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Bala, Damagum, others meet
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N’Central PDP pledge loyalty to Damagum
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Youth group hail Mohammed
From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Barring any last minute change, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT), will meet today, in Abuja, over the crisis rocking the party.
According to a notice by the PDP’s director of publicity, Chinwe Nnorom, the meeting of the party elders will be held at the party’s national secretariat at the Wadata Plaza.
A member of the BoT, Chief Eddy Olafeso, told Daily Sun in an exclusive interview on Sunday, that the board would meet today to fashion out a way forward for the party, and look for ways to resolve the crisis besetting the party once and for all.
This is as the feud between warring factions of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) continued to fester with the various factions holding meetings at different locations in Abuja, yesterday.
The PDP NWC broke into factions on Saturday, in the aftermath of the judgment of a Federal High Court, in Abuja, which directed the party to halt plans for its November 15 and 16 National Convention, for not complying with its constitution and other extant rules.
Three members, Austin Nwachukwu, Nnanna Amah and George Turnah, of the party had approached the Federal High Court to halt the PDP National Convention scheduled for Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, next week.
In the aftermath of the judgment, the NWC, under the leadership of the national chairman, Umar Damagum, met last Saturday, and suspended the national secretary, Samuel Anyanwu and national organising secretary, Umar Bature, the national legal adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade, as well as the deputy national legal adviser, Okechukwu Osuoha for one month, over alleged anti-party activities.
In a retaliatory move, Anyanwu, after a meeting with another group of NWC members, announced the suspension of Damagum and the party’s deputy national chairman, South, Taofeek Arapaja for alleged anti-party activities, and stated that the national vice chairman, North Central, Abdulraham Mohammed, has been appointed to serve as acting chairman.
He added that others suspended for alleged anti-party activities were the National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba; Deputy National Secretary, Setonji Koshedo; National Youth Leader, Sulaiman Kadade and National Financial Secretary, Daniel Woyenguikoro
The development escalated the battle of supremacy in the PDP, which has been raging between the governors led by Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State and Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
The governors and the loyalists of the FCT minister have been engaged in a fierce tussle over the control of party machinery since 2023.
The tussle heightened after the 101 National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, fixed the National Convention for November 15 and 16, in Ibadan, with the Wike camp and the governors battling for supremacy.
In the run-up to the convention, the bone of contention is the micro-zoning of NWC seats among states in the South, as well as the conduct of congresses in some of the states.
Last month, Anyanwu petitioned security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) alleging that his signature in the correspondence to the electoral body on the National Convention was allegedly forged. However, Ologunagba dismissed his claim as untrue.
On Monday, Mohammed, who arrived at Wadata Plaza, in the company of his supporters, amid heavy police deployment, took over the office of the national chairman at the national secretariat.
Meanwhile, party sources told Daily Sun that the Bauchi State Governor, Damagum and other members of the NWC loyal to national chairman, as well as other critical stakeholders, met at the Bauchi Governors’ Lodge, in Asokoro, Abuja, to strategise over the development in the party.
Similarly, Daily Sun gathered that Wike’s men, including Mohammed and Anyanwu, were scheduled to hold their own meeting, in an undisclosed location at the FCT, yesterday.
In a related development, the North Central Zonal Working Committee (ZWC), yesterday, after its meeting, in Abuja, urged Mohammed to distance himself from any action that would deepen the crisis in the party.
The Zonal Secretary, Francis Orogu, who spoke at a a press briefing, in Abuja, pledged support for Damagum as the national chairman of the party
“We, the members of the Peoples Democratic Party North Central Zone, hereby, distance and disassociate ourselves as a party from the purported impeachment/removal of the National Chairman, Umar Damagum, by mere four National Working Committee members and the subsequent so-called replacement of same with Abdulrahaman Mohammed.
“In the desperate bid of some individuals to destroy the grassroots based political party, they are trying to drag the North Central Zone into their schemes, including the purported appointment of Alhaji Abdulrahman Mohammed, as acting National Chairman.
“The North Central Zonal Working and Executive Committee finds this act not only laughable but also insulting. We, therefore, totally dissociate ourselves and the entire zone from this disgraceful development and call on Alhaji Abdulrahman Mohammed to distance himself from any act capable of deepening the unfortunate situations we find ourselves in,” he stated.
On the flip-side, some PDP youth leaders, yesterday, pledged support for Mohammed and urged party leaders to close ranks in the overall interest of the party.
The chairman of the Youth Forum and Youth Leader, Gombe PDP, Jamilu Ali, who spoke on behalf of the youth leaders, said: “They should all close ranks, sit down on the table and resolve all matters.
“We stand together, congratulating the new National Chairman, Alhaji Abdulrahman Mohammed. We are happy to have this kind of person. We agreed that we are giving him all our support to make sure he stabilises the party, bring all the warring factions to the table and create a good working environment for the party to thrive.”
