PDP S’East lawmakers threaten to boycott national convention over woman leader position

Lawmakers from the South-East under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the House of Representatives have threatened to boycott the party’s forthcoming national convention if the position of National Woman Leader is taken away from the zone.

The spokesperson of the South-East caucus, Rep. Ikenga-Imo Ugochinyere, made the position known in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.

He warned that the lawmakers would issue a disclaimer against the convention, slated for November 15 and 16 in Ibadan, if it was confirmed that the party had zoned the position outside the region.

Ugochinyere said there was still time for the party to remedy the situation before the screening of aspirants if the reports making the rounds held any truth.

He cautioned that no elected lawmaker from the South-East would remain in the PDP if the “impending insult” was allowed to stand.

“We don’t want to see PDP suffer more setbacks, still, we will stick to our position at the Ibadan convention if, in the next few weeks, what we are hearing is confirmed.

“If the position of National Woman Leader is not ceded expressly to Imo and an Imo person is allowed to emerge, we will boycott the convention,” he said.

According to him, Governor Peter Mbah’s defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) nullified the earlier arrangement that had favoured Enugu State for the position, as Mbah’s nominee for the post had also joined the APC.

He said the defection provided the party with an opportunity to address what he described as the injustice of depriving Imo State of the position.

The lawmaker also alleged that a prominent figure within the PDP was behind the move to strip the South-East of the post.

“However, confirmed information is filtering in that some people is trying to move that Woman Leader position out of the South-East to the South-South,” he said.

Ugochinyere warned that such a plot would provoke widespread discontent in the region and could alienate the South-East from the PDP.

“This will compound the ongoing confusion in the PDP. If the remaining stakeholders from the South-East boycott the convention, that will bring the party into more crisis,” he warned.

He further appealed to Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke to intervene in the matter and ensure that the position remains in the South-East, particularly in Imo.

“We don’t want to believe the information that one of the party’s leaders is plotting to cede the Woman Leader position to the South-South.

“It would be very insulting to the South-East if a position that is there is taken away and given to the South-South,” he added.