Makinde-backed PDP constitutes 13-member interim NWC, appoints Turaki as chairman

The majority of the NEC members supported the decision through voice votes.

The National Executive Committee (NEC) of a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has constituted a 13-member interim National Working Committee (NWC).

The NEC appointed Kabiru Turaki as acting chairman, while a former senator, Taofeeq Arapaja, was named secretary of the interim committee.

The decision was taken at the PDP faction’s 103rd NEC meeting convened by the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), led by Adolphus Wabara, at the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja on Monday.

Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo State, was in attendance.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that a Supreme Court judgment last Thursday invalidated the faction of the NWC earlier led by Mr Turaki.

Following the judgment, the BoT assumed leadership, arguing that the ruling created a vacuum in the party’s leadership. On Sunday, the BoT met in Abuja and resolved to convene an emergency NEC meeting to address the situation. However, the other PDP faction, backed by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, insists it remains the authentic PDP and continues to occupy the party’s headquarters. The Wike faction is also recognised by the electoral commission, INEC.

At Monday’s NEC meeting, Mr Wabara, a former senate president, who announced the interim committee and read the names of its members, said the move was necessary to fill the leadership vacuum.

He subsequently put the decision to a vote and the majority of the members supported it through voice votes.

Before the Supreme Court judgment, the Wabara-led BoT had been aligned with the Turaki-led NWC, which emerged from the party’s national convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State, last November. That convention and its outcome were invalidated by the Supreme Court.

Details later…