Crisis rocking the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, took a new twist yesterday as a group operating under the auspices of PDP Stakeholders Forum, said the national chairman, Dr. Bamanga Tukur , is not a valid member of the party since he was expel from the party since 2001.
Addressing newsmen on the rift in the party at Agura Hotel, Abuja, the chairman of the forum, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, said Tukur was expelled by the National Executive Committee, NEC, of the party after being indicted for “high level anti-party activities” alongside five others including Chief Edwin Ume Ezeoke on May 31, 2001.
He stressed that “Tukur did not apply for, nor obtain the requisite waiver by the National Executive Committee of the party before offering himself for election into the office of the National chairman of PDP in 2012”.
Ugochinyere noted that since Tukur has not been properly reabsorbed into the party all action he has taken, including presiding over the last weekend special national convention is null and void.
The PDP Stakeholders Forum leader further said they will push for the deregistration of PDP by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for conducting the last convention with a forged constitution.
According to him, PDP leaders doctored the 2012 amended constitution of the party in breach of the provisions of the Electoral Act.
“The proof of these evidences can be seen in the approved memo by the PDP NEC upon which the amendment was done in 2012. The original version of the PDP constitution filed with INEC will as well prove these violations.
By the provisions of Section 78(7)1 of the Electoral Act, INEC was empowered to deregister any political party which breaches any of the requirements for registration as a political party. The
penalty for violation of the provisions of the constitutional requirements for a political party existence is deregistration.
Ugochinyere, who said he is already heading to the court to challenge the validity of the last convention, also accused Tukur of serially violating PDP constitution and usurping the powers of the National Executive Committee.
