Baraje faction pledges never to go back to PDP

Governors to meet with President Jonathan on Sunday
The Abubakar Baraje led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, popularly known as the New PDP or nPDP, has stated that its decision to leave the PDP is for good.
The faction announced a merger with the All Progressives Congress, APC, on Tuesday. The spokesperson of the faction, Chukwuemeka Eze, in a statement on Friday in Abuja, blamed President Goodluck Jonathan and the National Chairman of the PDP, Bamanga Tukur, for forcing the faction to go ahead with the merger.
“We have bidded the sinking ship called PDP bye and there is no going back. We wish to thank President Goodluck Jonathan and Alhaji Bamanga Tukur for ensuring the death of PDP as prayed for by the good people of our country.”
Mr. Eze said that the recent crisis in the PDP was a divine answer to the cries of Nigerians who have suffered untold hardship under the present leadership of the party.
“History will record it that it was under their watch that a ruling party changed roles and became an opposition political party,” he said “Their eyes will clear when a rejuvenated APC dislodges the torn umbrella from the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in 2015.”
Decision to sack Baraje, Oyinlola of no effect
Mr. Eze also said the faction was amused at the disciplinary committee of the PDP’s recommendation of the expulsion of the party’s National Secretary, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, along with Mr. Baraje, and Sam Jaja, for alleged anti-party activities.
“As we have repeatedly pointed out, the work of the committee is null and void and of no effect whatsoever since the committee was illegally set up and its chairman, Dr. Umaru Dikko, is not a member of PDP,” Mr. Eze said.
He said suspending Mr. Oyinlola was tantamount to a declaration of war against the judiciary by the leadership of the PDP.
According to him, Mr. Oyinlola was not given a fair hearing. He noted that Mr. Oyinlola had also publicly announced that he remained a PDP member and holds the office of the National Secretary of the party in keeping with the Appeal Court’s verdict.
Mr. Eze urged the court to reject what he called an affront on it and redeem itself by re-establishing its judgement in the Oyinlola case and ensuring its execution. He also called on the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, to immediately arrest Mr. Tukur and members of his NWC for debasing the judiciary.
“The purported expulsion of Baraje and Jaja is laughable as it is coming after they have already publicly dumped the undemocratic PDP for the All Progressives Congress (APC), with whom the nPDP has merged since Tuesday morning,” he said.
Anambra poll: Jega must resign
Mr. Eze also took a swipe at the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Attahiru Jega, over his poor handling of the Anambra election.
He said the obvious failure of INEC during the November 16 Anambra State gubernatorial election proved that Mr. Jega was no longer capable of conducting any creditable election in Nigeria and should honourably resign.
“Though we are aware that he is on a mission to continue to execute the plots and plans of those that appointed him – but, sadly for him, his evil plot has been exposed and he should therefore resign honourably as he has become a threat to our nascent democracy by his inability to manage the INEC,” Mr. Eze said.
Nwoye should withdraw from supplementary poll
Mr. Eze also called on the PDP candidate in Anambra, Tony Nwoye, not to run in the supplementary election scheduled to hold Saturday, calling it a charade that is alien to Nigeria’s democratic set up.He said Mr. Nwoye had already allowed himself be used by Messrs. Tukur and Jonathan and alleged that the duo had traded off Mr. Nwoye’s mandate because of the President’s 2015 dream.
“The result would obviously have been different if the PDP National Leadership under Alhaji Bamanga Tukur had not sabotaged the party’s chances in the election, thus robbing our former great party of a golden opportunity to reclaim a state where it produced the governor until a fumbling PDP leadership cost us the state in 2003,” he said.
Mr. Eze claimed that days before the election, Mr. Tukur had told the world that the PDP was not going to win the election. He alleged that the PDP Chairman thus used his trip to Anambra State – purportedly to campaign for the PDP candidate – to declare Mr. Nwoye a loser even before the ballots were cast.
“By so doing, he left no one in doubt that his mounting the soapbox to campaign for Nwoye was just a ruse while President Jonathan refused to raise the hand of Comrade Nwoye during the rally at Anambra,” he said.
Mr. Eze said when the election eventually took place, the PDP candidate discovered that the plan to make him a loser was hatched by his own party.
“Even though his name and those of his family and parents were missing from the Voters’ Register, the National Leadership of his party adjudged the election as credible,” Mr. Eze said.
He said the fact that more people were disenfranchised than those allowed to vote did not appear wrong to the current overseers of the PDP at Wadata Plaza.
“Never in the history of politics and democracy has a political party disowned its candidate and stood by a rival candidate without any justification except in the case of the current factional National leadership of the PDP,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Governors who are members of the nPDP, are scheduled to meet with President Jonathan on Sunday. There are reports that the president would use the opportunity of the meeting to ask the governors to reconsider their decision to pitch tent with the APC.

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