The camp of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike has rejected the South-South Zonal Caretaker Committee announced by the National Working Committee (NWC).
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Vice Chairman for the South-South, Dan Orbih, during an interview with Punch rejected the actions taken by the Umar Damagum-led NWC.
The Damagum-led NWC appointed Emma Ogidi as the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee on March 7 and, on March 9, the party fixed April 12 as the new date for the South-South zonal congress.
The NEC was originally fixed for March 13, after several postponements since the last NEC was held in April 2024. It is now rescheduled for May 15.
The Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt, on February 21, 2025, issued a restraining order preventing the PDP and the National Vice Chairman for South-South, Orbih, from holding the zonal congress on February 22, 2025.
Despite the court’s ruling, the party went ahead with the congress on February 22.
Wike, who supported and attended the congress in Calabar, Cross River State, described the South-South as the PDP’s strongest base, asserting that no further congress would be held in the region.
He maintained that the zonal congress was legally conducted and that Orbih remained the National Vice Chairman.
However, Damagum-led NWC ignored Wike’s position and appointed Ogidi as the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee.
Speaking to the aforementioned publication, Orbih said, “Nobody has communicated that caretaker thing to me. I think there is a chap called Debo Ologunagba who is now entertaining himself, issuing statements and claiming to be issuing them on behalf of the NWC. I can tell you with all certainty that there was no meeting of the NWC where such a conclusion was reached.
“Ologunagba is doing this to avoid embarrassment for the party. He’s beginning to embarrass the entire PDP leadership. That statement about the caretaker committee should not be given any attention. It should be ignored by the good people of the South-South
“I know some of Ologunagba’s challenges, but my advice to him is not to use personal challenges to continue to embarrass the party.”
He asked party leaders in the zone and those named as caretaker committee members to disregard the statement signed by Ologunagba.
“Those whose names were listed are party members and they come from my zone. They should read the Constitution very clearly and not allow themselves to be used. So, the South-South leaders should disregard the Ologunagba statement, which was not signed.
“They should be guided by the constitution; their allegiance is to the constitution of the party and not Ologunagba’s press release. Those pronouncements are in conflict with the provisions of the constitution, so they should be disregarded,” he added.
