Battle Between Wike, PDP Govs Forces Party To Shift NWC Meeting

More facts are emerging why the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, postponed its National Working Committee, NWC, meeting originally scheduled for Wednesday, September 5.

The shift, however, did not come as a surprise to many watchers of the party in view of the division among its leaders over the political crisis in Rivers state.

The party in the oil rich rich has been divided among the supporters of Governor Sim Fubara and his predecessor, now FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.

Amidst the struggle for the soul of PDP in the state, the Umaru Damagun-led NWC had recently annoyed the PDP governors after it went ahead to conduct local government congresses to elect party officials despite a court injunction against such.

The congress, watchers of politics in the state insists, automatically handed over the structure of the party to the former governor.

The governors led by Bauchi state governor Bala Muhammed are supporting the state helmsman, who they believe should be in charged of the party structure in the state in line with the political norm in the country, where state governors are allowed to be in charge of party structures in their states.

The botched Wednesday NWC meeting, it was learned, was called by the party leaders to reconcile the warring parties, but was shunned by the governors, a situation that forced the leadership to shift the meeting to a future date.

According to The Punch, the governors are not happy that some leaders of the party are still supporting Wike despite what they described as his anti-party activities, and for being allegedly responsible for the crisis in Rivers state.

Recall that the governors recently met in Bauchi state where they declared their support for Fubara.

Their action angered the FCT Minister who threatened to destabilise the states controlled by the PDP governors supporting his successor by putting ‘fire’ in their states.

“Some governors say they will take the structure from us and give it to somebody. I hear that they have given them assurance that they will take the party from us. I pity those governors because I will put fire in their states. When God has given you peace, you say you don’t want peace. Whether you are in Bauchi or wherever, your hands will get burnt. You will never see pace again,” Wike boasted.

The governors in their response described Wike outbursts as irresponsible, adding that they decided to support Fubara the same way they supported him while he was governor.

Reacting to the postponement of the NWC, a top member of the a party, who craved anonymity, stated that there was no need for the meeting when the rivers crisis remained on the table, adding that the Acting chairman of the party, Damagun was forced to shift the meeting out of concern it might lead to a confrontation.

The source said, “They are only playing games with the party members and its future. Those present at the secretariat today are part of their team.

“They postponed the meeting because they wee afraid of the potential outcomes. If we had met today (Wednesday), we would have discussed the Rivers and other states’ congresses. The NWC needs to approve everything. Pressure from Wike and from governors to the entire NWC led them to delay the meeting to buy time.

“They were at the Secretariat to plan their next move. That is why some of us are not aware. With the governors having taken an open stance, they are trying to delay things to achieve their objectives. Thus, they deliberately postponed the meeting.

“On our side, we can’t call for an NWC meeting because Wike’s faction is in the majority. But, let’s see what they will do next.”

When reached for comment, the PDP acting National Chairman clarified that no meeting was planned for Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Damagun in his response to the newspaper query said no meeting was planned for yesterday.  “it seems like you are the one suggesting the meeting,” he said.