A detachment of policemen stationed at the Plateau State Secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party, on Thursday, chased members of the Nandom Pyennap-led Caretaker Committee from the secretariat.The committee, made up of loyalists of the party’s governorship candidate in the 2019 general elections, Jeremiah Useni, was recently constituted as a parallel executive to rival the one recognised by the National Working Committee of the PDP led by Yakubu Chocho.
Our correspondent gathered that trouble started when the members of the Useni committee went to the state party’s secretariat to address a press conference, a move which the policemen thwarted.One of the policemen on duty who did not give his name told our correspondent that,
“We are here to provide security and we will not allow anyone to cause problem here.”After failing to gain entrance into the building, the group moved to the Useni’s campaign office located at Dogo Karfe Street in Jos where Pyennap eventually addressed the people.
Pyennap said, “In a serious matter such as it has to do with the decision of the National Working Committee as claimed by these characters, the communicator should ordinarily be the National Chairman or National Secretary.”He wondered why the contents of letters written to Jigawa, Kano and Ekiti to form caretaker committees would be different from that of Plateau State.
He said, “It is strange that here in Plateau we have 28 members of the caretaker committee. Apart from being 28 in number, all of them are looking for elective positions again. Apart from that, they have caused a lot of problems during the ward congresses and the purported local government congress. You see, for natural justice to prevail, let the national secretariat take a frantic step, they should constitute a seven-man committee without us, without them and put people that can come and do what is right.
”He insisted that the tenures of those claiming to be members of the caretaker committee in Plateau had lapsed and urged them to step aside.But the caretaker committee led by Yakubu Chicho described Pyennap’s actions as a joke taken too far.Chocho told journalists at a separate press briefing held at the party‘s secretariat that “Our caretaker committee under my leadership was duly constituted in line with the party’s constitution and endorsed by the National Executive Committee of the party. If they say they are the authentic party leaders, let them produce their letter of authorization.”
