Former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido has demanded that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike; former Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom; and former Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, be expelled immediately for alleged anti-party activities during the 2023 general election.
On Friday, Lamido stated on Channels Television’s Politics Today that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) must show leadership by disciplining those who openly worked against its interests.
“All those erring members, the Wikes, the Ortoms, the Ikpeazus and others, who openly campaigned against the PDP in the 2023 elections and who say that they are going to work for APC in 2027, should be sacked from the party,” he declared.
Lamido voiced disgust with what he described as a culture of impunity inside the PDP, claiming it had gone unchecked for far too long.
“From way back after the primaries of 2022 leading to the elections of 2023, there are people who, because of their own interest and ambition, felt aggrieved about what transpired in the party’s convention and what they felt was not being able to address their interests as individuals at the elections.
“And they turned out against the party and fought the party. We’ve been having this kind of problem, the impunity of people castrating the party and denouncing it,” he said.
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The former governor decried the party’s failure to enforce its own constitution, noting that those who broke internal norms faced no consequences.
“In the constitution, if you breach the party’s code, you are sanctioned. But somehow, going into a ditch, the party executives are now alive to their responsibilities,” he added.
Lamido also announced that he would boycott party Board of Trustees (BOT) meetings until those accused of working against the PDP face disciplinary action.
Meanwhile, the PDP’s National Working Committee (NWC) issued a caution on Friday to members who had indicated support for President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The NWC stated that such actions were anti-party and would not be condoned. It advised all members to retrace their steps or face “stiffer sanctions” as required by the party constitution.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")