PDP to punish Wike, Ortom, others for anti-party activities, inaugurates disciplinary committee

The officials of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may have decided to punish members who worked against the party and its candidates in the 2023 general elections.

Besides, the party will on Wednesday next week, inaugurate a 26-member disciplinary committee headed by former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Tom Ikimi, to look into the case of anti-party activities by some of its members.

Former Deputy National Chairman, Chief Olabode George, and Senator Olaka Nwogu, an ally of Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nysom Wike, are some of the members of the committee.

Wike who was former Rivers State governor and his Benue State counterpart, Samuel Ortom, openly declared support for other presidential candidates other than Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who was PDP flag bearer in the 2023 presidential election.

The party had earlier ruled out disciplining members who played anti-party in the last general elections, because every party member contributed to the loss.

The National Organising Secretary of PDP, Umar Bature, at a stakeholders’ meeting earlier in the year challenged every member to state the role he or she played during the election before condemning others.

Bature said: “If you rise to speak, I beg you to spell out your own role in 2023 elections, either positive or negative before you jump to accuse someone else either negative or positive.

“Everybody had a role to play. We contributed both individually and collectively.

“You can accuse anybody here for playing pro or anti-party activities. The aim is when we are through, we will have an idea of what to do with the party before we move to other organs like the national caucus, NEC for the way forward for the party.

“We believe there are people here who will accuse some of our elders of certain roles they played.

“In my state, somebody suggested that we should suspend a member but I said no; he is free to go to anywhere he wants to go. Suspending him means you are acknowledging that he has done something bad to the party.”

Meanwhile, the PDP National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba, in a statement on Friday, also called on party “leaders, critical stakeholders and teeming members of the PDP to remain focused and committed to the vision, principles and aspiration of our great party in the overall interest of the growth, development and stability of the PDP and the nation.”