Nwodo Resigns Position!

After about eight months in office, the embattled national chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Okwesilieze Nwodo, yesterday resigned his position.

His resignation was immediately accepted by the party’s highest organ, National Executive Committee (NEC), which at its emergency meeting referred him to the National Disciplinary Committee of the party for further action.

Mr. Nwodo, who assumed office in June last year, resigned before the meeting, which was attended by President Goodluck Jonathan and his deputy, Namadi Sambo.

In a swift reaction to the news of the resignation of Mr. Nwodo, Atiku Abubakar said he had no hand in the fate of the former party chairman. Mr. Abubakar, former vice president who contested the primaries against Mr. Jonathan last week, said he was a victim of the former party boss’ insincerity, double standard, opportunism, selfishness, and mischief.

Those at the meeting

Others who attended the meeting at which the party chairman’s resignation was accepted included the Senate president, David Mark; his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu; deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Usman Nafada; former chairmen of the party; members of the Board of Trustees (BoT); governors, and members of the National Working Committee (NWC).

Briefing journalists on the resolution of the 56th meeting of NEC, which lasted for less than two hours, the national publicity secretary of the party, Ahmed Rufa’i Alkali, said that the committee received a letter of resignation from Mr. Nwodo, which it debated and accepted.

He also said that the national deputy chairman, Bello Haliru Mohammed, will act as chairman until a substantive chairman is elected.

“NEC also received reports of the unfortunate acts of indiscipline exhibited by the former national chairman at the ground of the just concluded national convention held on 13th of January 2011. NEC referred the matter to the National Disciplinary Committee, which shall handle the issues and give recommendations to NEC for further necessary actions,” Mr. Alkali said.

Asked what offences Mr. Nwodo committed, Mr. Alkali said the former chairman appeared at the national convention of the party in Abuja last Thursday, even though a court in Enugu State had restrained him from parading himself as the party’s chairman.

Flouting party order

“In the matter being referred to the disciplinary committee, you may recall that the day before the national convention most of you came to my office here and you were asking whether there was a court that ordered him not to parade himself as national chairman.. we didn’t see that court injunction but it just appeared that he himself got hold of that order.

“So, whatever the case may be, the party said if there was an order, I don’t think you go and preside over national convention because the party has been consistent and wants to obey court orders.

“I think the issues were built around that. But remember this matter has been referred to the disciplinary committee, so it is not fair for us to sit down now in judgement whether he was right or wrong,” he said.

The PDP spokesman did not state how long Mr. Mohammed will act as the chairman when asked when a substantive chairman would be picked. He, however, said that the Mr. Nwodo’s successor will come from the South East geo-political zone to which the position was zoned, but that if there are changes, it will be communicated to the party members.

Mr. Alkali also said that NEC mandated the NWC to formally endorse and submit the list of successful PDP candidates in the just concluded primaries held nationwide to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The committee, he added, congratulated Messrs Jonathan and Sambo on their victory at the national convention where they emerged as presidential candidate and running mate respectively and urged “all party members to rally round them and deliver victory to our great party in the April general elections.”

Declaring the meeting open earlier, Mr. Mohammed, who presided, thanked NEC members for responding to the emergency meeting, which he said was conceived at the weekend. He also thanked members of the party for a successful conclusion of the primaries, noting that the congresses produced quality people, especially the president.

“We have seen the rise and rise of the fortune of the party under his (president) leadership. His candidature will be very easy to sell.

“The National Working Committee (NWC) has started plans for the campaign to kick off. We have set up a committee to fashion out the structure and scope of the campaign so as to make it a role model. The only agenda for today’s NEC is matter arising from the national convention, that is the action of our past chairman, Dr. Nwodo, and the report from the South East. Thank you,” Mr. Muhammed said.

On his part, Mr. Jonathan thanked the party members for electing him and Mr. Sambo to carry the flag of the party.

“I thank the NWC and all party leaders for a successful conduct of the congresses from the ward to the national level, although there are protests in some cases, but PDP has done well,” the president said.

“People attested to the fact that the PDP congresses are more democratic than those of other parties. I urge the NWC to treat the complaints and do justice so that no party member will be short-changed. On the one agenda of the meeting, I reserve my comment,” Mr. Jonathan said.

A source at the meeting said though Mr. Nwodo had sent his resignation letter to NEC, Mr. Mohammed presented a memorandum requesting that his matter be referred to the disciplinary committee for further action.

The meeting was said to have adopted the memorandum after exhaustive debate. During the debate, some members of NEC called for the outright expulsion of the former national chairman, while many others asked that his case be referred to the disciplinary committee.

Stewing in his juice

Mr. Abubakar’s campaign organisation, in a statement couched in innuendos, said he could not have been responsible for Mr. Nwodo’s downfall.

“The erstwhile chairman delivered the convention to the president but they still went on baying for his blood. That tells you there was more to it than the eye could see. Someone wants blood and you give him palm oil. Does that satisfy him?” The organisation said.

Mr. Abubakar recalled that a few weeks to the PDP convention, Mr. Nwodo did everything to frustrate his presidential ambition by making impossible a meeting intended to discuss the modalities of how the event would go. He alleged that the former chairman did not agree to meet or even answer phone calls for over two months.

The former vice president said Mr. Nwodo frustrated every meeting his campaign organisation had requested to discuss serious issues that border on free and fair primaries, especially the need to create a level-playing ground in which no delegate would feel constrained or intimidated to choose their preferred candidate.

He further noted that the former national chairman had crises across the country in many chapters of the party, including his home state, Enugu, where he and the governor, Sullivan Chime, were engaged in a bitter battle for supremacy.

“It is clear that the former chairman had enough home troubles to contend with,” he pointed out.

On his return to the party and the waiver granted him to run for the party’s ticket, Mr. Abubakar said the former chairman and members of the National Working Committee (NWC) “were confronted with a fait accompli since the former vice president was among those re-integrated by the Dr. Alex Ekwueme Committee set up to reconcile the party.”

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