The National Working Committee, NWC, of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has disowned Saturday’s Zonal Congress held in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, describing it as a “social gathering” and a sham.
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Barrister Nyesom Ezenwo Wike whose disrespect for party traditions is being challenged by democrats nationwide was among a few South Southerners of note who attended the event postponed by the NWC.
PDP Governors in the geopolitical zone who are major stakeholders in the party earlier warned that they would not participate in the event, citing certain anomalies.
The national working committee on its part ordered the zonal wing of the party headed Dan Orbih, a close Wike ally to await a new date for the conduct of the zonal congress.
That order was seemingly ignored at the zonal level. Instead, the zonal leadership went ahead to organise what the NWC now dubs a social gathering.
According to what we have learnt through credible sources, millions of naira may have been spent on the event venue as well as the accommodation, feeding and transportation of persons dressed up as official delegates of the party.
The PDP said in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba that it did not recognise the conduct of the zonal congress which was put together in defiance of the position of the party.
It said, “The attention of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been drawn to a reported social gathering in Calabar, Cross River State, where the organizers falsely claimed it to be the South-South Zonal Congress of the PDP.”
“For the avoidance of doubt”, the party’s principal organ said, “the NWC, at its meeting on Thursday, February 20, 2025, in exercise of its powers under Section 29 (2)(b), pursuant to Section 31 (2)(c) and (j) of the Constitution of the PDP (as amended in 2017), postponed the conduct of the South-South Zonal Congress from the earlier scheduled date of Saturday, February 22, 2025.”
Of the six states in the geopolitical zone, PDP controls Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers States while the APC dominates Edo and Cross River.
None of the governors in the states held by the PDP is acting in cohort with the pro -Wike group.
The Port Harcourt Telegraph understands that the frosty relations existing between Wike and the governors may probably explain why the event organised by Orbih was taken to Cross River State, one of the two states that are dominated by the APC, the party that the FCT Minister is working for.
“For emphasis therefore, the PDP states that it has not conducted its South South Zonal Congress and it has yet to communicate a date for the exercise.
“The PDP calls on all party members in the South South Zone, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), @inecnigeria Security Agencies and the Media to disregard any gathering or outcome of any such gathering in Calabar, Cross River State purported to be the South South Zonal Congress of the PDP.
“Our Party will in due course and through its official channels communicate a new date for the conduct of the South South Zonal Congress”
The NWC commended the South South Governors of the PDP, other leaders, critical stakeholders and members of the Party in the Zone for their loyalty and steadfastness towards the unity and stability of the party.