Why NWC Must Go
Press Briefing by Staff of the National Secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) on the state of the Party, July 31, 2015, Wadata Plaza, Abuja
Gentlemen of the Press,
We the Staff of the National Secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have
invited you here today to intimate you and through you the entire world on the grave
state of affairs and the illicit manner in which the party is currently being administered.
It is no longer news that the Political Fortunes of the PDP have continued to dwindle
since the coming on board of the present National Working Committee in March 2012.
The Party under the current leadership of Prince Uche Secondus as Acting National
Chairman and Professor Wale Oladipo as National Secretary has been systematically
and deliberately dismembered and is being led to the morgue in preparation for its final
burial.
Never in the glorious history of our great party has its fortunes been so hopelessly
mismanaged by an inept and dishonest group whose sworn mission is to permanently
destroy and liquidate the lofty organization that midwifed the current democratic
dispensation.
The current National Working Committee is only hanging on because of the obscene
and bizarre bazaar which they have subjected the purse of the party to.
Millions of PDP members are in great pains with the current reality of how the Party
which in the recent past paraded the most decent and Nationalistic Nigerians is now
being run aground by a patently incompetent and self centered sets of NWC members.
We wonder if this is the same PDP that was once led by the great Dr. Alex Ekwueme,
and Chief Solomon Lar. Is it the same PDP that was led by Chief Barnabas Gemade? Is
it the same Party that was once led by Audu Ogbeh and Amadu Ali? Is the party still as
formidable as when it was led by Prince Vincent Eze Ogbulafor and the erudite Dr.
Okwesilieze Nwodo? Is it the same Party that was victoriously managed by Dr. Bello
Haliru Mohammed?
In the last few days, the staff of the Secretariat were confronted by an ill digested and
childish circular written by Prof. Wale Oladipo which summarily terminated their
appointments.
If anybody deserves his or her appointment terminated, it is this group of fortune
hunters who ruined the electoral fortunes of the party through unprecedented greed
marked by extortion, graft and strange avarice.
It is curious to observe that a party which once prided itself as the biggest party in
Africa could be so liquidated by such executive recklessness of its NWC members so
much so that N12,000,000,000 (Twelve Billion Naira) was squandered in 9 months.
Party members will need to know why delegates were compelled to pay the sum of
N10,000 (Ten Thousand Naira) each into a private account of a company called
MORUFI NIG. LTD. We are aware that over N1,000,000,000 (One Billion Naira) was
realized from this fraudulent exercise.
Why did the NWC compel Party members to pay sums into a company account rather
than the usual party account in the same Zenith Bank?
As part of their agenda to ridicule and crumble the party, legitimate bills owed to media
houses, contractors and even cleaners have not been paid till date. Most Party
members who conducted congresses and primaries that generated these huge sums
have also not been paid.
Will over twelve million members of PDP believe that even as we address this press
conference, the NWC are still using party finances to fund frivolous personal expenses
such as weddings, naming ceremonies, funerals etc to the tunes of hundreds of millions
naira.
Because of these ceaseless acts of recklessness and palpable fear for their fate, they
have refused to summon a meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) since
the Party lost in the last elections. Shouldn't any organization with a responsible
leadership call for a NEC meeting for an appraisal of what transpired months after we
lost elections?
Several factors have been adduced as the reasons why the party performed so poorly
in the last general elections. We make bold to say that responsibility for the abysmal
outing of the party should be located directly at the doorstep of the NWC members due
to the following reasons:-
i. Criminal imposition of unpopular candidates;
ii. Mind boggling extortion of aspirants. An example here is the yet to be resolved
allegation by Ndudi Godwin Elumelu who paid whopping N750,000,000 (Seven Hundred
and Fifty Million Naira) to the NWC to obtain the gubernatorial ticket of the party in
Delta State. There are many other victims.
iii. Appointment of incompetent cronies who were specifically detailed to return
unpopular candidates as officers in congresses and primaries. The same scenario is
being play out in Kogi while Baylsa is in the wings.
In Kogi, it is widely alleged that the incumbent Governor was requested to cough out
the sum of N1,000,000,000 (One Billion Naira) to the same NWC to retain his ticket.
iv. Non remittance of campaign funds to state chapters
v. Results submitted by Congress Committees were blatantly changed;
vi. Wholesome embezzlement of proceeds of sales of nomination forms;
How on earth will any political party undergo this level of tortuous mismanagement and
expect to win elections?
These among others are some of the questions the staff of the PDP National
Secretariat are asking for which their heads are being demanded by the NWC.
In view of the incontrovertible fact that the current National Working Committee has lost
relevance and direction and has proven grossly incompetent of leading the party out of
the present quagmire. We demand their immediate resignation.
We are surprised that while the former National Chairman, Ahmadu Adamu Muazu
resigned, these harbingers of political ill-fate are still hanging on to celebrate over the
misfortunes of the Party.
Nigerians will recall that in the United Kingdom, leaders of Labour and Liberal
Democrats resigned honourably following the loss of their parties in the 2015
BritishParliamentary Elections. What is the PDP NWC still waiting for? To hang on and
further scavenge on the party? This must stop.
We demand that the Publicity Secretary who claimed that staff of the PDP have lost
touch with the state chapters withdraws the statement unconditionally. We have
evidence to show that the same person who made this allegation lost woefully in his
ward and polling booth in the November 16, 2013 governorship election in Anambra
State where he openly campaigned for and supported the candidate of APGA against
the PDP. He again lost his ward and polling booth in the state Assembly elections of
April 11, 2015.
We appeal to the Board of Trustees, the National Caucus and other members of the
National Executive Committee to invoke relevant sections of the Party constitution to
call for a meeting of NEC since the NWC is reluctant to do so. A stitch in time saves
nine.
We also call on the anti-graft agencies such as the EFCC, the Police, and ICPC to beam
their searchlight on the nefarious activities of the PDP NWC before they finally take the
party to the grave yard.
We demand that the National Secretary and his co-travelers in the NWC unconditionally
withdraw their sadistic circular and adhere strictly to the provisions of the establishment
manual should they no longer require our services.
Conclusion
Gentlemen of the press, We wish to reiterate that the greater number of members of
staff has spent over 16 years working and building the PDP. We therefore remain loyal
staff, loyal party members and stakeholders who are committed to retrieve the founding
vision of our great party.
Thank you.
Signed:
Ngozi Nzeh Dan Ochu-Baiye
Chairman Secretary
PDP Staff Welfare PDP Staff Welfare
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