Your Sack Order Illegal – Ekiti PDP Chair Dares NWC
BY SEGUN ADEBAYO – Embattled acting chairman of the dissolved State Executive Committee (SEC) of the People Democratic Party (PDP), Ekiti State chapter, Lanre Omolase says the Party’s National Working Committee (NWC) does not have the powers to sack party executives duly elected by delegates at the Congress.
Kicking against the NWC’s recent announcement sacking the state executives, Omolase maintained that he remains the State party as the purported dissolution was misleading and should be disregarded by all well-meaning PDP members in Ekiti State.
A statement in Ado-Ekiti on Sunday quoted Omolase as declaring that the Caretaker Committee set up to handle the Party’s affairs in the State was not only illegal but also premature.
He insisted that it was unsavoury and contemptuous for the NWC to take action on subsisting order of the court, describing the dissolution as a complete nullity and exercise in futility, adding that court had ruled that status quo should remain on the chairmanship position until final determination of a suit before it.
The statement said; “I want to say, proclaim and declare that I am still the Acting Chairman of the PDP in Ekiti and only the court of law can say otherwise. My position as the Acting Chairman is as dictated by a court of competent jurisdiction, and the court order is still subsisting.
“Apart from the fact there is a subsisting court order backing my position, the National Working Committee does not also have powers to sack duly elected Exco members of the party at whatever level.
“Also, I condemn the purported suspension of the National Assembly candidates of the party and wish to state that there was nowhere the candidates were invited to defend themselves as well as dictated by the principle of fair hearing.”
Omolase, who offered insight into the crisis currently rocking the State chapter, said; “Our complaint was about composition of the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) in which members of Social Democratic Party (SDP) were accorded vantage positions.
“Our position was that SDP has National Assembly candidates whose elections would be held same day as that of the President, and SDP is only interested in funding its candidates with resources from PDP. Letters were written, even to the Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, but nothing was done.
“For the campaign rally, only two out of nine National Assembly candidates were involved. Even my humble self, as the Acting Chairman was totally ignored.
“It therefore appears laughable to me that a National Working Committee that did not visit Ekiti state during the last governorship election is now angry that we did not attend a presidential rally that we were never involved in its planning.”
Recalled that the PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba had on Friday issued a statement announcing the NWC’s decision to dissolve the State Executive committee.
To replace the sacked executives, the NWC constituted a Caretaker Committee, led by Arch. Sodiq Obanoyen, to run the Chapter’s affairs for a period of three months in the first instance.
