IN spite of the moves by leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to save the party from implosion, following the suspension war engaged in by members of the party’s National Working Committee, there appears to be no respite yet for the leading opposition party.
Feelers from across the state indicate that some influential members of the party are still hell-bent on removing Ambassador Umar Illiya Damagum as acting National Chairman.
A founding member of the party, who spoke with the Sunday Tribune on condition of anonymity, said stakeholders in the North-Central can no longer tolerate a situation whereby some cabals within the party have decided to shut out the geopolitical zone for their selfish reasons without recourse to the constitution of the party in relation to zoning.
According to him, the general consensus among PDP members of both the green and red chambers is that the national chairman seat must be retrieved from Damagum and returned to North-Central.
“At the moment, we have only one governor from the North-Central, which is Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State. Other stalwarts of the party are being initiated on the development and the reason why the national chairmanship of the party should be returned to the North-Central. All political actors in the zone are on the same page on this issue,” he said.
Earlier, another founding member of the party in the zone, who is also a one-time Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Hon. Istifanus Mwansat, had tasked the elders and all leaders of the party in the zone to rise up to the occasion.
He expressed optimism that there would be a solution to the impasse when next the party convenes for its NEC meeting, adding that Damagum must go to pave the way for anyone from the North-Central to emerge.
“Definitely, there will be a solution because we have gone through this for a very long time. I am very optimistic that we shall come out of this very stronger. Damagum has no business holding on to the seat of the national championship of the party. If Ambassador Damagun actually loved the party and had its interests at heart, he was supposed to have resigned a long time ago.
“The position of the party is very clear on this; it was zoned to the North and further micro-zoned to the North-Central. It is extremely wrong for the zone where Damagum comes from to continue to hold on to both the position of the national chairman and the deputy at the same time. So, Damagum should go since the position belongs to the North-Central.
“I am surprised that our leaders in the North-Central are not keen and willing to take what actually belongs to us. The time to rise up is now; our leaders must rise up. They should reclaim what rightly belongs to us.
“He has been suspended, so he cannot preside over the next NEC meeting he consistently refused to allow NEC to hold. The fact that he visited Governor Bala Mohammed does not amount to him getting support from the governors,” he said.
Also supporting the sacking of Damagum, a cross section of members of the PDP applauded the resolution of the NWC which led to the suspension of Damagun and his allies from the party.
The lawmakers, including National Assembly members, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, expressed grave concerns over plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC) under President Bola Tinubu to turn Nigeria into a one-party state.
The PDP faithful, who expressed excitement over the development, described the appointment of Alhaji Yayari Ahmed Mohammed as the acting national chairman of the party.
While acknowledging that some PDP governors play major role in dividing the party, they, however, expressed optimism that PDP will bounce back to victory with the new development.
“Our worry has been the grand attempt to turn Nigeria into one-party state by whatever means they’ve adopted.
“We are more worried that some of the governors who joined forces to perpetuate the evil machinations against our party, failed to back down in their fruitless journey. But as you can see, we laugh last because their plans eventually failed.
“We are most grateful to God and our party leaders for taking this decisive decision in the best interest of Nigeria and Nigerians who have been yearning for restoration of PDP and we are glad to arrive at this safe coast,” one of the PDP lawmakers told Sunday Tribune.
Court order has no effect —Ugochinyere
Speaking in the same vein, spokesperson of opposition lawmakers’ coalition, Hon. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, has clarified that there is no court order that stopped the PDP NWC from Damagun and lauded the action of the NWC.
In a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja, Ugochinyere insisted that there was no federal or state high court order in force before the long-overdue removal of Damagun as PDP national chairman was done.
According to him, “recall that following the suspension of Amb. Illiya Damagun as the Acting National Chairman of our party and others, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the National Working Committee (NWC) approved the appointment of Alhaji Yayari Ahmed Mohammed (present National Treasurer of PDP) as the Acting National Chairman.
“But Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, on Friday, restrained the National Executive Committee (NEC) and Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from removing Ambassador Umar Damagun as the Acting National Chairman of the party.”
He contended that the court order was not binding on the PDP as Damagum had already been suspended before the court gave the order.
According to him, “Justice Lifu’s order in favour of pro-Wike PDP faction came after Damagun has been suspended,” he said, insisting that Alhaji Yayari remains the acting chairman, while the party awaits the NEC meeting.
NASS caucus to meet on Wednesday ―Senator Morro
Amidst the power tussle within the PDP which has polarised its NWC into factions, its lawmakers in both chambers of National Assembly are set to meet on Wednesday in a move to seek genuine reconciliation.
Senate Minority Leader and Chairman of the National Assembly Caucus of the main opposition party, Senator Abba Morro, dropped the hint at the weekend.
Speaking with Sunday Tribune in a telephone interview, Senator Morro said the meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday to ensure large presence of members some of whom he noted are outside the country on a parliamentary engagement.
