Written by Leon Usigbe, Abuja Tuesday, 08 June 2010
SUNDAY night’s meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) caucus meeting apparently failed to resolve the issue of who becomes the new national chairman of the party as the caucus which was expected to ratify the choice of Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo was confronted with renewed opposition to his candidacy from senior party members.
President Goodluck Jonathan was expected to present Dr. Nwodo who was the National Secretary of the PDP during the first tenure of President Olusegun Obasanjo, as his preferred candidate for the post but the attempt was met with resistance from key party members present at the meeting.
The disagreement came as President Jonathan admonished the party members, particularly members of the PDP Reform Forum, to follow due process in their demand for constitutional amendment.
Investigation revealed that former national chairman of the party under whom Dr. Nwodo served as National Secretary, Dr. Ahmadu Ali, rejected his candidacy on the grounds that not enough consultation had been carried out on his nomination, besides the observation that he had not allegedly been a committed member of the PDP.
He was said to have argued that if Dr. Nwodo was picked, it would amount to rewarding him for dumping the PDP.
His position was shared by former presidential aspirant in the party, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, who insisted that there was the need for wider consultation among stakeholders before Dr. Nwodo could be nominated.
Dr. Nwodo defected from the PDP to contest senatorial election on the ticket of the rival All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in 2003 before joining the Mega Party and only returned to the PDP on June 1, 2009 which makes him ineligible to be nominated for any position in the party because he has not spent the mandatory 18 months in the PDP.
According to Article 16.4 of the PDP, “No member of the party shall be qualified for nomination or election or appointment into any of the office of the party, unless he or she has been a registered member for at least 18 months and is of good financial standing in the party, except there is waiver by the appropriate executive committee.”
It was learnt that the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, waded into the matter and pointed out that Dr. Nwodo was yet to meet the constitutional requirement for nomination.
The AGF was said to have called for appropriate waiver to be secured first before Dr Nwodo could be nominated or another candidate should be put forward as he feared that someone could go to court for an injunction against his selection.
The Nigerian Tribune had reported earlier that the South East politicians were disappointed that it was President Jonathan who single-handedly chose Dr. Nwodo and merely apprised the governors of the South-East states elected on the ticket of the PDP of his decision to support Dr. Nwodo.
Having secured the consent of the South-East governors, President Jonathan was also said to have brought the matter before the PDP Governors Forum which was said to have approved his choice.
Meanwhile, the inability of the caucus to ratify Dr Nwodo’s nomination has apparently forced a postponement of the meeting of National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, which was scheduled for Thursday, for the purpose of introducing the nominee to the party leaders.
A statement issued by the national headquarters of the party, signed by its national secretary, Professor Ahmed Alkali, which announced the postponement, did not, however, give any reason as it simply apologised for the inconveniences caused by the action and noted that a new date would be announced later.
However, President Jonathan has counselled members of the party to ensure they adhered to due process in the effort to amend the constitution of the party as demanded by the PDP Reform Forum.
Sources told the Nigerian Tribune that President Jonathan warned members against using his name for selfish purposes, especially campaigners for constitutional reforms who claimed that they had his consent to carry out their activities.
He said his recent intervention in the case between the PDP Reform Forum and the NWC through Vice-President Namadi Sambo was to ensure peace and harmony in its fold.
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