Secret Reporters No place to hide
Ekene Israel
A Peoples Democratic Party, PDP chieftain in Adamawa State Dr. Umar Ardo has said that the statement credited to former Lagos military governor, Gen. Buba Marwa which Marwa made at a meeting of party executives in Mubi that “the issue of my waiver has since been taken care of at the party’s headquarters,”, as Ardo said that Marwa was yet to secure for himself the party’s waiver, adding that Marwa’s claim that he gotten one was false.
In statement issued by Ardo he said; “My attention is drawn to the claim by Gen. Buba Marwa in a meeting with party executives in Mubi as published by the Leadership Newspapers to the effect that “the issue of my waiver had since been taken care of at the party’s headquarters …” In fact, in the meeting Marwa categorically claimed that he had a waiver.
According to Ardo in his statement he said; “I have very high respects for Gen. Marwa, but on this claim I am sure he is economical with the truth. Section 50 (10b) of the PDP Constitution is clear as to how waiver is obtained. The process starts from the ward level, through the Local Govt, to the State, to the Zonal, to the NWC and finally be approved by the NEC. The constitution is also clear that even the NEC lacks the power to grant waiver unless “the process of clearance of the waiver starts from the ward levels”.
“Marwa claims that I was ignorant of his waiver as I did not verify from the party executives. But he is wrong, because I verified the facts before making my assertion. Marwa hails from Michika 2 Ward of Michika Local Govt. I have spoken to Mr. Adamu Iliya, the Chairman of Michika 2 Ward and he stated that not only Marwa never applied to the ward for waiver and therefore was never recommended but also he had never even seen Marwa in person since the latter’s purported return to the party. I have also inquired from the PDP State Chairman on the issue and he denied any knowledge of such request coming from the Local Govt chapter. He said the only thing he is aware of is that Marwa applied to meet with party executives in the state and he approved it, which is normal having just returned to the party. I have also inquired from three members of the NWC and they all denied ever treating this issue in any of their meetings. Besides, I saw the agenda of the last NEC meeting and the issue of Marwa’s waiver was not there,” Ardo said.
“So, where and how did Marwa get the waiver he is making claim to? The truth is that Marwa has no waiver and his claim to having one is false. While I call on Marwa to both regularize his waiver process and acquaint himself with the party leadership in his ward, I take this opportunity to call on all PDP executives and members in the state to be wary of claims from desperate politicians as we approach the party primaries,” he said.
