PDP To Weed Out 'Untouchable' Members
FROM JOHN-ABBA OGBODO, ABUJA
A restructuring exercise that may check the excesses of some members described, as "untouchables" is imminent in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The party's National Chairman, Chief Audu Ogbeh, who is championing the reforms, is not happy with the level of indiscipline, especially among influential members of the party.
Consequently, Ogbeh, in Abuja yesterday, raised a 36-man committee headed by a member of the PDP Board of Trustees (BOT), Alhaji Iro DanMusa, to work out modalities to entrench discipline in the party, empower the wards and tighten the noose on all aspirants for future elections.
Although the re-engineering of the party is not to witch-hunt members, those who, after the reforms fail to conform to the party's rules, may be flushed out because "it won't be business as usual again," Ogbeh said.
The PDP boss regretted that some untouchable persons were within the party.
He said: "We are currently bedeviled by acts of near-lawlessness and, what is worse, a certain protectionist inclination by some party leaders
"This seems to suggest that there are some untouchables within our ranks. There is no way a political party, indeed any organization, can function and survive under such conditions," Ogbeh remarked.
He charged the panel to purge the PDP of the ills that characterise its nomination process; recommend parameters for special congress for the offices of council chairmen, state and federal legislatures, governorship and the presidency.
Ogbeh also asked the committee to look into the controversial issue of delegates to conventions, which, he said, had "generated great debate and even litigation."
The chairman equally directed the panel to examine the influence of money and corrupt practices in the selection processes at all levels. He emphasised that in the present dispensation, it would be difficult for good but poor aspirants to have a chance.
Ogbeh said highly placed party officials had not helped matters either as some of them often say, 'How can I be here and I can't decide my local government chairmen or councillors'.
He then asked a rhetorical question: "Is this a kind of freedom"
The chairman further identified imposition of candidates as another problem of the party. He noted that such acts damage the fundamental spirit of democracy and the dignity of the electorate.
Ogbeh, therefore, suggested lengthier and a thorough screening of all aspirants on the PDP platform for future polls.
He called for power devolution so that the party could be much more effective at the ward level.
In the area of campaigns, Ogbeh charged the committee to work out a timetable for the exercise to avoid the present trend where campaigns begin immediately after inauguration. The focus of the campaign, he added, should be on issues and not personalities.
One of the panel's terms of reference, according to Ogbeh, is the establishment of a code of conduct committee for the party so that it could enforce discipline among members.
The committee is also mandated to evolve ways by which the party could enforce its manifesto and ideology through its elected officers.
In undertaking the task, Ogbeh mandated the committee to make recommendations regarding any part of the party's constitution that was deemed necessary for amendment. He asked members to explore ways of making the PDP much more acceptable and improve its image.
The committee will also liaise with other political parties within and outside the country to improve on inter-party relations.
In his response, DanMusa assured that the committee would do a thorough job.
He, however, remarked that the six weeks given for the assignment might not be enough.
Members of the committee are drawn from the National Working Committee (NWC), BOT, federal and state legislatures, governors, the presidency, council chairmen, women, youth and ex-officio members of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the party.
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