Atiku’s loyalists hijacked PDP in Adamawa - Dr. Ardo

A faction in the Adamawa State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the outcome of the recent congresses of the party, alleging that loyalists of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar have taken over the party’s machinery.

The faction, which comprised of the immediate past state chairman of the party in Adamawa, Abdurrahman Bobboi, the former Adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Political Matters, Ali Gulak and a governorship aspirant, Dr. Umar Ardo, also berated the Senator Ahmad Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee of alleged connivance.

A statement issued by Dr. Ardo noted that Atiku’s loyalists who decamped to the party less than two weeks before the recent congress were elected as party officials against Section 8 (b) of the PDP Constitution.

Atiku, a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), was reported to have been preparing ground for a likely defection to the opposition party as part of his strategy for contesting in 2019 presidential election.

To prove his point, Ardo cited the new PDP chairman in Atiku’s home constituency, Jada Local Government, who defected from the APC two weeks before his election as a testimony to the grand plan by the former vice president to take over the Adamawa chapter of the opposition party.

“This lackluster Atiku-Makarfi jamboree called state congress has no judicial legitimacy; it is also an utter disgrace to the PDP. In an effort to please Atiku and hand over the structure of the party to him, the constitution of the party has been disregarded,” the statement said.

“Many of those who were given party offices, especially local government chairmen and national delegates, are his supporters who decamped from APC into the PDP about two weeks ago against the provisions of the party constitution and without being given a waiver. This is most sad,” Dr. Ardo said in the statement.

He, therefore, called on PDP members to fight injustice and reclaim the party.

There was no immediate response from Atiku’s media office.