It was gathered that the explosion occurred around 5.00 a.m., when unidentified persons threw improvised explosive device into the secretariat. No life was, however, lost but, some windows in the three-storey building were reportedly destroyed by the impact.THERE was palpable tension, on Monday, at the Cross River State secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Calabar, owing to an explosion, a few hours before the rescheduled ward congress.
When contacted on the development, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Hogan Bassey, confirmed the explosion, but said he could not yet ascertain if it was a bomb blast.
“We had an intelligence report earlier that some hoodlums were going to cause problem at the PDP secretariat and we mobilised our men and cordoned off the area.
“Yes, there was a device thrown into the premises from the back of the building, which did not cause any damage except that it shattered some windows,” Bassey told the Nigerian Tribune on phone.
He, however, said no arrest had been made, but that security had been beefed up around the area and that investigation had commenced.
Also speaking on the matter, the state deputy chairman of PDP, Mr Fidelis Egoro, said although he was not in town, he heard that there was an explosion.
Attempts to speak with both the state chairman of the party, Ntufam John Okon and the state secretary, Mr Goddy Etta yielded no results, as calls to their phones were diverted.
This is, however, the first confirmed blast in the state since the advent of democracy in the country in 1999.
Stakeholders of PDP in the state, however, lauded the conduct of the rescheduled ward congress of the party, describing it as peaceful and transparent.
Nigerian Tribune, which monitored the exercise in the Central senatorial district of the state, reported that the exercise was largely peaceful, except for minor skirmishes on the Ikom-Calabar highway, where some hoodlums attempted to hijack election materials meant for Obudu Local Government Area.
Reports from the other parts of the state indicated that the exercise was devoid of violence in most wards.
At Calabar South, the exercise started at about 1.00 p.m., as party members were seen on the queue at the Cultural Centre to elect their delegates for ward 1.
About 2.30 p.m. at Government Secondary School, Ikom Urban, in the Central senatorial district of the state, party members also queued to vote for the delegates of their choice, while security men were on the alert to forestall breakdown of law and order.
Speaking to newsmen at the venue, a former council chairman of Ikom Local Government, Mr Chris Nja, described the process as impressive, adding that “the crowd almost outnumbered the registered party members but it was free and fair.”
On the High Court judgment on an earlier suit to stop the congress, Njar said “some recalcitrant delegates went to court and the matter was struck out. So, why are they still complaining when the court of competent jurisdiction has ruled? I advise them to embrace peace.”
House of Representatives member representing Abi/Yakurr, Honourable Bassey Ewa, said the ward congresses was peaceful, as party members turned out en masse to elect their delegates, adding that “there was no crisis, neither was there any attempt to hijack electoral materials as witnessed in the last congress, INEC, SSS, NSCDC and the police witnessed the ward congresses.”
Meanwhile, a Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday, declined jurisdiction to entertain a suit instituted against the PDP for tampering with the results of the ward congresses conducted in Cross River on November 1. 2014.
The trial judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, in his decision, held that the complaints bordered on pre-primaries matters covered under internal party matters and, as such, the court lacks the jurisdiction to entertain it presently.
It will be recalled that on November 6, Honourable Jones Tangban and others had approached the court in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/824/2014, asking that PDP, its national chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu; national secretary, Professor Wale Oladipo, the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) be restrained from taking any step on the list.
They specifically prayed the court to grant “an order of interim injunction restraining the first to fourth defendants, their agents, servants or assigns from taking any step or receiving and acting on any purported report or list of candidates or persons purporting to be the list of elected delegates at the ward congress held in Cross River State on November 1, 2014 from any person or persons other than the Electoral committee.”
In the same vein, the court sitting before Justice Adeniyi also declined jurisdiction to hear and determine the suit brought before it over the conduct of the PDP ward congress in Ebonyi State on the ground that it was a pre-primaries matters, covered under internal party matters and, as such, the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain it presently.
However, the presence of heavily armed security operatives and positioning of armoured personnel carriers were not enough to avert pockets of violence, which erupted at the Oyo State PDP secretariat located at Dandaru, Mokola, Ibadan, shortly after the distribution of result sheets to the 33 local government areas of the state for the party’s ad hoc delegates’ congress.
Some suspected thugs and politicians loyal to certain governorship aspirants descended on party chairmen and secretaries, whom they believed were not loyal to their camps, with some factions reportedly hijacked the result sheets meant to be taken to the wards from the chairmen and secretaries.
The party’s National Working Committee (NWC) had cancelled the exercise earlier carried out on November 1, following complaints of irregularities and flaws, with the party constituting a fresh five-man congress panel headed by a former Minister of State for Culture and Tourism, Dr Aliyu Idi Hong.
