From John-Abba Ogbodo (Abuja), Simeon Nwakandu (Makurdi) and Isa Abdusalami (Jos)

Aggrieved members in thousands stormed the Wadata Plaza, Abuja national headquarters of the party, to lodge their complaints and protests.

Those at the national headquarters included Senate President, Ken Nnamani, Governor Sam Egwu of Ebonyi; former Sports Minister, Damashi Sango and former Aviation Minister, Isa Yuguda

They were there to protest the manner the cards were being distributed.

Scores of lawmakers from the National Assembly were also at the office of the national chairman of the party, Ahmadu Ali, to register their grievances over alleged marginalisation in the cards' distribution.

The first group that came to the PDP secretariat was the Bauchi State contingent numbering over 500. It was led by the former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mustapha Ahmed.

Their arrival at the secretariat at about 11.00 a.m. coincided with that of Yuguda who is also from the state. The group carried placards alleging the hijacking of the registration exercise by the state governor, Alhaji Adamu Mu'azu.

Ahmed said despite that the cards arrived in the state last week, most party members and especially the state executive members, were yet to know anything about the registration exercise.

He alleged that "the governor has hijacked the cards and threatened to dissolve the state executive and bring on board only those who were willing to do his bidding."

The former Aviation Minister and some members of the National Assembly from the state held talks with the national chairman and other members of the National Working Committee (NWC) behind closed-doors.

Governor Egwu also led a delegation from his state to the secretariat at about 4.18 p.m. He met with the party's leadership.

Sources told The Guardian that at the meeting, he complained that even as a governor on the platform of the party, he did not know anything about the movement of the cards in his state.

Shortly after the governor left, Senate President Nnamani came to lay a similar complaint that the cards had been hijacked in Enugu.

As at press time last night, the Senate President was still meeting with the leadership of the party over the matter.

Mrs. Iyabo Anisulowo, a Senator from Ogun State, similarly complained that many members were being marginalised in her state. The Senator told reporters: "I am also affected."

Two members of the House of Representatives from Edo State, Abdul Oroh and Abubakar Momoh, also presented a written petition to the national chairman.

The petition, also signed by the 15 members of the Edo State House of Assembly, said that they had expected that the cards would be delivered to chairmen of the party in the local councils but "unfortunately, this is not to be in all the local government areas of Edo North Senatorial district.

In the zone, they added, the materials were given to loyalists of a prominent national officer of the party, whom they said went ahead to exclude all other party members adjudged not to be loyal to him.

Apparently due to the pressure mounted on him yesterday, the PDP national chairman made himself inaccessible to some of the protesters.

A meeting was scheduled for the Conference Hall of the secretariat with the party's links-men in the card project, but Ali after entering the hall at about 4.30 p.m., saw the crowd at the gate and quickly changed the venue.

The protest started last week when a group supporting the presidential ambition of Vice President Atiku Abubakar in 2007 alleged that his supporters were being schemed out.

The group, Turaki Vanguard led by Nasir Ngala (co-ordinator) and Lanre Tayemi (secretary), urged all the supporters of Atiku nation-wide to embark on harmonisation process with a view to forming a new political organisation that can accommodate them.

The national Publicity Secretary of the party, John Odey, admitted that there was a barrage of complaints but assured that the crisis management committee set up by the NWC would adequately address all of them.

"There were complaints but I can assure you that they would be adequately addressed. We are about addressing the links men who would go to the states tomorrow (today) and I can assure you that all would be treated well," he said.

Crisis has also broken out in the Benue State chapter of the PDP over the distribution of its new membership cards.

The Plateau State PDP yesterday also criticised the distribution of the cards.

Briefing journalists in his office, the state secretary of the PDP, Dr. Samuel Ortom, alleged that the Managing Director of Lower Benue River Basin Authority (LBRBA), Bisibi Ati, had hijacked the registration materials in the state.

He said that the hijack of the registration materials for Benue State by Ati was meant to exclude certain principal members of the state from the registration.

Ortom disclosed that the failure to access the registration materials forced the party secretariat to start registration of eligible party members in exercise books.

According to Ortom, the state police commissioner had to be involved before Ati released the registration materials to the police state command for safekeeping.

When The Guardian visited the Benue State police command, the bus bearing the PDP registration materials was sighted.

The bus belonging to Shallom Express had XB478 MKD as its registration number and bore several cartons or registration materials.

Contacted, Ati denied hijacking the registration materials of PDP. He said that he only assisted the Benue PDP registration officer, Mr. Victor Kpande, to transport the said materials from Abuja to Makurdi.

Ati further declared that he personally involved the Benue State police command to ensure that the materials did not get into wrong hands, as the PDP secretary, Dr. Samuel Ortom, become very restless and wanted the materials in his custody.