PDP convention: Members warn Jonathan against constitutional crisis

 

President Goodluck Jonathan

Constitutional crisis is brewing in the Peoples Democratic Party over its yet-to-be-held convention, where some national officers are expected to be elected.

Already, a committee of those who considered themselves as senior members of the party and friends of President Goodluck Jonathan has alerted the PDP to the possible legal quagmire it could find itself over the proposed convention.

In a draft memo, the party and the President were informed about the illegality that might come out from the convention if corrective actions were not taken.

The draft memo, leaked to our correspondent on Tuesday, did not contain names of the authors but was copied to Jonathan and the National Chairman of the PDP, Bamanga Tukur.

Starting with the National Executive Committee meeting of the party, which was held on June 20, the party was told that the resignation of about 20 officers of the party, eight of which were members of the National Working Committee, before the meeting implied that they were not part of the meeting.

The resignation of the officers was the first item to be treated before the full commencement of the meeting.

The memo said the implication of this was that the ex-officers of the PDP were no longer part of the meeting and that because of this, there was no quorum among the NWC members when Tukur presented his memoranda.

The memo said, “Shortly after their (the officers that resigned) departure, the National Chairman, went ahead with the meeting that had no agenda, no Secretary and with no basis to determine whether a proper quorum was formed or not, to present three memoranda to the NEC on behalf of the National Working Committee as follows:

Appointment of persons to fill the vacant positions in the National Executive Committee in acting capacities pending election of substantive officers: Memo No. NEC/61/105/13 dated 20th June, 2013.

Approval of the composition of Special Convention Planning Committee: Memo No. NEC/61/103/13.

Approval of guidelines and the timetable for the 2013 Special Convention Memo: No. NEC/61/104/13 dated 20th of June, 2013.

The memo noted that in view of the mass resignation of the NWC members and their non-participation in the decision process, with the exception of the National Chairman and the National Financial Secretary, “the purported memoranda are defective because the NWC couldn’t have raised them.”

It added that it was “evidently clear that the memos originated when there was no quorum in the NWC as contained in Section 29(4) of the PDP constitution.

“Therefore, the appointment of persons to fill the vacant positions that existed didn’t follow the due process and also violated Electoral Act Provision, Section 85(3) of the Electoral Act 2010 (with 2011 amendments) which supercedes the party’s constitution.”

Apart from that, the memo said that the party’s constitution was violated by proposing for a voice vote of “yes” or “no” to elect a single candidate in the convention.

The attention of the leadership of the party and President Jonathan were also called to another issue that could lead to a constitutional crisis in the election of the officers.

The memo said that it was against the party’s constitution to propose that national officers should emerge through the zones to the national convention.

Apart from faulting the composition of the leadership of the special convention committee which it said did not consider the religious divide in the country, it said the timing of the convention was insensitive to a “very serious religious obligation, which is Ramadan.”

The memo also said there would be a vacuum in the tenure of the officers to be elected at the special convention.

“Whereas the National Chairman and the Financial Secretary have two more years and seven months to go, the officers that will emerge at the special convention will have to spend four years as contained in Section 47 of the PDP constitution,” the authors of the memo noted.

On the implications of the above noted details, the memo said, “There was no quorum of the NWC as of the time of NEC meeting of 20th June, 2013. Neither was there agenda nor duly constituted Secretary to take minutes of the proceedings.”

It said therefore that the exercise was a nullity and asked for a revisiting.

Efforts to speak with the Chairman of the PDP Convention Committee, Prof. Jerry Gana, were not successful as calls made to his mobile telephone were not answered.

He also did not respond to an enquiry sent to the same mobile telephone on the matter.

But the Special Assistant to Tukur on Media, Prince Oliver Okpala, defended his boss, saying the memoranda he presented at the NEC meeting were meant for the NEC members and not the NWC.

He said the resignation of the NWC members did not have any effect on the composition of the NEC.

Okpala said, “The memos were presented to NEC members and not the NWC members. The NEC was properly constituted, even after the resignation of the NWC members.

“The decisions were later ratified by NEC. The issue of not forming a quorum of NWC members before the presentation was neither here nor there.”

The former National Secretary and Zonal Vice-Chairman of the party in the South-West, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Mr. Segun Oni respectively, had also asked the Gana committee not to conduct election into their offices since they were still in court to contest the rulings of federal high courts that sacked them.

While Oyinlola authored his letter, Oni sent his own through his lawyer, Mr. Gboyega Oyewole.