By Kolawole Ojebisi
Former Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, has said the acting chairman of the party, Umar Damagum, has opened the floodgates of crisis by what he described as “unilateral” decision to reinstate Samuel Anyanwu as the party’s National Secretary.
Ologbodiyan spoke on Thursday during an interview on Arise Television. The former PDP spokesman maintained that Damagum contravened PDP’s constitution by directing Anyanwu to resume his duties as National Secretary.
““When you talk about the issue of crisis in our party, I think the floodgate has just been opened because the action of Damagum acting in contravention of the party’s constitution by unilaterally directing Anyanwu to resume office as National Secretary, I can’t describe the implication.
“NEC which is superior to that National Working Committee, which is second only to the national convention of the party took a decision at the 99th meeting held at Legacy House in Abuja.
“It said look, we have taken the report of the Southeast who are complaining about the fact that their nomination has not been accepted, so at the next NEC meeting that will come up on June 30th, we will now take a decision.
“How can a selected group of people go and sit down somewhere that the person whose office is in question should resume.
“This is outside the resolution of the NEC, do we still have a party?” Ologbodiyan said.
Recall that Anyanwu, who is an ally of Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT), and the PDP has been at loggerheads over the rightful and legitimate National Secretary of the PDP.
The battle for the party’s national secretaryship resulted in a litigation with conflicting verdicts for either side of the tussle issued at different times.
However, there was a dramatic twist to the protracted crisis on Wednesday, when Damagum led a high-powered PDP delegation, including the Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed and former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, to the headquarters of the PDP in Abuja, directing Anyanwu to resume his duties at the PDP National Secretariat.
The decision, has however, sparked deluge of reactions. Speaking hours after Damagum’s announcement, Wike said Damagum couldn’t order Anyanwu’s reinstatement, stressing that his ally wasn’t the acting chairman’s appointee.
In a statement also signed by eleven key members of the party’s National Working Committee on Wednesday night, Damagum’s decision was also faulted and voided.
