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 Daily
Independent Online.
* Thursday, July 15, 2004.
Ake replaces Dikibo as PDP S’South leader
•National Working Committee suspends Abia chairman
By Maxwell Oditta
Snr Correspondent (Lagos)
and Chesa Chesa
National Assembly
Correspondent (Abuja)
The
National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP on
Wednesday in Abuja appointed a replacement for its assassinated National
Vice Chairman (South-South) Aminasoari Dikibo.
In what Daily
Independent confirmed as based on the advice of President Olusegun
Obasanjo, the NWC appointed Mr G. U. Ake, a Special Adviser to Rivers State
Governor Peter Odili who was earlier nominated to the position by PDP
National Secretary Vincent Ogbulafor.
The South South
governors, at their meeting in Uyo last weekend had rejected the
nomination of Ake.
It was learnt that when
Obasanjo was informed about the stalemate in Uyo, he summoned the
National chairman, Chief Audu Ogbeh, to the villa and directed him to go
and swear in Ake as the vice chairnan of the zone.
Ogbeh returned to the
national secretariat and told all the NWC members present that he was
asked to swear in Ake.
The search for Dikibo’s
successor commenced actively three weeks ago, when Ogbulafor wrote a
letter to the Zonal Secretary (South South) of the party, Paul Inyang. In
it, he asked him to consult with all the stakeholders to nominate someone
from Rivers State to succeed the deceased.
The letter, dated June
4, was copied to all South
South governors. They responded by mandating Inyang to reply the letter
by telling him that they would meet in Uyo on July 10 to elect a
successor.
But before the
governors met, Ogbulafor had written another letter to Inyang, saying
that Ake had been nominated for the position and would be sworn-in
Wednesday.
When the governors got
to Uyo, they argued that Ogbulafor has no powers to nominate someone on
their behalf. They could not reach a consensus and matter was stepped
down to be discussed at a later date.
Events took a dramatic
turn late Wednesday when the NWC chose Ake. Ogbeh communicated the
outcome of the meeting to the governors thus:
“We have received your
letter of objection protesting the nomination of G.U Ake from Rivers
State to replace the late A.K Dikibo of the same state as National Vice
Chairman. We have perused all the arguments advanced in the protest
letter and do sincerely appreciate your position.”
But Ogbeh stressed that
there is a precedence in the party where persons from the same state were
appointed to complete the tenure of an occupant of an office who, for
whatever reasons, could not complete his or her term. He cited five
recent examples and pleaded with those against Ake’s nomination to bear
with the party.
“Our appeal to you and
our esteemed governors and party leaders and members in the zone is to
kindly bear with deficiencies you may have noticed in the process, but
allow the nominated candidate from Rivers complete the remaining fifteen
months of Chief Dikibo’s term and then conduct congresses in 2005, when
we shall address any imbalances anywhere”, Ogbeh wrote.
Meanwhile, Abia State
PDP Chairman Osodinma Okpara, has been suspended for alleged
“insubordination and disobedience to the party.”
The decision was
reached at the same meeting in Abuja.
Okpara was also
directed to appear before the PDP national disciplinary committee in
Abuja next Wednesday when further sanction would be considered.
It was learnt that he
got into trouble for not toeing the party line of forestalling
impeachment proceedings against Abia State Deputy Governor Chima Nwafor.
Okpara had been
directed by the party leadership to mediate in the face-off between
Nwafor and the State Assembly but was perceived to have played a partisan
role instead of convincing the legislators against the move.
A source said he was
rather acting the script of Governor Uzor Orji Kalu, who was believed to
be covertly pushing for Nwafor’s impeachment.
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