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Gyang Bere, Jos
Since the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lost the 2019 governorship election in Plateau State, the State Working Committee has been at loggerheads with its embattled chairman, Damishi Sango and his deputy, Amos Gombi.
Party members alleged that the PDP governorship candidate, Jeremiah Useni, had signed to collect funds for the presidential election for Plateau but discovered that the money was in Sango’s bank. It was alleged that the state party chairman prevented Useni from access to major stakeholders of the party who would have helped to ensure victory of the party.
Sango refuted all the claims and insisted that he worked to the best of his ability for the PDP to win all elections and that the party won the governorship election but was robbed of victory.
Despite his denials, the state executive passed a vote of no confidence in Sango and suspended him and Gombi. Their suspension was ratified by over 75 members of the State Executive Committee of the party made up of all members of the National Assembly and State House of Assembly.
Chris Hassan, former commissioner for works, was endorsed as acting chairman of the party. The state working committee then wrote a petition to the national secretariat demanding Sango’s removal based on the allegations raised against him, which stakeholders allege led to the failure of the party in the state.
Sango kicked against his suspension, insisting that the state executive did not have the constitutional right to carry out the action on the grounds that he was a member of the National Executive Committee of the party. However, in response to the allegations against Sango and Gombi, the national secretariat directed the national vice chairman, North Central Zone, Theophilus Shan, to interact with stakeholders in Plateau and find out what led to the crisis in the party.
Shan visited the state party secretariat and interviewed the two factions laying claims to the chairmanship of the party. He submitted his report to the national secretariat, which led to the setting up of an investigative committee under
the chairmanship of former Senate President, David Mark. But before Shan could assume control of the party, protests broke out, as supporters of one faction clashed with Sango’s supporters, who allegedly turned up to prevent Shan from accessing the party’s secretariat.
The party supporters took position at the secretariat at about 6:30am two Fridays ago and prevented Shan from accessing the office until the intervention of the State Police Commissioner who invited Sango and the opposing faction to the State Police Headquarters before Shan could access the office. He made several attempts to go into the of- fice but the youths insisted that he must not go in, urging him to return to either Lafiya or Abuja.
Shan responded to the protests saying: “The leadership problem of the state PDP didn’t start today, but in the last three months. The national secretariat was communicated at the first instance and I was sent to have an interface with some stakeholders of the party and report to the national secretariat. It was on the grounds of that report, that the National Working Committee constituted a committee headed by former Senate President, David Mark, to come and look into the issues causing problem on the leader- ship position.
“As a result of the constitution of that committee, I was equally instructed to arrive ahead and work with David Mark’s committee to ensure that they have a very conducive atmosphere to work and it is until they complete their assignment that I can leave the state secretariat. I want to state very clearly and unambiguously that I am not here to replace anybody. I am not here to be chairman and I am not acting chairman. I am just here to work with the committee and look at the affairs of the party until the committee finishes it work. The committee has a time frame of about three weeks to complete its assignment.
“I have been hearing a lot of com- ments of misgivings. People are saying that I have come here to replace Sango; but there is nothing like that on the table; it is not even being contemplated. We all agree that there has been a leadership problem in PDP in Plateau for quite some time and it has not been resolved; that is why the national secre- tariat sent the David Mark Committee to address the issues.
“I am not a member of the committee. I am here because I am a zonal chairman and once they are done with their assignment, I will be out from this place. Before then, I will have to remain here to work with them to ensure they have a conducive atmosphere under which they will work. When I came in, we had a meeting with the state working committee members and left the party secretariat peacefully; but in the night of that day, I started hearing rumours that people are organising to make sure that we didn’t come into the secretariat the following day.
“But I told them that the plan cannot be associated with Sango because he is an honourable man; he is a founding member of the PDP. I didn’t think he will engage himself in this kind of thing, but I was very wrong. Some people took positions in the office as early as 6am trying to prevent people from coming into the office and by the time I arrived, there were some youths seated by the gate who were saying they had been instructed to prevent me from entry.
“I asked on whose order, and they said it was on the order of Sango, as the chairman of the party. We are not disputing the fact that he is the chairman of the party, but it is a party office and everybody should have access.
We wanted to go in and they said we cannot. There are other youths willing to engage them and I said no, I can’t be involved in this kind of thing.
“At the end of the day, we went to the Police Headquarters and the Police instructed us to go in because I had early informed them of my arrival and asked them for their support to ensure the committee had a successful assignment.”
Shan said Sango had not been removed, as, according to him, it is unconstitutional for the State Working Committee to remove the chairman who is a member of the National Executive Committee.
“The PDP chairman in Plateau State has not been removed. They just started a process; those that are working with the chairman raised an allegation and once someone raises an allegation, the accused person will be given an oppourtunity to defend himself against the allegation. That is why we have a committee that is going to investigate, to find out whether he is guilty of these allegations.”
Mark’s panel was given a term of reference; thus: “To investigate and find out the reason for the friction between the State Working Committee and major stakeholders of the party. To investigate the allegations of financial disbursement and election finances for the presidential and governorship elec- tion funds and to find out why the party lost the governorship election in the state, which the party was very optimistic of winning.”
The panel has commenced consultations with major PDP stakeholders in the state, with a view to ascertaining exactly what transpired on the issue of presidential campaign funds during the last polls.
Shan said the recommendations of the panel would reveal the root of the leadership tussle and help it act, with the view to saving save the party from crisis and retrogression.
