THE crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party has continued to defy all peace  moves as the Abubakar Baraje-led faction on Monday announced the appointment of more members into its National Working Committee.

The announcement by the National Secretary of the faction, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola,  came  barely 72 hours after the police laid siege to their  secretariat in Abuja.

It also coincided with the  boycott of   a meeting  convened  by the National Chairman of the PDP,   Dr. Bamanga Tukur,  in Abuja on Monday by 17 state chairmen  of the party.

President Goodluck Jonathan is  expected  to continue  his peace talks  with all the  governors elected on the PDP platform   at the Presidential Villa in Abuja  on Tuesday (today).

But Oyinlola,  in a statement  in Abuja, said the  stakeholders  of the New PDP  across the country  had ratified the election of members of  the NWC.

Apart from    Baraje, who is  the  NWC chairman and  Dr Sam Sam Jaja,  deputy national chairman,    Maode  Hiliya was named the  deputy national secretary;   Timi Frank,  national youth leader; and  Mrs. Binta Koje,  national woman leader.

Others are  Mallam Nasir Issa, national organising secretary ;Chief  Chukwuemeka Eze, national publicity secretary; Aliyu Wadada, national financial secretary; and   Mallam Tanko  Gomna, national treasurer.

Oyinlola however did not say when and where the NWC members were elected.

Also on Monday,    Tukur hosted 19 state chairmen of the PDP and their Federal Capital Territory counterpart in his bid to win their support against the Baraje-led group.

 It was learnt that  the majority of the 17 state chairmen  that  stayed away  from the  meeting  attended the PDP post-convention dinner, which was held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Sunday night.

Before the dinner,  all the state chairmen had also met at the Agura Hotel,  Abuja where discussions were held on the  party’s crisis.

  The chairmen  that were absent  from the   meeting with Tukur  were those of  Kano, Sokoto, Kwara, Niger, Jigawa, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Anambra, Taraba, Kebbi, Borno, Bauchi, Delta, Edo and Bayelsa states.

In  attendance   were  chairmen from Zamfara, Kaduna, Katsina, Oyo, Cross River, Adamawa, Yobe, Ekiti, Benue, Kogi, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Nasarawa, Ondo, Lagos, Gombe, Ogun, Osun  and Plateau   states  and the FCT.

The  Chairman of the Conference of the PDP State Chairmen, Dr. Emmanuel Agbo, confirmed to   journalists that some of his colleagues who were absent  from the meeting  attended the   post-convention  dinner.

He said some of the chairmen from states such as Bayelsa, Enugu, Edo and Ebonyi sent apologies that they were returning to their respective states on Monday morning.

He said, "The decisions we took at the meeting were endorsed by our colleagues, whether present or not. But if you doubt me,  I can call  and put them on the speaker phone."

At the meeting, Tukur said it was only the PDP that could guarantee Nigeria’s unity and that of the entire  Africa.

He  said, "Today,  no party in Nigeria has spread like PDP and that means  that  people accept our party. It  means also that  it is a big responsibility, hence the people believe there must be equity and justice.  I am analogue, while you are digital. I will give you wisdom to tackle tomorrow and we believe that every member of the party has the right to express himself. But the  majority will always have their way while minority will have their say."

The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP Chief Olisa Metuh, said the election of a parallel NWC by the Baraje-led faction was a mockery of the peace process.

Metuh added that it was sad that the faction decided to continue its "rebelling behaviour" in spite of the peace process.

He said, "I think it’s a mockery of the peace process. As it is now, we don’t know how serious this is.

"The party will meet and review its position accordingly. We will meet and consider the current happenings and review our position and what we need to do in the circumstance."

The PUNCH has however learnt that the  Presidency has concluded plan to render five of the seven ‘rebel’ governors ineffective in their states by sacking the  executives of the party in their states.

The states concerned are Kwara, Kano, Jigawa, Sokoto and Niger.

The decision   was said to have been  reached by the three strategic committees set up by   Jonathan to look into the crisis in the  party.

Sources  said that  the President   was of the opinion that reconciliation had failed between him, the party elders and the ‘rebel’ governors.

The governors  are  Sule Lamido(Jigawa);   Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto);   Rabiu Kwakwanso (Kano);  Aliyu Babangida (Niger);  and   Abdulfatah Ahmed(Kwara).

A Presidency source told  journalists   on Monday evening,  that the expected submission of the report of the elders committtee headed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo might be a mere formality.

He said,  "It is the view of the committees that we needed to use carrot and stick before and it was apparent that  that has failed.

"So, what we would do now is the stick approach. The world knows that the governors are fighting us and  we need not to pretend anymore that we are not together.

"That is why we opted for the complete  dissolution of the state executive committees of at least five of the   states."

The  executive committees of the party in  Rivers and Adamawa states have since been taken from the governors and handed over to those considered as protégés of the Presidency.

The governors of the two states, Rotimi Amaechi and Murtala Nyako,  are also believed to be against the second term ambition of President   Jonathan.

When contacted, the  Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Dr. Ahmed Gulak, said, "It’s not the President that runs the party. Please direct your enquiry to the national  secretariat of the PDP."

Jonathan is,  however,  expected to meet with  all the PDP governors in Abuja on Tuesday (today).

The meeting is coming ahead of an alleged disagreement of members of the Elders Committee of the party, headed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The elders met with all the factions of the party in Abuja on Friday, with the aim of resolving the crisis.

Apart from Obasanjo, others  at the meeting   were former  military President Ibrahim Babangida;  ex- chairmen of the PDP, Dr. Ahmadu Ali and  Sen. Barnabas Gemade; as well as the  Chairman, Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih.

Another former Chairman of the party, Chief Solomon Lar, and an ex-BoT Chairman, Dr. Alex Ekwueme,  were absent at the meeting as they were said to have travelled outside the country.

Two of the  elders at the meeting were said to have disagreed  with some of the recommendations made in their report.

Meanwhile, a former Vice-President, Alhaji  Atiku Abubakar,  has asked the Inspector-General of Police, Abubakar Muhammed, to  withdraw policemen from the secretariat of the New PDP in Abuja.

Abubakar, who is currently in China leading a private economic trade mission at the invitation of the Chinese government, issued a statement declaring that the  police invasion on the  secretariat    was  borne  out of intolerance.

The statement reads in part, "While it is embarrassing that the police have yet to give a reason on why they are laying siege to a political party office, the whole world knows these are acts prompted by unscrupulous politicians, who do not even have the moral conscience not to involve the police in politics.

"I call on the leadership of the Nigerian Police, especially its Inspector-General, to steer clear of political entanglements, and immediately vacate our party’s office. Our national law enforcement priority must be the safety and security of  Nigerians, not politics."

The former Vice-President said it was embarrassing that in a week when a top Christian clergy, a top lawyer and senior advocate and countless others were  being held captive by kidnappers, the  Police could muster the resources to seal the headquarters of the  New  PDP in negation of a court order."

By the latest behaviour of the police , the former Vice-President said, the IG  had  become  openly and overzealously partisan over the internal crisis of the PDP.