A Bayelsa State Stakeholder of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), George Turner, has accused the party’s national leaders of failing to provide direction and losing control ahead of the coming national convention.
Speaking on ARISE News on Friday, Turner said the PDP’s biggest problem was bad leadership, adding that the party’s unity and credibility were being destroyed by internal crisis and impunity.
“It is really sad because leadership is where our problem is. They have failed. The current leadership of our party has lost it,” he said.
According to him, the preparations for the national convention were already causing confusion because some disputes over zoning, candidate selection, and leadership positions were already before the court.
He accused some members of the PDP leadership of disobeying court orders and going ahead with activities that breached the law.
“For the convention, some of the issues are already in court, and the people involved are disobeying court orders to maintain the status quo,” he said.
He claimed that party leaders were screening aspirants and adopting candidates despite pending court cases.
“You saw them making announcements for screening of aspirants and adopting chairmanship candidates elsewhere. Others are countering. That tells you the kind of leaders managing the party now,” he added.
Turner, who described himself as a loyal member of the PDP, said the party had lost its structure and respect for due process complaining that some aspirants were being denied nomination forms.
“I have gone to Wadata Plaza several times to buy nomination and expression of interest forms. There are no forms. One day I met a young man who wanted to contest for public secretary. He could not even get a form,” he said.
He also accused some leaders of ignoring the zoning agreement reached by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) in 2022, which said all offices should remain in their previous zones.
“The party agreed that offices in the north should remain in the north and those in the south should stay in the south. But these people are creating problems everywhere,” he said.
Turner further alleged that some groups had secretly printed and distributed nomination forms to favour selected aspirants, claiming that in Bayelsa, his colleague, the current national secretary, was given a single form to contest for the position of deputy national chairman.
He also accused some northern leaders of sharing positions among themselves without proper consultation, saying such actions showed selfishness and a lack of true leadership.
Turner added that the forthcoming convention could not be considered fair or transparent since many members were being excluded from participating, noting that the usual signs of mobilisation and excitement seen during previous conventions were missing this time.
He called on the party to publish its financial records and the list of aspirants to show transparency saying, “I challenge the party to publish our statement of accounts and show where aspirants paid for their nomination forms. They should also publish the list of aspirants.”
He further urged the party leadership to rebuild trust and restore fairness if the PDP hopes to recover its lost glory.
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