Amaechi’s Suspension: Aggrieved PDP Members Threaten Legal Action

Three members of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have described the suspension of River State Governor Rotimi Amaechi as an abuse of the party’s constitution by the National Working Committee (NWC) and have threatened to head to court if the decision is not reversed within two weeks.

The aggrieved party members lamented that the NWC of the party arbitrarily assumed the powers of the NEC and arbitrarily suspended Amaechi without preliminary hearings, or an opportunity of knowing the allegations made against him.
 They described this as a breach of the constitution of the party and the right of the members to fair hearing.
The warning by the party members was contained in a letter by their lawyer, dated May 31, 2013 and addressed to the national secretary of the PDP.
The three members of the party, who all hail from Bauchi State, are John Akevi of Dan Iya ward; Alhaji Aliyu Shehu of Hardo Dan Iya ward, and Aliyu Ladan of Dan Kada Ward.
According to the letter by their lawyer, A. Malami (SAN), the aggrieved party members also queried the failure of the NWC to convene a National Executive Committee (NWC) for over a year.
They said “arising from the above infractions, the affairs of the party are being conducted in breach of the constitution of the party and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) and the NWC of the party which arbitrarily assumed the powers of the NEC had in consequence embarked on arbitrary suspension of the high profile.
According to the petitioners, the absence of the party’s NEC had allowed the NWC to take final and conclusive decisions on matters which could only have come into effect after their ratification by the NEC without input of NEC, thereby constituting itself into an authority of its own that overrides the NEC.
Meanwhile, the deputy speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon. Leyii Kwanee, has said the people of Ogoni ethnic nationality are solidly behind the state governor and re-elected Chairman of Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF),  Governor Rotimi Amaechi in the face of the currently political crisis rocking the PDP in the state.
The Ogoni ethnic nationality comprises Eleme, Gokana, Khana and Tai local government areas of the state.
Kwanee, who spoke at the weekend at Nyokhana Kingdom in Khana Local Government Area during the burial of Mr. Moses Mbani, a former treasurer of the PDP in the area, said every hand must be on deck to give Amaechi the necessary support in the face of the challenges.
He called on the people of the area to remain loyal as this is the time to appreciate the efforts of the governor in transforming the state and pointed out that the price they need to pay is to give the governor unalloyed support against forces of destabilization.

----Leadership