The Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has solidified his position in the Peoples Democratic Party leadership crisis as the National Working Committee endorsed the Rivers State congresses.

Wike’s loyalists within the PDP NWC not only secured the approval but also postponed the National Executive Committee meeting, originally set for September 26, to October 24, which could have overturned the decision.

The PDP NWC, led by acting National Chairman Umar Damagum, made this decision during a meeting at the party’s national headquarters, Wadata Plaza, in Abuja on Thursday.

The NWC meeting had been delayed for the past three weeks amid rising tension within the party, especially between former Rivers State governor Wike and the PDP Governors Forum over the status of Rivers State party congresses.

The political conflict between Wike and current Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, escalated on August 24 when PDP governors publicly backed Fubara.

PDP governors called for a review of the Rivers State Congresses and affirmed Fubara’s role as the leader of the PDP in the state.

This support for Fubara enraged Wike, who on August 31 threatened to create chaos in the governors’ states if they did not refrain from interfering in Rivers State matters.

The APC had fixed September 11 and 12 for the two meetings respectively following approval by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The party also published advertorials, asking members of the two organs to attend.

But the APC National Publicity Secretary, Barrister Felix Morka, announced the postponement of the two meetings in a statement on Monday night.

Morka said new dates for the meetings would be communicated in due course.

The statement reads in part, “Members of the National Caucus and National Executive Committee (NEC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are hereby informed that the National Caucus and National Executive Committee meetings scheduled to be held on September 11 and 12, 2024, respectively, have been postponed.”

The Supreme Court on Friday delìvered the judgment in the governorship election disputes in Bayelsa involving, Duoye Diri of the PDP and Timipre Sylva, the candidate of the APC.

The apex court affirmed the re-election of Bayelsa State Governor Duoye Diri, having dismissed the appeal of Timipre Sylva, the candidate of the APC, in the November 11 off-cycle election.

In the judgment, the five-member Apex Court panel headed by Justice Lawal Garba affirmed the Court of Appeal’s decision of 15 July, which deemed Sylva’s appeal an abuse of the Court process for filing two notices of appeal.

Citing a section of the 1999 Constitution, the Apex Court panel held that the APC Governorship candidate has only one right to appeal the judgment of the Tribunal and not multiple.

The Court, therefore, faulted the APC Governorship candidate who filed two notices of appeal to the Appellate Court. In a unanimous judgment, the appeal was therefore dismissed by the Supreme Court for lacking merit.

The Electoral body, INEC had declared that governor Diri of the PDP garnered a total of 175,196 votes to defeat his closest rival, Sylva of the APC who polled 110,108 votes.