Posted by 
The G-60 federal lawmakers in the House of Representatives have declared that there was no congress of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State last weekend, stressing that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, merely held a party with his friends.
The G-60 lawmakers in a statement by its spokesperson, Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere (PDP, Imo), pointedly said Wike merely held a party with his friends, under the guise of a party congress.
The PDP state congresses took place penultimate Saturday but were marred by complaints from several states, including Rivers, Benue, Katsina, and Kogi.
Significantly, the congress in Rivers State took place despite a subsisting court order stopping the process.
The development led to a major dispute between the National Working Committee (NWC) that gave the go-ahead for the congress and the PDP Governors’ Forum, which insisted that Governor Siminalayi Fubara must be accorded his right as the leader of the party in the state.
However, the former governor of Rivers State, Wike, and his faction of the PDP in the state are also claiming control of the structures of the party after the congress that was boycotted by Governor Fubara and his supporters.
Following the confusion, the PDP NWC that was to meet on Wednesday, shifted the meeting to next week, assuring that the process would be subjected to a review by the party’s organs.
The G-60 federal lawmakers in a statement on Saturday by Ugochinyere, described the purported congress held by the Wike-led faction as laughable and a jamboree.
It specifically said that the purported congress was a nullity and an exercise in futility as there was still an existing valid order against any conduct of congress in Rivers, stressing that because of the order, the purported congress would be set aside “as you can’t put something on nothing.”
Ugochinyere pointedly said that no PDP congress was held in Rivers State, rather Wike out of desperation to look good before his dwindling followers who were losing confidence in him held an ‘owambe’ party and called it state congress.
The G-60 federal lawmakers noted that there was an interim order of the court stopping PDP from holding congresses in the state, adding that taking a cue from there, it was clear that what Wike conducted for him and his friends was an exercise in futility.
The G-60 lawmakers further said: “Take it from me; there is no PDP state Congress yet in Rivers state. Wike, out of desperation to look good before his dwindling followers, who were losing confidence in him, held an owambe party and called it state congress.
“Recall that in July, a State High Court, held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State and presided over by Justice Charles Wali had issued an interim order stopping the PDP from holding congresses in the state.
“The court decision was clear and the congress was stopped from holding so if people out of desperation gather to hold a family or kindred meeting from their hideout under the guise of congress, you can only but pity and laugh at their political frolicking caused by joblessness and desperate quest for power.
“Defying the court orders, some members of PDP hobnobbing with the APC reportedly attempted to pass off some family gatherings of their faction as PDP congress,” he said.
Chuks Okocha
– Arise News.
