A former Speaker of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Muhammadu Onawo, has accused the National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Uche Secondus, of fuelling the crisis rocking the state chapter of the party.
Speaking in an interview with DAILY NIGERIAN at the weekend, Mr Onawo lamented the PDP national secretariat has turned deaf ears to several petitions and complaints of irregularities during the party’s congress in the state.
According to him, his faction boycotted the party’s rescheduled state congress held previously over alleged violation of court order.
While disclosing that his group had been in court to seek redress, Mr Onawo explained that the court acknowledged their grievances and ordered for congress in areas not concluded yet.
He, however, said the national secretariat went ahead and conducted the state congresses without recourse to the court order.
He lamented that the present leadership of the PDP under Mr Secondus has mortgaged the interest of the party and that the leadership has no plans for the 2023 elections.
He added that the integrity of the party is in disrepute, “because of the level of injustice and impunity in the party”.
Mr Onawo claimed that 23 state chapters of the party in the country are presently in a crisis allegedly due to discrimination and prejudice of the Secondus-led leadership.
He said: “We have written several petitions to the national headquarters, went there severally but the party is still adamant and indifferent to our complaint.
“We won’t be part of those that will go against the constitution of the party.”
Mr Onawo, who was the party’s deputy governorship candidate in the 2019 general elections in the state, claimed that it was just by sheer miracle that the party won Edo State election.
This, he said, was because the leadership had mortgaged the party for ulterior motives.
He particularly accused the North Central Vice chairman of the party, Theophilus Dakas, for the crisis in the region.
“We will, however, meet and take a decision very soon, but we are still loyal members of the party,” he said.
