The National Working Committee of the
Peoples Democratic Party on Thursday suspended Senator Andy Uba and his
brother, Chris from the party.
Also suspended are Ejike Oguebego,
Chief Benji Udeozor and Mrs. Tonia Nwankwu.
The five men were accused of
conducting a parallel state congress for the nomination of governorship
candidate in Anambra State on Saturday.
A letter announcing the suspension of
the Uba brothers and others had been sent to the affected party chiefs by the
acting National Secretary, Dr. Charles Akintoye.
The acting secretary was
directed to write them on their current status having snubbed the NWC which
invited them to explain the role they played at the parallel congress.
The letter, dated August 29, read in
part, “The NWC at its 353rd meeting held on Wednesday, 28th
August, 2013 reviewed the happenings in Anambra PDP regarding the Anambra
Primary election.
“It was noted that you organised a
parallel state congress which was unauthorised by the party contrary to section
58 (1) a, b, c, f, h and j of the PDP constitution (2012 as amended).
“As a result of this, you were
invited to meet with the NWC on Wednesday 28, August, 2013 for fair
hearing, but you did not appear.
“In view of the seriousness of the
issues involved, you are hereby suspended from the party and the case
referred to the appropriate Disciplinary Committee for further necessary
action.”
However, sources close to the
affected party officers said that the affected party chieftains have obtained a
Court order stopping the party from taking and disciplinary action against them
but the party had served them with the decision before they got the court
order.
Reacting to the suspension, Chris
Uba, expressed surprise at his suspension, adding that there was no reason for
the action taken by the PDP.
He said, “I was surprised to hear
that I have been suspended. I want us to respect democracy and the rule of law.
We must protect the rule of law and the judiciary.
“Why the rush in suspending me and the
five others? There were more than a million PDP members at the congress. They
should have suspended all of us.”
Also, Andy said he had not been
served with the suspension from the party and because of that, he would not
react to it.
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