According to the party chieftains who spoke to newsmen, the postponement of the NEC meeting from the earlier date of September 26 to October 24 is a deliberate move to undermine the party’s engagement on crucial issues.
The PDP 99th NEC meeting, initially scheduled for August 15 to discuss issues such as the replacement of the PDP acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, was first postponed to September 26 due to members travelling to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage.
The party’s leadership, in a document, explained that the postponement became inevitable due to unresolved congresses in eight states. But the chieftains who spoke to our correspondent dismissed the reason adduced for the NEC meeting postponement.
In a document dated September 16, the PDP National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, explained that the NEC meeting was moved to October 24 to ensure that the congress reports from eight states were complete and could be presented to the NEC as required. The PDP National Secretary stated that the party would hold congresses in Abia and Ebonyi on a date yet to be announced, while ongoing congresses were taking place in Benue, Ekiti, Kano, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, and Sokoto.
PDP Deputy National Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor, similarly expressed his opposition to the postponement. In an interview with journalists , Osadolor acknowledged that while the reasons for the delay were legitimate, he believed it was intentionally done to frustrate members.