By PHC Telegraph
Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the federal Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chf Nyesom Wike throw away friendship, fight for the control of Rivers PDP. Who could be the mastermind behind the release of the list of caretaker committee members that the PDP at the national level did not authorise?
This is the question that is being asked in many political circles as facts coming to the surface suggest that the list which is already in circulation might be fake.
Governor Siminalayi Fubara had initially reacted to the release of the list Thursday, describing what was put out in the public domain as the authentic list of caretaker committee members of the ruling party as a complete fabrication.
Fubara had vowed before he left Port Harcourt, the State capital, for Abuja for a meeting with the PDP’s NWC that the list released to the public will not stand.
It appears that the Governor’s stance that the list of caretaker committee members in the Rivers State will not see the light of day has received the support of party leaders in Abuja.
The National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Thursday dismissed the purported list of Caretaker Committee members, saying it was fake and misleading.
Recall that the list which set many on edge in Rivers had been circulated in the social media and published in some national dailies on Thursday, April 4, 2024.
Governor Fubara, deputy chair of the PDP Governors Forum, said after a meeting with the NWC at the National Secretariat, Wadata Plaza in Abuja that resolutions reached at a meeting which took place between the NWC and members of the Board of Trustees (BOTs) and PDP Governors’ Forum in Abuja in March on the issue still remains intact.
Fubara restated the position taken by the party that the executive officers whose tenures had expired in March, shall remain until the three months’extension period approved by the NWC elapses.
Thereafter, new congresses would be conducted to replace them, the deputy chairman of the PDP Governors Forum remarked.
A letter signed by the National Organis-ing Secretary, Hon Umar M. Bature, dated Wednesday, March 27, 2024, and addressed to the Chairman, Rivers State Caretaker Committee, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon Aaron Chukwuemeka emphasized the stance of the party.
Titled: “Approval of Wards, Local Government Area and State Caretaker Committee Members for Rivers State”, the letter carefully resolved the issue of all who should be viewed as authentic members of the Caretaker Committees establishment by the party at the affected levels.
It was copied to the Acting National Chairman, Amb. Umar Iliya Damagum; Deputy National Chairman, South, His Excellency, Amb. Taofeek Arapaja; the Executive Governor of Rivers State, His Excellency, Sir Siminalayi Fubara; National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu; and National Legal Adviser, Ajibade Kamaldeen Adeyemi, SAN.
The letter read, “Following the expiration of the elected Ward, LGA, and State Executive Members in Rivers State, the National Working Committee (NWC), pursuant to the provisions of Section 29 (2) (b) of the Constitution of our Party, has, on behalf of the National Executive Committee (NEC) approved the appointment of the expired Excos as Caretaker Committee Members.
“For the avoidance of doubt, attached to this letter is the authentic list of the Caretaker Committee members in Rivers State. These Caretaker Committees shall run the affairs of our Party at their appropriate levels for a period of three (3) months effective from the dates of their expiration, i.e. March 14, 18, 21, 2024 for Wards, LGA, and State, respectively.
“Please note that the NWC equally approved that anywhere vacancies have occurred due to death, removal, resignation, or defection, such vacancies shall not be filled.
“While thanking you for your continuous commitment, please accept the assurances of the NWC’s highest regards”.
Governor Fubara emphasized that the party stands irrevocably on the agreement as encapsulated in the letter by the NWC to the State Chairman of PDP dated March 27.
No amount of intimidation, clandestine moves, wasteful lobbying and needless expenditure of public funds, he observed, will change the position already taken by the PDP.
Martins Amaewhule, Speaker of the House of Assembly and Edison Ehie now Chief of Staff, Government House. Their wrangling on the floor of the Rivers State House of Assembly brought the crisis to the open.Describing the list containing the names of persons purported to be members of the Caretaker Committees of the party in the state as the product of the imagination of its authors, Fubara warned the imposters not to attempt to act as officials in their own interest.
He also warned that anyone caught would be treated as an impersonator and officially prosecuted by the party.
He advised those whose names were skilfully removed and members of the public who were the target of a deception plan to ignore the contents of the fake list.
Governor Fubara insisted that what was published on Thursday and circulated on social media was intended to suit the ambition of enemies of the State, and provoke Rivers people, particularly those of them who are law abiding party members.