Rotimi Amaechi And 6 Other PDP Governors Register New Political Party, Called VOP

The crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, took a turn for the worse over the weekend, with the decision of seven of the party’s 23 governors to float a new party, the Voice of the People, VOP.

The application for registration by the new party, it was learnt at the weekend, has been filed with the Independent National Electoral Commission, which is processing it. A source in INEC contacted on the development, yesterday, said he was unable to confirm the veracity or the stage of the application.

The party, it was learnt, is receiving the patronage of several chieftains of the PDP.

The seven governors alleged to be behind the new party include all five Northern governors that have engaged in a series of consultation with eminent statesmen, including former heads of state. The five governors are Murtala Nyako of Adamawa ; Rabiu Kwankwanso of Kano; Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto; Sule Lamido of Jigawa and Babangida Aliyu of Niger State. The five governors are being joined in the rebellion against the PDP by Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara and Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State.

Another governor is also sympathetic to the proposed VOP, but his identity could not be confirmed as at weekend.