PDP BoT leaders differ on Reps minority leadership crisis

The crisis rocking Peoples Democratic Party (PDP’s) Board of Trustees (BoT) over the appointment of the minority leadership of the House of Representatives got messier yesterday.

Former Senate President, Adolphus Wabara, who is Secretary of the BoT became visibly angry when its Chairman, Walid Jibrin, told journalists at a media briefing that the Iyorchia Ayu panel report was still being considered.

“As far as I know, we considered the report and concluded everything about it and submitted it to the National Chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, who is also a member of the BoT. “

But responding, Jibrin said, “I am the Chairman of the BoT and I insist that we have not concluded deliberation on the report, so we have not submitted it.”

Again, Wabara, who reacted angrily, said: “No! We have concluded deliberation on the report and we have submitted it to the National Chairman. I am not a kid.”

Therefater, they both left the press conference in angrily without talking to one another.

The BoT had set up a five-member committee in July to intervene in the dispute over the emergence of Ndudi Elumelu as Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.

The committee, chaired by Ayu with senators David Mark, Ibrahim Mantu, Adolphus Wabara as members and Austin Opara as Secretary, was then given seven days to submit its report.

But after several weeks of delay and controversy, the BoT met to deliberate on the report yesterday for over five hours and at the end of the meeting, Jibrin said deliberation was still ongoing on the report.

“It is an internal matter and we are handling it internally, nothing has been concluded on the report yet”Jibrin stressed

Meanwhile, the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) has said that Elumelu and six other lawmakers remained suspended, as it was yet to receive any report from the BoT on the matter.

In a statement by its national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP said.

“In the light of public enquiries and conflicting reports on the position of the leadership of our great party on issues related to the minority leadership of the House of Representatives.

“The NWC hereby clarifies that it has not yet received any report from the BoT concerning the outcome of the committee it set up to intervene on the contentious matter.

“Consequently, the NWC maintains that it has not taken any decision to review its subsisting stance on the minority leadership of the House of Representatives,” the statement reads.