By Newsmata
Abia State High Court sitting at Obehie, Ukwa West Local Government Area, has stopped the enforcement of the purported suspension of the former Senate President and the Chairman, Board of Trustees, BoT, of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Adolphus Wabara.
Presiding judge, Justice Livingstone Chibuike Eruba, in an order, restrained Elder Abraham Amah, laying claim to the Abia State chairmanship of the PDP, from enforcing the said suspension.
Senator Wabara had in a suit marked HUK/8/2025, dragged Amah before the court, seeking an order of the court restraining the defendant from enforcing the purported suspension.
Granting Wabara’s prayers, the court ordered: “The defendant is restrained from enforcing the suspension of the Claimant/Applicant from the People’s Democratic Party, or in any way, affecting his position as the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the PDP till the motion on notice is determined “.
Recall that Amah, a former Vice Chairman of the PDP, Abia North, had penultimate week, in Umuahia, announced the purported suspension of Wabara, accusing the former Senate President of engaging in anti-party.
Amah cited a complimentary remark by the BoT Chairman on the state governor, Alex Otti, for awarding a contract for the reconstruction of the long-abandoned Port Harcourt Road, Aba, in October 2023, as anti-party.
However, in a swift reaction, the National Working Committee, NWC, of the PDP, declared the purported suspension “null and void and of no effect”.
The NWC stated that the said suspension violated the party’s constitution, and did not hold any water.
In the same vein, a political pressure group known as PDP Frontiers for Change and Progress argued that Amah lacked the constitutional powers to suspend a BoT Chairman of the party.
In a related development, the PDP Frontiers for Change and Progress, has upbraided a former Commissioner for Information in the state, John Okiyi Kalu over his recent media attacks on Wabara.
Kalu had alleged on a live radio programme in Umuahia, that Senator Wabara had a secret meeting in London with Gov. Alex Otti, to perfect plans to bring the Governor to the PDP ahead of 2027.
The former commissioner further claimed that Wabara’s intension in wooing Otti was to chase ex-Governor Okezie Ikpeazu (who Kalu served under), from the ‘Big Umbrella’.
But the National Coordinator of the PDP pro-group, Emeka Yellow Ikpegbu, challenged Kalu to substantiate his claims with evidence.
He accused Kalu and his co-travellers of resorting to blackmail to frustrate the genuine efforts of “Senator Wabara and other progressives” to rebuild the party which he said, “was destroyed by APC moles in the PDP”.
Ikpegbu contended that even if efforts were made to bring Otti back to the PDP, such efforts were not strange in politics and should not in any way pose a threat to any genuine lover of the party.
He regretted that “some individuals acting as moles for the APC” were making “futile attempts to hijack the leadership of the PDP in Abia State” but vowed never to give them “any breathing space.”
Ikegbu insisted that “We will not allow people who claim to be in PDP but their spirit is with the APC to destroy our great party. They go to Abuja and lobby for appointments in an APC-led federal government but come to Abia to destroy the PDP so they can use it as bargaining instrument in 2027.
“It’s better they formally defect to the APC and leave the PDP alone so we can rebuild our party. Abia is a PDP state, and nobody will stop the genuine efforts of progressives to rebuild the party and open it up for good persons to join us.
“What’s wrong if Governor Otti, who everybody can see, is performing, decides to join the PDP? APC is wooing him, APGA is wooing him. What is wrong if PDP also woos him? A performing Governor is always a beautiful bride, and his joining the PDP will brighten our fortunes in 2027.”
Ikpegbu further recalled that in 2010, former Governor Theodore Orji left the Progressives Peoples Alliance, PPA, for the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, before finally joining the PDP, arguing that assuming Otti makes up his mind to join the PDP, “it won’t be the first time a sitting governor will be joining the PDP”.
But Otti’s Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma, had in quick response to Kalu, said that his principal had no intentions dumping the Labour Party, the platform on which he came to power.
He also denied any secret meeting between Otti and Wabara in London, adding that even if the Governor decided to join the PDP, “he will not be joining the faction led by Kalu and his likes.”