PDP Crisis: Ologbondiyan accuses Wike of party sectioning…here’s what to know
Photo credit: Google
The crisis rocking the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has reached a crescendo as the tussle for the seat of national secretary between Samuel Anyanwu and Ude Okoye has exposed a lot of tensions within the party.
It is clear that the issue of leadership and who takes up certain positions is a major issue threatening to sink the PDP partyship.
Read also: PDP crisis deepens as party appoints Umar Damagum as acting national chairman
Obasa impeached, Meranda takes over… what to know about Lagos Assembly saga
Speaking about this development, Kola Ologbondiyan, former National Publicity Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), expressed his view about the crisis on Tuesday at Arise TV’s morning show.
The Nation reports that Ologbodiyan didn’t mince words but stated that he agreed with the claim of Debo Ologunagba, the national publicity secretary of the PDP, that there’s an external interference in the party’s crisis.
He said,“I have always made the position known that there are attempts to reduce the PDP to a branch or an arm of the APC.”
Ologbodiyan boldly pointed at the former River State governor Nyesom Wike as a strong reason for the crisis in the party.
“I would go further to say that the involvement of the former presidential aspirant on the platform of the PDP, who is the current minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, in the governance of the APC, has created a room that can lead to the collapse of the PDP. So, I subscribe to what Ologunagba is saying about external influences on the party,” he stated.
However, Ologbodiyan did not dismiss the internal crisis within the party, but he stated that the influence of the external forces was very much pronounced. He further cemented his words with an anecdote that when the walls crack, the lizard will crawl out.
What to know about the leadership tussle in PDP
The quest for the seat of the party’s national secretary has been one that has divided the party into sections.
While one party claimed to back up Samuel Anyanwu as the legally recognised national secretary, others have rallied behind Ude Okoye as the court-authorised one.
While Debo Ologunagba, the party national publicity secretary, has announced Okoye as the national secretary because the court of appeal in Enugu validated Okoye’s position.
However, Punchonline reports that Anyanwu resumed office as the national secretary with heavy bodyguards insisting that the court gave him the mandate.
When asked about the announcement made by Ologunagbe, Anyanwu responded that perhaps Ologunagbe has not got his records straight. Anyawu claimed the Supreme Court validated his seat.
While the issue is yet to be resolved, the North Central, on the other hand, are clamouring that it’s their phase to produce the party national chairman according to laid-down rules, but the incumbent chairman, Damagum, who’s from the Northeast, has insisted on his seat as the chairman.
PDP must be really in for a long war as national elections draw closer. If these tensions are not resolved, the party may likely get affected in the long run.
