By Correspondent in Abuja.
The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum, Gov. Bala Mohammed, has vowed that the party’s leadership remains resolute in defending Nigeria’s democracy, even if it means sacrificing their lives.
Mohammed made the declaration while addressing newsmen on Tuesday during a violent clash between two rival factions of the PDP at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.
“We are not here to cause trouble. This is our place, but some imposters who were expelled by the convention, our party’s highest decision-making body, have shown up to create chaos,” he said.
Expressing disappointment at the role of security agencies, Mohammed alleged partiality after seeing the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) arrive at the scene backed by police personnel.
“At the point when we entered, our chairman commended the police for being impartial. But now, we are under threat. We are not leaving this place. Even if they will kill us, we are not going anywhere,” he declared.
The Bauchi governor accused internal saboteurs of attempting to destroy the PDP from within. He insisted that all party legal provisions have been invoked to expel such elements.
“We have been molested, despite enjoying immunity as leaders. We are not here to fight anyone. Yes, we are in the opposition, but we deserve to survive,” he added.
Also speaking, the newly installed PDP National Chairman, Taminu Turaki, expressed readiness to defend the party’s mandate “with our lives if need be.”
“We are willing to lay down our lives to protect our office, our democracy, and our mandate,” Turaki said.
Turaki disclosed that he and his team had earlier informed the FCT Commissioner of Police of their National Working Committee (NWC) meeting, only to discover that another faction had scheduled a rival meeting at the same venue.
He expressed shock that the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, who he claimed was expelled from the party, was granted access to the secretariat.
Before tensions escalated, suspended National Secretary, Sen. Samuel Anyanwu, insisted that he remained the legitimate signatory for communicating with INEC and dismissed claims of a valid national convention in Ibadan.
“There was no convention anywhere. Every legitimate convention must be supervised by INEC. That never happened,” he said.
Anyanwu maintained that any attempt to expel him and other leaders was invalid, adding that over two-thirds of state delegates did not attend the purported convention.
As at the time of filing this report, both factions remained at the secretariat as security operatives continued to fire teargas to disperse the crowd.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
