By Chioma Gabriel

Pioneer Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Roland Owie, has described the latest National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, as a national embarrassment and a decisive indictment of a party that has completely lost its way.

In a release yesterday, Owie said what transpired at the NEC meeting was not the deliberation of a serious opposition but a sham gathering of enablers, political relics, and morally bankrupt operators desperate to hold onto the crumbling remnants of a failed establishment.

He said: “The PDP’s national leadership has disgraced itself beyond redemption. The acting National Chairman, rather than offering direction or principle, continues to function as a caretaker of the weak and compromised, and wholly incapable of restoring the party’s integrity. Under his watch, the PDP has drifted further into irrelevance, serving as a convenient playground for discredited power brokers who have long outlived their usefulness.

“The National Working Committee (NWC), has become nothing more than a rubber stamp for elite interests. It is paralyzed by factionalism, devoid of strategic vision, and complicit in the party’s decay. These are not party stewards, they are political undertakers overseeing the slow burial of what was once a national movement.

“Equally complicit is the so-called Reconciliation Committee, which has proven utterly ineffective in addressing the PDP’s deep-seated fractures. Their efforts are cosmetic at best: public relations stunts that paper over rot, rather than confront it. Instead of healing wounds, they have legitimised dysfunction and institutionalised failure.”

Owie equally took a swipe at the Board of Trustees (BoT), saying the BoT has now become a collection of docile bystanders who are more interested in preserving influence than upholding principle, describing their silence in the face of blatant mismanagement and moral collapse as both damning and inexcusable.

“Together, this leadership structure has failed the Nigerian people. Not just by losing elections, but by abandoning the very essence of opposition: accountability, discipline, and the courage to speak truth to power. The PDP is no longer an opposition part; it is a political carcass feeding off its past relevance.”

“The notion that this party can be salvaged is no longer tenable. No serious reform can emerge from a foundation so thoroughly compromised. The PDP is not just fractured; it is finished.

“We therefore declare, with absolute clarity and without reservation: that the PDP has no future. It cannot be trusted with the hopes of Nigerians, nor should it be considered a viable platform for national renewal.

“The time for illusions is over. The path forward lies in a new coalition—built not on recycled failures but on integrity, competence, and national vision. This is the imperative of our time.

“We close the chapter on PDP. On coalition, we stand.”

We are laying foundations for Enugu’s prosperity —Mbah

Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State, Dr. , yesterday, said  his administration is laying the foundations for the state’s prosperity and future.

Mbah stated this while addressing a mammoth crowd that gathered at Okpara Square, Enugu, to felicitate him on his second anniversary in office .

“In just two years, we have begun to rewire the foundation of Enugu State for future promise. We have constructed over 800 kilometers of roads, opening access to farms, markets, industry, schools, and hospitals.

“To date, we have delivered five ultra-modern terminals across the state: Holy Ghost Terminal 1 for interstate travel with a skybridge to Terminal 2; Holy Ghost Terminal 2 for intra-city transport; Gariki Terminal; Abakpa Terminal; and Nsukka Terminal – all ready to be commissioned.

“We have allocated 33 percent of our budget to education alone, surpassing even global benchmarks, because we believe that our future is forged in classrooms. Soon, we will begin the rollout of 260 Smart Green Schools, equipped with digital whiteboards, science labs, and solar-powered experiential learning spaces.

“Alongside this, we are building 260 fully equipped Primary Healthcare Centres across every ward, each designed with staff quarters, solar panels, and clean water. No mother in Enugu should ever again fear childbirth due to distance or neglect,”he said.

Governor Mbah noted that security remained the foundation of all progress, and said his government had “launched a state-of-the-art Command and Control Centre, deploying 150 AI-enabled security patrol vehicles, and witnessed the decline in violent crime, making it possible again for citizens to travel, trade, and sleep in peace.”

On the side of the economy, he said, “We’ve increased our internally generated revenue (IGR) by over 600 percent, revived moribund assets, launched investment drives, and improved our ease of doing business while laying the groundwork for agro-industrial systems that will feed, employ, and empower our people. 

“We have equally created 300,000 hectares of Landbank to be leased to large-scale commercial farmers, while establishing 200 hectares of Farm Estate in all the 260 wards in the state to scale up agricultural production across the value chain, both for export and the local market.

“We didn’t stop there. We completed the Enugu International Conference Centre, giving our state a place on the global stage. We launched Enugu Air, a bold venture that will transform Enugu into a globally connected economic powerhouse.

“We have conceived a radical overhaul of our transport system, procuring 200 CNG buses and 2,000 city taxis. Our ticketing technology will significantly reduce transport costs for families,” he added.

He also highlighted the state’s investments in tourism, among others, noting however, that all those were “just the beginning of the story,” given his plans for the state.

Speaking, a former governor of old Anambra State, Senator Jim Nwobodo, said Mbah had done well in building and transforming the state.

gWhat I can tell you today is that no other state has done what Enugu has done. For me, you are going to continue to be our governor. Everyone knows you are doing well, h he stated.

Also speaking, business mogul, Engr. Arthur Eze, described Mbah as God fs gift to Igbo land and Nigeria, saying no one could stop his re-election.

gGod is a wonderful God. He brought your son, Peter Mbah to change Igbo land. When I came into the city, from the Airport to the city, I noticed he had changed the whole Enugu, h Eze said.

The Speaker, of Enugu State House of Assembly, Hon. Uchenna Ugwu, and Hon. Nnoli Nnaji of the House of Representatives, pledged their continued cooperation with the governor.

Speaking on behalf of returnees to the Peoples Democratic Party, former governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Hon. Chijioke Edeoga, and LP chieftains, vowed to work for the success of the Mbah administration.

“Our crossroads is not just national – it is generational. And every compromise made today will echo through a tomorrow that might never come”.

“Let the youth rise – not as tools, but as architects. Not as hashtags, but as harvesters of a new dawn”, he maintained.