A member of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, has asked the Chairman of the party’s Caretaker Committee, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, and all the members of the committee to resign from office immediately.
Babatope, who is also a former Minister of Aviation, said there was no doubt that Makarfi and the members of the PDP Caretaker Committee had been compromised.
A statement issued and signed by Babatope on Friday faulted an earlier statement by a former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Abdullahi Jalo, who was described as Makarfi’s ally.
Babatope’s statement read in part, “The statement issued today by Abdullahi Jalo, a former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, and a well-known ally of Alhaji Ahmed Makarfi, confirming the presidential ambition of the PDP Caretaker Chairman has basically reinforced the fears that Makarfi is not a neutral arbiter in the processes that will midwife a new leadership for our party.”
Babatope alleged that the game plan of Makarfi was to hand over the administration of the party to the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, through a former Acting Chairman of the PDP National Working Committee, Prince Uche Secondus.
He said, “In this grand scheme to compromise the national convention, Secondus and Wike will equally do a payback by rigging the presidential primary to favour Makarfi.
“This is indeed a road to perdition and the ultimate destruction of the PDP. Any attempt to distort the process and force upon us a discredited and dubious leadership will provoke mass defection of Yoruba people from the PDP. We will never play second fiddle to anyone.
“The Yoruba will never accept any attempt to insult our people and denigrate our collective intelligence. The only way out now is for Makarfi and his entire Caretaker Committee members to resign immediately. They cannot be trusted. Once the head is rotten, the whole body is subsequently vitiated, corrupted and dishonoured.
“We are absolutely clear in our demand. We are absolutely resolved in our position. We will not stand idle and fold our hands while all kinds of machinations are being hatched to destroy the collective interest of the Yoruba people. We insist on micro-zoning. We demand that Makarfi and his co-conspirators should resign immediately while a new, neutral arbitrating leadership is appointed.”
He also called for the postponement of the convention for at least one month to ensure transparency and fairness.
Source: ( Punch Newspaper)
