Jonathan wades into PDP’s NWC crisis, meets with members

By The Citizen

President Goodluck Jonathan Wednesday waded into the lingering crisis besetting the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He summoned a meeting with the NWC, with all members in attendance at the presidential villa.

At the end of the meeting which took place in House 7 in the Presidential Villa, Alhaji Tukur told State House correspondents that the NWC members have resolved their differences, describing the members as the “first family of the PDP.

According to him, “like any other family, you may have some disagreements but based on principle, not any other thing. You resolve it. And we have resolved our differences. Some differences, it is good to bring them to light, examine them and find out why you have the disagreement and you go back and do what you believe is right.”

Responding to questions on his allegation of betrayal of trust over the meeting of 10 NWC members who excluded him, Tukur  noted that the situation has been resolved adding, “first of all, there may be some misunderstanding and people keep things when they don’t go through them. That is why we are here.”

However, when pressed to disclose the status of Adamawa exco and the congresses, he declined, noting that the NWC would address the issue at the appropriate time.

The crisis  within the national leadership of the party had  culminated in the convening of its NWC meeting on Tuesday by 10 members of the committee who excluded the National Chairman over his stance on the sacking of party’s executive council of his home state, Adamawa, and its recently conducted congresses.

Following the sacking of the council in October last year, Governor Murtala Nyako and other PDP governors had appealed to the NWC to reconsider its stance but the National Chairman of the party failed to yield grounds.

But the 10 members of the NWC had in last Tuesday’s meeting annulled the congresses conducted in Adamawa State by the Caretaker Committee that had been set up by the national leadership of the party and reinstated the executive council loyal to Governor Nyako.

This development led Alhaji Tukur to describe it as a betrayal of trust on the part of his colleagues in the NWC.

Consequently, the NWC was unable to have its scheduled regular meeting on Wednesday at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja especially because of the refusal of the 10 members to have anything to do with the party boss.

This was said to have prompted the intervention of the President who summoned the feuding national officers to a crisis meeting on Wednesday.