THE National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, has  resigned from office, following months of pressure to vacate office as a result of his ongoing prosecution by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over N104 million fraud allegedly perpetrated by him while he was a minister.

He dropped his resignation letter with the National Secretary of the party, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, on Thursday evening. 

However, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party will meet over the resignation today in an emergency session.

Confusion had initially trailed the likelihood of Ogbulafor resigning on Thursday.

Before Ogbulafor dropped his letter of resignation with him, Alhaji Baraje could neither confirm nor deny whether the party chairman would tow the  path of honour.

It was, however, gathered that members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party were expecting him to turn in his letter of resignation by the end of Thursday, which he eventually did.

An NWC member confirmed to the Nigerian Tribune that he was expected to submit the letter before the close of work on Thursday, saying “it is true that he will submit his letter of resignation to the Deputy National Chairman if he has not already done it.”

It was understood that Prince Ogbulafor, who did not report for work on Thursday, had instructed his personal aides to commence the process of clearing his desk at the Wadata Plaza national secretariat of the party.

The atmosphere at the national secretariat was solemn as members of staff and visitors alike, who obviously got a hint of the resignation, were huddled together in different groups, apparently discussing the fate of the party boss.

The National Secretary, who was confronted by inquisitive reporters, initially said that Ogbulafor could not resign without his knowledge but later added that he would be able to give a definite answer before the close of the day.

Alhaji Baraje added that since governors of the South-East region had asked Prince Ogbulafor to resign from his position, he found it expedient to carry out further consultation among his people before taking a final decision, saying that the party was expecting him to give a feedback on the consultation.

According to him, “the national chairman of a party like the PDP cannot resign without you hearing. I cannot confirm that to you now, but, may be in the next few hours, I will be able to confirm yes or no.”

“At present, he is doing a lot of consultation around his zone and the outcome of the consultation is what he will tell us, whether he is going to resign or not. That is why I tell you that at present, I cannot confirm and I know that before the end of the day, definitely, you will know the outcome of his consultation,” the party scribe said.

Alhaji Baraje said Prince Ogbulafor would hand over to his deputy if he resigned as prescribed by the constitution of the party.

“The process is that he will resign, hand over to the deputy and the deputy will hold fort. A letter will have to be presented to the deputy who will, in turn, present it to the NEC and, at the same time, approved,” Alhaji Baraje noted.

The party secretary, however, regretted that the national chairman appeared to have been found guilty, though his case had not been concluded in court, as he observed that any accused had a right to be assumed innocent until proven guilty by a competent court.

When asked if the NWC was comfortable with Prince Ogbulafor in office, Alhaji Baraje said the feeling of the party on the matter was irrelevant, adding that “the idea of whether we are happy or not has nothing to do with the situation.

“Whether we are happy or not, he sits down as the chairman. If we are unhappy, we cannot remove him because all of us come from different zones and states.”

Meanwhile, the PDP is already looking towards a post-Ogbulafor tenure, as indications emerged on Thursday that the stakeholders have intensified a search for his replacement.

Although President Goodluck Jonathan had tried not to be drawn into the fray directly, governors on the ticket of the PDP, who initially provided the backing for the embattled national chairman, had backed out and had pledged support for a total cleansing of the party of corruption taint.

In the last 48 hours, governors of the three PDP-controlled states of the South-East had met on the matter and an enlarged caucus of the PDP Governors’ Forum had met with the president to table the need to remove Ogbulafor.

“The governors believed that they could read the president’s body language and that though he has not directly asked for Ogbulafor’s resignation, they believe his declaration that he was not going to stand for anyone undergoing corruption trial indicates a lack of trust in Ogbulafor,” a source said.
Lobbyists for Ogbulafor, who had mounted pressure on principal officers of the National Assembly before his trial commenced in the Abuja high court over the alleged N104 million fraud, had now intensified their lobby of the Senate President, David Mark and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Dimeji Bankole.
It was, however, gathered that stakeholders in the party had resolved to scout around and present an acceptable replacement for Ogbulafor.

While some interests were said to be looking in the direction of a former Minister of State for Defence, Ambassador Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi, others were said to have shortlisted a former Minister of Information, Chief John Nwodo and another former minister, Professor A. B. C. Nwosu.

But there had not been consensus within the party, as the different interest groups had gone separate ways in search of the new PDP chairman.

The group of former governors, led by Chief Lucky Igbinedion, was also said to be lobbying for the former governor of  Imo State, Chief Achike Udenwa and his Ebonyi State counterpart, Dr Sam Egwu.

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