Explosion rocks PDP secretariat in Calabar

Suspected hoodlums threw explosives into the secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Calabar, the capital of Cross River state, on Monday.

Hogan Bassey, the state police public relations officer, confirmed the incident, saying thugs attacked the building after their attempt to gain access was foiled by the police.

“Early today, 24th November at about 0535 hours, hoodlums who were unable to penetrate the heavily fortified secretariat by officers and men of the command threw an explosive device from behind the premises into the building,” Bassey said in a statement.

“The explosion only shattered some louvers on the ground floor. No life was lost and nobody sustained injury.”

The attack has been linked with the crisis rocking the party in the state ahead of the forthcoming general election.

Notable members of the party Victor Ndoma-Egba, the senate majority leader, and Liyel Imoke, governor of the state, have been at loggerheads.

After the PDP congress held earlier in the month, the state leadership of the party suspended some loyalists of Ndoma-Egba, which worsened the friction.

With the crisis lingering, the national working committee of the party dissolved the congress and another congress was rescheduled for Monday.

But the incident led to a change of venue from the secretariat to the presidential lodge amid tight security.

“I understand they threw in a bomb or dynamite or something,”John Okon,the state PDP chairman, said.

“We will not be able to use the secretariat for the ward congresses. We would be using the presidential lodge. All the electoral officers are collecting their materials and going to the field. The windows and other things inside the office were destroyed.”

Meanwhile, security operatives, who said they were acting under instructions, barred people, including journalists, from gaining access to the new venue.

Reacting to the development, Ernest Irek, director-general of the Ndoma-Egba campaign organisation, alleged that the PDP ward congress had been militarised.

“They are militarising a simple thing as ward congresses and chasing away party members,” he said.

Irek also alleged that the explosion was staged so that the venue could be changed to suit some interests, adding that the list of delegates was not made available to the public.

There have been different attacks on party secretariats across the country during the build-up to 2015 election.

On September 26, suspected thugs set the secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ado-Ekiti ablaze, while the Rivers state secretariat of PDP was also torched in October.