The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday dismissed the inauguration of a Peoples Democratic Party caretaker committee by supporters of Kabiru Turaki, describing the move as fraudulent and misleading.
Wike warned Nigerians against what he termed an attempt to create confusion within the party, insisting that there is only one authentic Peoples Democratic Party with its national secretariat at Wadata House, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja.
Speaking on the development, the former Rivers State governor maintained that the caretaker committee set up by Turaki and his loyalists was an effort to deceive the public, stressing that there was no leadership vacuum in the party.
He said, “You have refused to tell the public what is on ground, and you are coming out to say ‘we are setting up a caretaker committee’, how? And you are deceiving people that you want to sell form.
“I dare them, let me see an office you will name PDP national secretariat. If you say you are a party, go and put a sign ‘PDP national secretariat’ just as we are occupying Wadata, that is where everybody knows as PDP national secretariat.
“If you are saying that you want to sell form, to whom? You will submit it where? Is that not fraud? You went to court, we didn’t go to court, and the court gave judgment against you.
“You have not set aside that judgment and you are now coming to deceive people by setting up a caretaker committee and begin to sell forms. Is that not fraud? What is 419?”
Wike further stated that the recent PDP convention held at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, and witnessed by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, remained the only legitimate convention of the party, which produced the current National Working Committee.
Turaki bloc insists on interim leadership
Meanwhile, the crisis took a new turn on Monday as the Board of Trustees of the PDP, led by Adolphus Wabara, appointed a 13-member interim National Working Committee for the party.
Wabara said the decision was in line with the party’s constitution, arguing that a recent Supreme Court judgment, which upheld the nullification of the Ibadan convention, created a leadership vacuum within the PDP.
The interim committee is headed by Turaki, a former Minister of Special Duties.
The decision followed a National Executive Committee meeting convened by the Turaki-led bloc at the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja.
Notable stakeholders present at the meeting included the Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde; former Niger State governor, Babangida Aliyu; ex-Minister of Information, Jerry Gana; Wabara; Turaki; and former Minister of Women Affairs, Zainab Maina, among others.
The group also declared that the Abuja convention which produced the Abdulrahman Mohammed-led National Working Committee of the PDP was null and void.
The latest development signals a deepening leadership crisis within the main opposition party, raising concerns over its internal cohesion ahead of future political contests.