admin
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is teetering on the brink of a significant internal rupture, as a group of lawmakers from the South-East have issued a stern ultimatum, threatening to lead an exit from the party starting in November.
The threat was issued in a strongly-worded statement on behalf of South-East PDP lawmakers by Hon. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, the federal legislator representing Ideato North/South in the House of Representatives.
The crisis stems from the imminent clearance and nomination of a candidate for the position of National Woman Leader, a process the lawmakers have described as ‘hijacking’ by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
At the heart of the controversy is a woman reportedly nominated by the serving APC Governor of Enugu state, Peter Mba, a former PDP member.
The lawmakers claim this candidate is on the verge of being cleared as a consensus candidate for the PDP’s top women’s office, a move they describe as an affront to the party’s integrity.
“The same way they pampered [Nyesom] Wike, dined with him and destroyed opposition solidarity in Nigeria, they seem not to have learnt anything,” the statement read, drawing attention to the internal conflicts that have plagued the party.
The aggrieved legislators are demanding that the party disqualify the governor-nominated candidate and instead field a committed PDP member from Imo State, who was reportedly nominated by party stalwarts from the South-East.
They allege that this was the original agreement before the process was “hijacked” by APC interests.
The statement issued a clear warning: “So if PDP goes ahead to clear the woman tomorrow as requested by APC interests, you will agree that anyone staying behind in PDP is a confused person… This is going to be the painful point. We will part ways.”
The lawmakers’ ultimatum views the said clearance not just as an internal party matter, but as a litmus test for the PDP’s very identity as an opposition force.
“If PDP allows an APC Governor to nominate its National Officer, then it ceases to be an opposition party,” the statement concluded.
