By Henry Umoru
ABUJA—THE leadership of Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday, again put off its National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting slated for Thursday. This time, the postponement was for an indefinite period.

A statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the Party, Professor Rufai Alkali, said: “The meeting of the

National Executive Committee, NEC, of the PDP earlier scheduled for Thursday, 10 June, has been postponed. A new date shall be announced in due course.

“The PDP regrets all inconveniencies caused by this postponement and looks forward to receiving all NEC members when a new date is announced.”

Though the party did not give any reason for the cancellation of the meeting where the name of former Secretary of PDP, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, would have been ratified, Vanguard gathered that there were some irreconciliable differences on the choice of Nwodo at the national caucus meeting which was held Sunday night through the early hours of yesterday. It was learnt that the coast was not yet cleared for Nwodo as the National Chairman of the party.

Wider consultation

A source said the postponement would give party members, especially stakeholders from the South East, opportunity to carry out wider consultations on who would succeed Prince Vincent Ogbulafor who resigned recently as Chairman of the party.

Vanguard also learnt that President Goodluck Jonathan had warned members of the PDP Reform Forum to follow due process as they made case for the amendment of the party’s constitution and as the PDP prepared to amend its constitution.

Facts emerged after the caucus meeting of the party that the postponement of NEC became imperative following requests by former National Chairman of the party, Dr. Ahmadu Ali and a member of the Board of Trustees, BoT, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu that the party should not be in a hurry to replace Ogbulafor if wider consultations were not made.

It was also learnt that they warned that the party must look before it jumped into adopting Nwodo as the party’s sixth chairman.

The source said Ali had noted that Nwodo only returned to the party on June 14, 2009 and was, therefore, not eligible to contest.

Ali was said to have stressed that Nwodo left PDP and contested against it in the 2003 senatorial election on the platform of the Action Congress, AC, and the Mega Party before returning to PDP, adding that adopting him as National Chairman would amount to rewarding him for dumping the party.

It was also gathered that the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, SAN, during the debate drew the attention of the  members of the National Caucus to the fact that Nwodo was yet to meet the PDP constitutional provision of Section 16.4

The source quoted Adoke as saying: “No member of the party shall be qualified for nomination or election or appointment into any of the office of the party, unless he or she has been a registered member for at least 18 months and is of good financial standing on the party, except there is waiver by the appropriate executive committee.”

The minister was said to have advised the party that it should ensure that appropriate waivers were carried out before the final choice of Nwodo, just as he cautioned the party that someone might drag the party to court after the exercise to get an injunction stopping the party from parading Nwodo as the party’s National Chairman or parading himself as such.

Vanguard was told that this might explain why the party cancelled the NEC meeting at least with no date yet to ensure that the waiver was secured, especially by Nwodo’s home State, Enugu, to the Zonal South East of the party and thereafter to the National Working Committee, NWC to NEC.

According to sources at the National caucus of the party, President Jonathan who warned against members of the party dropping his name in the unfolding political scenario, was said to have explained at the meeting that he only directed Vice-President Namadi Sambo to broker peace between the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party and the PDP Reform forum members because of the urgent need for peace and unity in the party.