He said: “I have discussed with my counterpart in the House of Representatives and we have actually fixed a meeting for Wednesday because most of my colleagues are in Switzerland now.
“We support the moves by the Board of Trustees and the Governors Forum. We are for stability of the party. We believe that we should maintain the status quo for now.”
The Senate Minority Leader, who attributed the impasse to the fall out of last general elections expressed the hope that lasting peace would be achieved, given genuine, concerted efforts by members.
He said: “The crisis in PDP is a fallout of the 2023 general elections and the anger from the G-5 governors that Dr Iyorchia Ayu should resign and his removal created instability. I think the crisis is within ourselves.”
He, however, admitted that certain figures outside the erstwhile ruling party are also instigating the crisis.
“As a major opposition party, we think there are some individuals outside the party who will want this crisis to continue,” he said.
Meanwhile, a one-time zonal chairman of the North-Western zone of the PDP, Dr Aminu Abdullahi Taura, called on the party’s Board of Trustees (BOT) and national executive members to be more proactive in resolving the lingering leadership crises devilling the party.
The zonal chairman made the call while speaking to Sunday Tribune in Dutse on phone. He also advised all aggrieved party members to drop their personal interests and work for peace and unity for the party to regain power in 2027.
Dr Taura said, “There are some founding fathers of the party people like former Jigawa State governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, who have the party’s interests at heart and are doing their best to ensure the party’s peace, unity and strength. It is necessary for all well-meaning members to give them support. I believe they can do it.”
According to him, “There were some mistakes that were made in the past; some members committed offences during last 2023 elections without any disciplinary action taken against them.”
Bauchi, Ekiti, Awka keep mum
It is, however, not clear what the direction of stakeholders in Bauchi State is on the development.
Recall that Damagun was in Bauchi on Friday with state chairmen of the party in the six states of the North-East geopolitical zone to meet with the Bauchi State governor, Senator Bala Mohammed.
While fielding questions from journalists after the meeting, Governor Mohammed refused to speak on who the acting chairman of the PDP is.
The Bauchi State Chairman of the PDP, Mr Samaila Burga, also did not respond when asked about the development.
Other PDP members in the state that were contacted over the development declined to comment, saying that they are only watching the situation.
The same scenario played out in Ekiti State, where the caretaker committee running the affairs of the PDP in the state declined official comments on the crisis rocking the NWC over the suspension of Damagum.
But a member of the 21-man caretaker committee, who spoke with Sunday Tribune on the condition of anonymity, explained that the NWC under the leadership of suspended acting chairman constituted the committee.
He explained that even though they would support every move towards the repositioning of the party, the state chapter hoped that all contending issues would soon be resolved.
According to the committee member, “You know it was the Damagum-led NWC that set up the caretaker committee for Ekiti and it will be inappropriate for us to openly take a stand at this moment.
“We are monitoring the situation and we are calling on the groups to find a common ground for the party to be united again for us to be able to confront the APC and defeat them.”
When contacted, a former chairman of the PDP in Ekiti State, Chief Gboyega Oguntuase, explained that the acting chairman was suspended by the majority members of the NWC and that the action should be upheld.
He called for the intervention of the NEC in resolving the leadership crisis within the party, noting that it is only the NEC that could douse tension.
In the same vein, the Anambra State chapter of the PDP also said it has no comment for now regarding the suspension of both Damagum and Anyanwu.
When contacted over the matter on Saturday, the State Chairman of the party, Chigozie Igwe, disclosed said the party under his watch would not comment for now because the full details of the crisis is yet to be known.
“Please, we will comment after the next meeting of the National Working Committee of the party.
“As it stands now, we have no knowledge about what is happening at the national headquarters of the party.
“We will react immediately after the next meeting of the NWC,” the chairman pleaded.
Benue PDP wants status quo maintained
In a related development, the Benue State chapter of the PDP has stated that it hopes for the status quo to remain till the NEC meeting expected to hold on October 24, 2024.
While speaking on Saturday, the state publicity secretary of the party, Tim Njor, disclosed that the position of the party in the state is for status quo to remain.
Corroborating the stance, one of the top aspirants for the national chairmanship seat of the party, Conrad Terhide Utaan, also drummed up support for Damagum to remain till the NEC meeting.
Speaking through his media aide, Bemgba Iortyom, the aspirant said that he was not supporting any faction but the position of the chairman of PDP Governor’s Forum is that the status quo should be maintained.
He said: “We are in agreement with the position of the chairman of PDP Governor’s Forum because that is the constitutional provision to follow.
“We are, however, looking forward the crisis being resolved at the NEC meeting of the party. We are hoping that the position of the chairmanship will be occupied by someone in the area where the ousted chairman hails from and that is what the constitution provides and the reason we are in the race.”
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