Mark mediating Plateau PDP crisis, says party stalwart
Kingsley Chukwuka, Jos
National Vice Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), North Central Zone, Theophilus Shan says that the former Senate President, David Mark is mediating the lingering leadership crisis rocking the Plateau state chapter of the PDP.
Shan said Sen. Mark is meeting with the state PDP stakeholders in Abuja, since majority of the parties to the dispute are based in Abuja.
Our correspondent recalls that the state working committee of the party had passed a vote of no confidence on the state Chairman, Damishi Sango and the Deputy Chairman, Amos Gombi for allegedly diverting presidential campaign funds and showing disrespect to elders of the party.
Speaking to journalists in Jos, Shan disclosed that a committee has been set up under the chairmanship of Sen. Mark with the mandate to wade into the party’s leadership tussle in Plateau state.
According to him, he had arrived Jos a week ago ahead of the reconciliation committee’s visit, only for thugs suspected to have been hired by the embattled chairman prevented him from gaining access into the party’s state secretariat until the intervention of the police.
“You are all aware of the crisis in the Plateau state chapter. It started few months ago. The national secretariat is also aware too. I have been here before, owing to the coming of the committee constituted by the national secretariat in respect of the crisis.
“I am not here in support of any of the factions. I am here for the party. Secondly, I am not a member of the committee, but I am here to ensure that the committee gets a conducive working atmosphere.
“I came in last week and I had peaceful meetings, but only this morning I started hearing of moves to stop me from gaining access into the secretariat. I never thought it could be Sango that was going to engineer it, but I was wrong.
“This morning, I saw youth who are thugs, who claimed that Sango had instructed them that others and I should not be allowed to gain access into the office. At the end of the day, we went to the Plateau state police headquarters.
“It is a fact that I had earlier intimated the police of why I had come to the state, but from the development we are expected to go back to the police. What everybody must understand is that the chairman has not been removed yet.
“The committee would be here to investigate all the allegations so far raised. The party has a grievance settling procedure and this step shows that the removal process has just started,” Shan said.
The vice chairman also said that the terms of reference of the Sen. Mark’s committee is to investigate and find out the reason for the friction among members of the state working committee, find out the mistrust between the state working committee and major stakeholders of the party.
He added that the panel will also investigate the disbursement of funds and election finances for the presidential and governorship elections, and to find out why the party lost the governorship election in the state which the party was optimistic of winning.
