PDP Crisis Deepens as Court Bars NWC from Tampering with Pro-Wike Caretaker List

The internal turmoil within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has escalated as a Federal High Court in Abuja has issued an ex-parte order, prohibiting the National Working Committee (NWC) from taking further action on the controversial Rivers State Caretaker Committee list.

This development follows an emergency meeting of the NWC, which was prompted by a brewing crisis over the composition of the Rivers State Caretaker Committee. The turmoil reached a boiling point ahead of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, with discord surfacing during a pre-caucus meeting at the Bauchi State Governors Lodge in Asokoro.

During the emergency NWC meeting on Tuesday, the party’s spokesperson, Debo Ologunagba, addressed reporters, stating that a political solution was being pursued to address the crisis. According to Ologunagba, the PDP Governors’ Forum directed the NWC to revisit the issue of the Rivers State Caretaker Committee list in light of the ongoing court order.

“The issue of Rivers State Caretaker Committee list was raised at the meeting of PDP Governors and the PDP National Working Committee (NWC),” Ologunagba said, “and it was resolved that a political solution should be applied to resolve all the issues.” He added that the NWC would work with the PDP Governors’ Forum to find a political resolution.

Earlier, Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara had expressed his displeasure with the caretaker committee list, claiming that new names had been introduced without prior agreement between the governors and the NWC. Fubara’s supporters had urged him to reject the list, which they perceived as being dominated by loyalists of Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike.

Despite the court order restraining the NWC from further action, Ologunagba stated that the Rivers State Caretaker Committee list, as published, stands in compliance with the court’s ruling. However, he emphasized that the party was committed to finding a political solution through consultation with the PDP Governors’ Forum and other party organs.

“The NWC, therefore, resolved to, in conjunction with the PDP Governors’ Forum, intensify action in the continuing consultation to resolving the issues of the Rivers State PDP chapter amicably,” he concluded.