State Chairmen of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have publicly disowned a lawsuit filed to stop the party’s forthcoming National Convention slated for November in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, Chairman of the PDP State Chairmen Forum and Edo State PDP Chairman, Dr Tony Aziegbemi, said the forum remains committed to the unity and progress of the party, despite recent internal disputes.
Dr Aziegbemi condemned the actions of Hon. Austine Nwachukwu (Imo State) and Hon. Amah Abraham Nnana (Abia State), who, along with Turnah Alabah George, Secretary of the PDP South-South zone, had dragged the party to court over disagreements surrounding the upcoming convention.
Aziegbemi confirmed that both state chairmen involved in the lawsuit have been suspended from the forum, adding that the decision was unanimously reached to safeguard the integrity and unity of the party.
He said: “Twenty-eight of us were in town yesterday. We deliberated, and the Secretary has told you what we have done. We have suspended those two members from our forum. “We state very clearly that the PDP State Chairmen Forum distances itself from that court case. We condemn it in the strongest terms.”
In a statement jointly signed by Aziegbemi and the forum’s secretary, Edward Percy Masha, the forum expressed concern that external political interests linked to the All Progressives Congress (APC) were attempting to destabilise the PDP through legal distractions.
“We draw the attention of Nigerians to the fact that this is a major plot by the APC-led Federal Government to have a one-party state, to weaken all other opposition parties, and to coerce our governors, members of the National Assembly, and state legislators to join them,” Aziegbemi alleged.
He said the PDP would resist every attempt to frustrate its democratic process, insisting that the forum remains loyal to the National Working Committee (NWC) led by Ambassador Umar Damagum.
The forum reaffirmed its confidence in the NWC, the PDP Governors’ Forum, and other statutory organs of the party, pledging to work harmoniously to rebuild and reposition the PDP as “Nigeria’s credible alternative and leading political force.”
Aziegbemi added that Nigerians were suffering under poor governance, yet the ruling party was more interested in undermining opposition activities than fixing the country’s economic hardship.
“Sixty million Nigerians go to bed hungry every night, yet the government is focused on stopping the PDP from holding its convention. They are using some of our members as tools to achieve this,” he said.
The case filed by the suspended chairmen is scheduled for hearing on Thursday, October 16, before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
