of the state secretariat from the parallel executive committee.
Besides, it said a disciplinary committee had been set up to sanction the ‘dissidents.’
The secretariat of the party was on Monday forcefully taken over by protesters, comprising mostly delegates and party leaders from the local council and ward levels, who brandished placards of various inscriptions and also passed a vote of no confidence in Awe and the party spokesman, Taiwo Olatunbosun, for allegedly supporting one of the aspirants in the race.
The protesters laced the gate of the party located in Ajilosun area of the state capital with fetish materials and other unknown substances.
But Awe, who stated that the fetish objects had been neutralised, said that in addition to reporting the incident to the police, the SWC has also set up a disciplinary committee headed by the legal adviser of the party to look into the constitution of the APC and sanction erring members.
He said some leaders of the party, including Bola Tinubu, Chief Bisi Akande, among others, would storm Ekiti ahead of the rescheduled primary of the party slated for Friday.
He, however, said that the party has not ruled out consensus option.
Meanwhile, the Zonal Organising Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in South-South, Mr. Paul Obi, has said that the party may lose the South-South, South-East if the crisis is not properly handled.
In a statement yesterday, Obi, who expressed displeasure at the widespread crisis, which engulfed the party’s ward congresses last Saturday, said the situation portends great danger for the party, particularly in the South-South and South-East.
In another development, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Heineken Lokpobiri, yesterday said the APC would be stronger and more united in Bayelsa State after the ongoing party congresses.
Lokpobiri, a former senator, who spoke in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, said the peace that characterised the last ward congress in the state was a pointer to the party members’ preparedness to work together.
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