Members of the National Integration Committee South-South zone, set up by the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party to reconcile aggrieved members of the party in the zone, have denied speculations that they have been compromised by governors and ministers from the area.
The committee, while reacting to allegations made by some aggrieved members of the party from Rivers State, who said the Minister of State for Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike, had compromised them, said they were incorruptible and challenged anyone with evidence to the contrary to step forward.
It would be recalled that PDP members from Rivers State engaged in physical combat as thugs allegedly loyal to Mr. Wike – a governorship aspirant – prevented some party members from gaining entry to venue of the committee’s meeting in Abuja on Thursday.
Some of them were also locked up in a room inside the Legacy House, where members of the committee met, and were prevented from presenting their petitions.
But the Senator Iya Abubakar-led committee, which concluded its sitting in Abuja on Friday after listening to petitions from Cross River State, gave an assurance that its recommendations would promote internal democracy in the party.
The committee, which began sitting on Wednesday, received party delegates from Akwa Ibom, Delta, Edo, Rivers and Cross River States, who filed petitions before it.
However, the president’s home state, Bayelsa, did not send any representative neither was any petition presented.
Speaking with journalists at the end of the three-day session, Sen. Abubakar said the committee had “very useful, peaceful and productive interactions” with the persons and groups who appeared before it”.
He said, “There is no way we can be compromised by the governors or by any minister. Nobody can compromise me and my committee members.
“Those who accused us of being compromised should provide evidence; the politics of soiled names and integrity is on. Those who were not able to enter this place are the ones making these allegations.
“Nobody in this country can compromise us in this committee. You will definitely see a change in this party soon”.
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