The National Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Samuel Anyanwu, and former governor of Benue State Dr Samuel Ortom, failed to appear before Chief Tom Ikimi-led National Disciplinary Committee of the party that is investigating allegations of anti-party activities against them.

The committee had in a statement last week, said Anyanwu, Ortom and 10 other unnamed members of the party, have been invited to appear before it on Wednesday, February 12 at Legacy House, Maitama by 10 am.

“Those expected to attend are the petitioners and their witnesses on the one hand and the affected party members and their witnesses on the other hand. The required notices have been issued accordingly.

“The National Disciplinary Committee is committed to ensuring discipline within the party and restoring the integrity of the party,” Ikimi said in the statement.

But as of 2:30 PM, none of the invitees was sighted at the venue, and Ikimi explained that the committee could not proceed because it received correspondences from the two people who were supposed to appear before it.

He disclosed that Anyanwu sent a report that he had a medical appointment with his doctor accompanied by a letter from his doctor and asked for another date.

“In the case of Samuel Ortom and others, they claimed that the invitations were not received.

“But the petitions were served on them directly and through courier and there was evidence that the petitions arrived at their destinations,” he said.

Ikimi said the committee decided to defer the sitting till March 4, and assured that they would give everyonea  fair hearing.

In a letter to Ikimi by his lawyer, C.T. Mue, the former governor said he got to know about the invitation through a public notice issued by the committee.

Ortom stated that the public notice issued to him by the committee caused him “reputational harm and violates (his) fundamental principles as enshrined in Section 57 of the PDP Constitution 2017 (as amended) and Section 24 of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.)”

He noted that Section 57(4) of the PDP Constitution mandates that where an allegation is made against a member, the disciplinary committee must inform the member in writing about the allegations against him and the date, time, and venue of the hearing.

“Despite this clear provision, our client was neither formally notified of any allegations in writing before the press release was issued.

“This constitutes a gross violation of the provisions of the PDP Constitution,” he stated

The letter said the National Disciplinary Committee lacks the jurisdiction to entertain any disciplinary action against Ortom, and therefore “the purported inquiry (is) procedurally defective and unconstitutional.”

Ortom said the premature publication of allegations against him without being duly informed, as provided by Section 57(4) of the Constitution of PDP 2017 (as amended), has led to public ridicule and reputational harm.

He demanded immediate withdrawal of the press release issued on February 5 and a written apology to him, within 48 hours.

The former governor told the committee to desist from further public commentary on the matter until he was formally notified of any allegations and given an opportunity to respond.

“Failure to comply with these demands within 48 hours from receipt of this letter will leave our client with no choice but to seek redress in a court of law, including instituting a defamation lawsuit and petitioning law enforcement agencies for violations of the Cybercrimes Act 2015,” the letter demanded.

Chairman of Benue State chapter of the PDP Ezekiel Adaji through his office the invitation was sent to Ortom, in another letter to Ikimi, said he was unable to deliver the letter “for want of time.”

Adaji explained that the invitation letter, which was dated February 6, was delivered to his office on February 10, at about 4 PM, and advised that the committee should reschedule the meeting and notify him on time, to enable him to convey the message to the people concerned.