Ebonyi PDP Crisis Deepens as Caretaker Committee Disowns Chairman’s Claims

The crisis rocking the Ebonyi State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken a dramatic turn, as the Caretaker Committee has vehemently disowned claims by the Chairman, Steve Oruruo, that he has successfully united the factions in the party.

In a strongly-worded statement signed by the Secretary of the Caretaker Committee, Barr Pascal Ukwuani, the committee described Oruruo’s claims as “misleading”, “false”, and a “clear attempt to deceive the public and the national working committee”.

“The attention of the Caretaker Working Committee of the Ebonyi PDP has been drawn to a publication online by the caretaker chairman of PDP in Ebonyi state, Barr Steve Oruruo as having united the factions in the PDP in Ebonyi state on Sunday”. 

“The caretaker committee wants to make it categorically clear that the publication is misleading as it’s false”.

According to the committee, a meeting held in Enugu on July 14, which was supposed to be a reconciliatory gathering, ended in chaos and a walkout by members, with only Oruruo, Ali Odefa, and their security guards remaining.

“The meeting of the Ebonyi PDP held in Enugu on the 14th of July, 2024 premise upon which Oruruo is claiming to have united the different interests in the party didn’t achieve any result as members in attendance staged a walkout, leaving behind only Oruruo, Ali Odefa and their security guards in the hall” the statement added. 

The committee accused Oruruo of using propaganda to mislead the public and the national working committee and alleged that he has worsened the party’s crisis since assuming office.

““It’s important at this point to let the national working committee and the entire public know that Steve Oruruo is using propaganda to communicate the affairs of our party in Ebonyi to the public”.

“As members of the caretaker committee dedicated to seeing the repositioning of the party, we’re disappointed in the ways and manner a supposed chairman goes on with the business of ensuring that the party is brought back to stability in the state, using propaganda to communicate the business of the party instead of undertaking the true task of reconciling the aggrieved members which is what he was brought in to pursue”. 

The committee stated that Oruruo’s leadership style has been characterized by dictatorship, exclusion, and intimidation, further dividing the party.

They also alleged that Oruruo has been using the party’s funds for personal purposes, and has refused to listen to the concerns of other members.

The committee warned that if the national leadership fails to intervene promptly, the party in Ebonyi State is headed for collapse.

“ If the party’s national leadership fails to wade into the menacing Oruruo factor in the Ebonyi PDP, it’ll not be in doubt that our party in Ebonyi is headed towards an absolute precipice”.

This development is the latest in the ongoing crisis that has been rocking the Ebonyi PDP, with factions loyal to different leaders engaging in a bitter struggle for control.

The national working committee has been called upon to intervene and restore order in the party’s Ebonyi chapter.