PDP Accountable to INEC, Not EFCC, Says BoT

By Chuks Okocha

The Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after its meeting yesterday over the petition against the National Chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus said that the PDP as a political party was not accountable to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) but to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). report to the EFCC.

Speaking with journalists after the meeting, the chairman of the PDP BoT, Senator Walid Jubrin said that the PDP reports directly to INEC as its regulatory body.

He said it was INEC that should raise objections to PDP’s accounts, if any, and not the anti-graft agency

The BoT also blamed Kasim Afegbua for not following due processes of channeling its petition, saying, “he ought to have used the opportunity of the PDP constitution and various organs to ventilate his petition to the various organs of the party.

“In the PDP, aggrieved members ventilate his or her grievances through well-known party organs and not externalising them. This is moreso when the issues involved have a regulatory body like INEC.

“INEC is the regulatory organ of all political parties and the PDP is inclusive. The PDP’s account has been audited by a reputable chattered firm and the report is with INEC and the body has not raised any objection on the account of the party.

“It is both constitutionally wrong for EFCC to intervene in issues that it is purely of political parties and Kasim Afegbua is not following the due processes in this instant case”, he said.

On the defection of Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River to the APC, the PDP BoT chairman said that it was shocking for a governor who had benefited from the PDP to behave the way, he did.

However, the BoT chairman of PDP said that the party would soon organise a mega rally in Calabar to show the world who owns the state.