Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
The Caretaker Committee Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia State, Dr Ikpegbu Emeka-Yellow, has said he would not join issues with what he described as political undertakers bent on destroying the party.
Emeka-Yellow, a former Commissioner at the Abia State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (ASOPADEC), dismissed his critics as “men of yesterday” and “cheap attention seekers,” insisting that he had no time to engage them.
He was reacting to a statement credited to the factional Publicity Secretary of the Abraham Amah group, Chief Jude Udeachara, who had earlier described the appointment of the PDP Caretaker Committee in Abia as “a huge joke, a nullity, and a gross disregard for constitutional order and judicial authority.”
Udeachara had also questioned the eligibility of Comrade Ini Ememobong, the National Publicity Secretary of the Turaki-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP, to endorse the document appointing the Abia Caretaker Committee.
He further maintained that the Elder Abraham Amah-led State Working Committee remained the authentic leadership of the party in the state.
However, in a swift response, Emeka-Yellow dismissed Udeachara and his group as people living in the past and merely seeking public attention.
Speaking with our correspondent in Umuahia, the Caretaker Committee chairman said:
“I don’t want to join issues with yesterday’s men — people who belong to yesterday and to the darkest history of the PDP, both in Abia and Nigeria. They are living in the past.
“They are like a drowning man looking for a piece of wood to grab and stay afloat. I will not give them that platform. Abians and Nigerians know them for what they are — rabble-rousers. They do not exist.
“Because they do not exist, I am not going to talk about them. They are looking for legitimacy, which is why they are running from one court to another.”
The former ASOPADEC commissioner, who insisted that “power belongs to the people and not to a clique,” said no cabal would be allowed to hijack the PDP under any guise.
He maintained that the Caretaker Committee he heads remains the authentic leadership of the PDP in Abia State.
“Because they are fake, they are calling others fake. The PDP vehicle has moved on. We are not for entertainment,” he said.
Emeka-Yellow explained that the Caretaker Committee would swing into full action immediately after its inauguration.
“We are waiting for our inauguration next week. After that, we will go into full operation. But let me advise Abians not to listen to jesters.
“They belong to the past. Everything they have written belongs to the past. Society is about the present and the future,” he added.
