The crisis in Nigeria’s major opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, deepened Wednesday as the Board of Trustees, BoT, held its meeting, thereby defying the decision of the National Working Committee that all meetings of the organs of the party be shifted to next week.

The spokesperson of the party, Olisa Metuh, had on Monday issued a statement saying the meeting of the National Caucus of the party had been shifted to Monday next week, while that of the BoT would hold on the morning of Tuesday, February 16th to be followed by a meeting of the National Executive Committee, NEC.

A member of the BoT had on Tuesday informed said that the BoT was “not answerable to the NWC and would therefore, hold its meeting on Tuesday as scheduled”.

The BoT carried out its threat and held its meeting at the Nicon Luxury Hotel in Abuja.

One of the major outcomes of the meeting was the decision to sack its acting chairman, Bello Haliru, and appoint a replacement.

Mr. Haliru is currently facing trial at a Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations he received large sums of money from the embattled former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, through his son.

Briefing reporters at the Wadata Plaza secretariat of the PDP, the secretary of the BoT, Walid Jibrin, said he had been asked to take over as acting chairman, pending when a substantive chairman would emerge.

Credit: PREMIUMTIMES