Former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kola Ologbondiyan, has said the party’s situation in Rivers State is laughable.
Kola Ologbondiyan, in an interview with Daily Independent, said some PDP stakeholders would prefer to use the party to achieve their selfish desire than leave entirely.
Ologbondiyan said this while reacting to a question on defection of some stakeholders in the party in recent times.
He said PDP stakeholders who defect to other parties are more honourable than others who remain in the party and work for other parties.
He pointed out the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike. He said the position of Wike as a minister with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was responsible for PDP crisis in Rivers State.
He said Wike remained the leader of PDP in Rivers State contrary to standard. He argued that Governor Siminalaya Fubara should be the leader of the party in Rivers.
“There are also those who are using the party as well to satisfy their own desires. Such people don’t mind if the party becomes comatose or dies tomorrow. For instance, you mention the FCT Minister.
“As we speak today, the FCT Minister, former Governor Nyesom Wike, is in charge of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State. He is also in charge of PDP in Rivers State. And to me it is laughable because we have a governor in the state which, according to our party’s constitution, should be the head of the party in the state unless he agrees to the contrary,” Ologbondiyan said.
The PDP chieftain added that Governor Fubara and the state’s party structure hardly work together.
“Even as we speak today, he is the governor under PDP but hardly has the party working with him unless Debo Ologunagba (current PDP National Publicity Secretary) who issued a statement to say we cannot abandon our own. So the whole system in PDP needs to be recalibrated to work in the interest of the people,” he added.
Ologbondiyan said House of Assembly members in Rivers State who defected from PDP cannot retain their seats.
“In Rivers State, everyone knows the truth. You also know as a parliamentarian, as a member of the House of Assembly, you cannot defect on the floor of the house and expect to regain your seat.
“So if the Rivers State House of Assembly members that defected had done the right thing from side A to side B and their record had gone into the proceedings of the house, that would have been different,” he added.