PDP Dissolves Zamfara State Excos Amid Matawalle Defection Saga

The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dissolved the Zamfara State executives of the party.

This was disclosed in a statement on Monday signed by the party’s national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan.

The sack of the state executives might not be unrelated to the drama surrounding the imminent defection of the Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“The National Working Committee, NWC, has approved the dissolution of the Zamfara State Executive of the party in line with the provision of Section 29 (2)(b) of the PDP Constitution 2017 (as amended).

“All party leaders, critical stakeholders, and teeming members of our party in Zamfara state should, by this, be guided accordingly,” Ologbondiyan stated.

Earlier, Naija News reported that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has warned the Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle that he may have to forfeit his position if he proceeds with plans to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

This is as the PDP argued that the governorship position occupied by Matawalle in Zamfara State is based on the people’s vote for the party and not for him as a person.

The PDP said according to the 1999 constitution, Matawalle is just an agent of the party occupying the position and if he dumps the party that brought him to power, he must be ready to relinquish power as well.

A “combined reading of Section 221 of the 1999 Constitution as the pronouncements of the Supreme Court in Faleke v. INEC (2016) is clear in holding that it is the political party that stands for election, that votes scored in election belong to the political party and that the candidate nominated to contest at an election by his party, acts only as the agent of his party,” PDP spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan told newsmen in a statement on Monday.

The PDP went further to argue that members of the National Assembly from the state as well as members of the Zamfara State House of Assembly may also lose their seats if they join the governor in defecting.

The party, therefore, warned them “not to allow themselves to be pushed into losing their seats as the provisions of the constitution is very clear in barring lawmakers from cross carpeting, except in a situation of a division in the political party upon which platform they were elected.”