Idi-Hong, at a meeting with the aspirants, state working committee and local government party chairmen and secretaries, among others, had spelt out the modalities for the congress, just as he appealed to all the contestants to shun acts capable of endangering the party’s chances in the 2015 elections in the state.
But, the Nigerian Tribune gathered that no sooner had the state executive led by Alhaji Yinka Taiwo distributed the result sheets to local government party chairmen and secretaries, based on official guidelines, than the hoodlums and some party supporters lurking outside swooped on the officials by hijacking the materials, a development that led to fracas at the secretariat.
Local governments in Ibadan and Oke-Ogun zones were reportedly affected, with loyalists of two leading aspirants (names withheld) trading blames on the hijack of the materials.
Idi-Hong, while addressing newsmen, had stated that “if the party cannot get things right, it will be difficult to have a successful general election.
“We have pleaded with them to have a rancour-free exercise, because this is the beginning of the success of the 2015 elections and we are all working assiduously to win back Oyo State, a PDP state that we lost by accident and we are not making that mistake again.”
When the Nigerian Tribune moved round the state, most of the party stakeholders said they had peacefully conducted congresses, witnessed by INEC and security operatives and that they were only waiting for the result sheets.
The outcomes of the ward congresses, could, however, not be verified as of press time, as the publicity secretary of the party in the state, Kehinde Salawu, insisted that the congress panel was in the best position to speak on the matter.
According to a source in the party secretariat, “as soon as the distribution of materials was concluded, we saw thugs snatching the materials from them.
“Those that refused to cooperate were seriously beaten; some of them had their dresses torn and their trousers removed by the thugs.”
A source said the state chairman of the PDP, Taiwo, and a former governor of Oyo State, Adebayo Alao-Akala, confronted a former chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Alhaji AbdulLateef Akinsola, a.k.a. Tokyo, on what he wanted at the party secretariat since he was not a member.
When contacted by the Nigerian Tribune on phone, Tokyo said “I was at the party secretariat to monitor how the exercise was being carried out. And as one of the leaders of the party in the state, I think I was not doing anything wrong to be there.
“Truly, Alao-Akala confronted me and was asking why I was at the secretariat. I told him I am a bona fide member of the party and have the same right he has to be at the party secretariat. When I was leaving the place, my car was damaged. As I speak with you, I have reported the matter to the state police commissioner and my lawyer is working on the matter as well.”
The local governments affected by the crisis were Ibadan North West, Ibadan South-West, Oyo East, Oyo West, Atiba, Orelope, Irepodun, Ibarapa Central, Oluyole and Ibadan North.
Nigerian Tribune further gathered that collation forms were snatched at gunpoint from the chairman of PDP in Oluyole Local Government Area of the state, Balogun Ayuba, by a gang in front of Orita Challenge police station around 4.00 p.m.
The gang, according to a source, was led by thugs working for one of the top governorship aspirants in the party.
When the one of our correspondents visited the party secretariat, two men were sighted at the back of the police van on stand-by. One of them was soaked in his own blood, while the other one was seen lying down in the vehicle.
Reports also indicated commotion at the headquarters of Lagos State chapter of PDP, as party leaders and faithful from different wards in the state scampered for safety, following gun shots by an officer of Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) stationed at the party office to maintain orderliness.
Some party faithful were said to have staged a protest, expressing concern that voting did not take place in their area and demanded the PDP leadership to intervene in the matter.
The commotion was said to have become heightened, as another gun shot was reportedly fired by a police officer to dispense a surging crowd of PDP members on the premises, who wanted to collect voting materials for the rerun congress holding in 245 wards in the state.
The PDP secretariat became rowdy early in the morning, as the chairman and secretary of each of the wards took turns to collect voting materials, with the affected party members getting agitated because of the slow process.
This, according to a source, might have led to the officer of the NSCDC firing a shot, perhaps to maintain order.
Nobody was reported injured in the melee, but there was a heavy presence of armed security personnel.
There was no sign of voting in most of areas visited in Ikorodu as of noon, while the exercise started late in many other places of the state.
Speaking on the exercise, a governorship aspirant on the PDP platform, Dr Agboola Dominic, disclosed that the exercise went on smoothly as party faithful trooped out for the congress.
“Although, I just came from Ibadan to pick my clearance letter, reports reaching me say everything went on smoothly and people are voting at the congress without any problem,” he said.
Also speaking on the exercise, the publicity secretary of Lagos PDP, Mr Taofeek Gani, who described the incident that occurred at the secretariat as minor, said peace had since been restored.
Gani, who said that he had also gone around to witness the exercise, applauded the PDP members for their peaceful conduct.http://www.tribune.com.ng/news/top-stories/item/22473-pdp-ward-congresses-explosion-violence-in-c-river-oyo-lagos
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