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Politics of Saturday, 23 January 2021

Source: thenationonlineng.net

Ebonyi PDP petitions IGP, DG DSS over alleged threats by Umahi

File photo: Mr Dave Umahi. File photo: Mr Dave Umahi.

The Ebonyi State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has cried out to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu and the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS) Yusuf Magaji Bichi to save its members from alleged threats and intimidation by the Ebonyi State Governor, Mr Dave Umahi.

At a news briefing in Abuja on Friday, members of the chapter said the governor had subjected the leadership of the party to a series of needless court cases through proxies for the sole aim of destabilising the chapter.

Addressing the news conference, the Chairman of the PDP Caretaker Committee in the state, Elder Fred Udeogu, lamented that Gov Umahi started waging war against the PDP chapter shortly after his defection from PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC) last November.

Asking the IGP and the DSS boss to hold Umahi responsible for any breakdown of law and order in the state, Udeogu said the governor was still aggrieved that key PDP chieftains in the state refused to follow him to the APC.

Udeogu said: “As we all know, Governor Dave Umahi’s illusion had been that Ebonyi people would defect with him to the APC. He had boasted that PDP stakeholders and members of the National Assembly would defect with him.

“When this failed, the reaction from Governor Umahi has been to derail and destroy the Caretaker Committee of the PDP by filing a suit at the State High Court, asking the court not to recognise this Caretaker Committee.”

The caretaker committee chairman, however, said the issue had finally been resolved by the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday, where the presiding judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, gave the chapter a breather in a ruling on the case.

“Now that there is a court order, it is hoped that Governor Dave Umahi will step back a bit and have a deep reflection and discontinue fanning the embers of crisis in Ebonyi State.

“Since our inauguration on the 23rd day of November 2020, we in the Caretaker Committee have steered the affairs of the party in Ebonyi State with dedication and commitment.

“We wish to use this opportunity to call on the Inspector General of Police and the Director of State Security Services to protect the members and legitimate officers of the PDP in Ebonyi State, and to hold Governor Dave Umahi accountable for any break down in law and order in Ebonyi State.

“Governor Dave Umahi’s goal is to control both the PDP and APC in Ebonyi State by sheer brute force. But the good people of Ebonyi State who are predominantly members of the PDP, are not prepared to be victims of brute force and dictatorship, and will continue to fight for their political freedom,” Udeogu said.