The Abubakar Kawu Baraje-led New Peoples Democratic Party, nPDP, has accused the Alhaji Bamanga Tukur-led National Working Committee, NWC, of the mainstream PDP of working at cross-purposes with President Goodluck Jonathan, who is working towards resolving the crises rocking the ruling party.
The Baraje-faction also described the National Publicity Secretary of the Tukur-led PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, as being “mentally sick” for accusing members of the New PDP of suffering from institutional memory loss.
In a statement by its spokesperson, Chukwuemeka Eze on Sunday in Abuja, the New PDP said it was amused by the news of the setting up of the Umaru Dikko disciplinary committee by Mr. Tukur, as the decision would only continue the “witch-hunting” of what it termed the “progressive PDP members”, adding that the move was a further pointer to the fact that “Tukur and his illegal National Working Committee, NWC, are indeed not ready for peace”.
It continued that “By reviving the so called disciplinary committee at a time when the Party Leader, President Goodluck Jonathan, is busy holding peace meetings with the Baraje-led PDP shows that he is working at cross purposes with Mr. President. To call a spade a spade, it is tantamount to anti-party activities and exposes, exposes Tukur’s hypocrisy and vindicates our stand that he is an obstacle to peace in our great party.
“If indeed a disciplinary committee has been set up by Tukur, we make bold to say that he should be the first with his illegal NWC members to appear before it for usurping the office of the National Chairman of our party even when he is not legally a member of the party as he did not revalidate his membership of the party during the 2011 revalidation exercise’, the statement said.
On Metuh, the New PDP said he has “succeeded in exposing his ignorance about the party he assumes to be speaking for.
“For him to refer to the Baraje-led PDP as people, who suffer from institutional memory loss indicates that he needs to visit a mental health specialist for proper evaluation. How can any sound member of PDP describe a party that still has Atiku Abubakar, the former Vice President of the Federal Republic, as a member as not knowing the history and records of the party?”
The faction said Mr. Metuh needed to be reminded that “Atiku Abubakar apart from being a principal member of the PDP, also recruited both Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, Alh. Gambo Jimeta, Senator Silas Zwingina and Chief Joel Madaki among others to the party in 1998, through Chief Nat Yaduma.
“Maybe Metuh may not even know that it was Atiku Abubakar that rented and paid for the present National Secretariat of PDP for three years and paid the working staff salaries for three years. Most of the times those of us who labored and established PDP to its present level laugh when some on lookers like Metuh want to tell us about the history of PDP which was formed when most of them never contemplated joining politics talk less of joining PDP”, the statement said.
