Damagum: Continuous postponement of NEC meeting unsettles PDP stakeholders
There is currently no end in sight to the leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
The move to remove the acting National Chairman of the party, Umar Damagum has continued to suffer setbacks following the continuous postponements of the National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting.
The umpteenth time, the main opposition party on Friday postponed its proposed NEC meeting meant to discuss some issues bedeviling the party and present a substantive National Chairman that would take over from Damagum and complete the tenure of the suspended Iyorchia Ayu.
Recall that at the 98th NEC meeting on April 18, the NEC fixed August 15 to resolve all lingering issues, but unfortunately, it was postponed and rescheduled for October 24.
As the plot to oust Damagum thickened, the meeting was further shifted from October 24 to November 28.
According to the party, the move was to ensure that it goes into the recently concluded Ondo gubernatorial elections with the unity and strength demanded to unseat the All Progressive Congress, APC, government in the state.
However, the hope to end the crisis rocking the party was again dashed on Friday when the PDP National Secretary, Sen Samuel Anyanwu announced the indefinite postponement of the much anticipated NEC meeting.
According to the party, the decision was taken to enable party leadership to attend the funeral of the late First Lady of Akwa Ibom State, Pastor Mrs. Patience Umo Eno, wife of Governor Pastor Umo Bassey Eno. The funeral is scheduled for November 27th-29th, 2024.
The development did not go well with some party members, who are alleging that the Damagum-led NWC was deliberately postponing the meeting to keep him on the seat until the party’s national convention scheduled for next year.
at least four out of the 13 Governors elected under the platform of the PDP are strongly behind Damagum, who is also a loyalist of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike.
About six others from the camp of the former vice president, Atiku Abubakar have also vowed to kick the acting chairman out of the office before March 2025.
NEC postponement disrespect for the constitutional order of the party – North Central
Some party stakeholders from the North Central geo-political zone said the continuous postponement of the NEC by the Damagum’s NWC was against the party’s constitution.
A NEC member from the region and former National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, who addressed North Central youths in Abuja, said the development was an “aberration that shows a huge disrespect for the constitutional order of the party.”
According to him, “it is trite wisdom that as long as Damagum is being encouraged to continue to sit on the position of North Central, the concept of fixing the PDP will be mere lip service. “
He stated that respecting the party’s constitution by allowing a member from the North Central to complete Ayu’s tenure was the “only way to address the challenges facing the PDP and also fixing Nigeria.
“Anything outside of this demand will end up an exercise in futility,” he warned.
They want to officially hand PDP to APC – Rep Ugochinyere
A member of the House of Representatives, Ikenga Ugochinyere (PDP, Imo) while reacting to the indefinite postponement, accused the NWC of making moves to collapse the main opposition party into the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
In a post on his official X handle, the lawmaker alleged that Damagum, and the National Secretary secretly met with the ruling party recently.
The lawmaker said the alleged meeting signals an irredeemable doom in the party, calling for the immediate removal of those involved in anti-party activities.
He wrote, “When the national chairman and secretary of a political party meet secretly with the ruling govt, you will know that irredeemable doom awaits that political party if they don’t rise and chase these political outlaws away.
“Now they want to officially handover the PDP to the APC without any shame just for a pot of porridge.
“The end story of ANPP, AD will be better than PDP if we don’t stop these shameless political traitors”.
When the PDP governors are ready to remove Damagum, they know what to do – PDP chieftain, Okai
Meanwhile, a chieftain of the party, Austin Okai said on Saturday that the leadership crisis in the party continued lingering due to the 2027 ambition of some of the PDP governors.
The Kogi-born political activist accused the governors of playing double standards, stressing that they are both fighting for their selfish interests.
According to him, “both the acting National Chairman and the National Secretary have to go; they are not doing anything. We also don’t have a national legal adviser at the moment. None of them are currently functioning.
“Some of us from the North Central have fought for Damagum’s removal to allow a member from the region to take over but we were not supported by the leaders. I am one of the North Central stakeholders and nobody is calling us for any meeting.
“The governor of Plateau State and the former governors are supposed to hold meetings but they are not doing anything. When Bala Mohammed was pushing for Damagum’s removal, some of the leaders were silent.
“They are fighting for 2027. Some of the governors are either eyeing the presidency or vice presidency. They forget that they need to first put the interest of the party at heart.
“So if the governors are really serious, they know what to do. They are obviously not serious yet.”
Okai, however, stated that “what some of the governors are doing is to ensure that they bring in a neutral person to replace Damagum. Somebody who is not a loyalist of Atiku or Wike.”
He admitted that “there is a hand of APC in all these issues. Some of these governors are meeting with the president. The president knows that he is performing badly and if PDP is doing well, he will have a problem.
“They are destroying PDP, Labour Party and even the New Nigerian Peoples Party, NNPP. Our party is currently losing relevance because the public sees Damagum as a part of the APC.
“Damagum must go but the governors should do the needful, they should stop the politics for 2027 and fix the party first”.
However, the PDP governors rose from their meeting on Saturday with a “strong advice” for the Umar Damagum-led NWC to call for the NEC meeting of the party latest by February.
A communique read to journalists by Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, who is also the chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, said, “The Forum is strongly advising the NWC to call NEC latest by the first week of February 2025 to allow for elaborate consultations with critical stakeholders of the Party.
“The period between November and February is to address the existential problems confronting the Party, with a deliberate timeline of activities within the period under review to address issues of leadership and litigations confronting the party.”
