Governor Agbu Kefas of Taraba State has debunked allegations made by Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, that he did not resign as Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Taraba State Chapter, before he contested the 2023 governorship election.
Wike had while drawing a parallel to justify Senator Samuel Anyanwu holding onto the position of the National Secretary of the PDP, alleged that Governor Kefas did not also vacate office as Chairman of the Taraba State PDP when he contested for governorship of the State. …CONTINUE READING
But, responding to Wike’s claim, Governor Kefas insisted that he followed laid down rules of the PDP by first resigning his chairmanship position on May 17, 2022, before declaring his intention to vie for the governorship ticket and later picking the form to contest the PDP primary.
Kefas buttressed his point with an acknowledgement copy of his letter of resignation dated May 17, 2022. They addressed to the then PDP National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu and also copied the then Taraba State Governor, Arc. Darius Ishaku, and the acting State Chairman of the party.
He noted that in contrast, Anyanwu failed to resign as National Secretary before going to contest for the Imo State gubernatorial race, which he eventually lost, adding that after suffering a defeat, Anyanwu ran back to the Party to resume his role, an action that has faced stiff resistance from the South East caucus of the PDP.
Following the development, the South East caucus of the PDP nominated Hon Sunday Udeh Okoye as a replacement for Anyanwu.
Rather than follow laid down rules and precedence, Anyanwu and his pocket of supporters quickly declared loyalty and aligned with Wike, thus refused to vacate the office.
The letter of resignation by Kefas read in part; “I wish to use this medium to notify our great party of my resignation from the position of the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in Taraba State.
“This is to allow me the necessary time and space required to pursue my aspiration for political office as allowed by the constitution of our great party.
“I sincerely appreciate the rare opportunity given to me to serve at the highest political party office in the state and must also acknowledge the immense support, and encouragement which you gave to me while I occupied the said office.
“I have no doubt that my successor will enjoy the same support and may I use this opportunity to pledge my unalloyed loyalty and continuous support to the party and to also promise to be available anytime my contribution is needed,” he stated in the letter.
Checks by Forefront News at the National Secretariat of the PDP and officials of the Party in Taraba State, indicated that Governor Agbu Kefas resigned months ahead of the PDP governorship primary in the state in 2022 in which he defeated five other aspirants.
A further confirmation is contained in a published story in Skulary.ng.com, which stated that Kefas “recently resigned” as PDP State Chairman before securing the PDP gubernatorial ticket for the 2023 election.
Wike while trying to hoodwink PDP members and to a large extent, Nigerians into supporting his bosom friend , Senator Samuel Anyanwu who has been battling his removal by the South East zone of the party for abandoning his office as National Secretary to contest for Governorship of Imo State, said he was not supposed to resign before contesting.
