PUNCH
The Peoples Democratic Party’s elected governors have called for an emergency meeting on Friday in Asaba, Delta State, to redress the challenges plaguing the party.
This comes as the party’s BoT meeting on Wednesday in Abuja was marred by rowdy scenes after supporters of Senator Samuel Anyanwu attacked the party’s former Youth Leader Sunday Ude-Okoye.
According to our findings, the governors’ emergency meeting in Asaba, the Delta State capital, is meant to redress the challenges plaguing the party.
The acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Umar Damagum, said the crisis rocking the main opposition party is fuelled by party leaders who are supposed to unite them.
Damagum, speaking to members of the Board of Trustees in Abuja on Wednesday, emphasised that he would do everything in his power to ensure the PDP National Executive Committee meeting takes place in February, as requested by the party’s Governors Forum and other party organs.
A senior member of the National Working Committee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorised to speak on the issue, disclosed that BoT members protested the assault on former National Youth Leader, Sunday Ude-Okoye, by a supporter of the embattled National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu during the BoT meeting.
The source revealed that the primary agenda for the meeting convened by the Forum led by Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, includes the urgent need for a NEC meeting, ongoing preparations for the zonal congresses, the National Secretary crisis, a report from Acting National Chairman Umar Damagum on the party’s status, and a review of the state of the nation.
The PDP had been engulfed in crisis since the 2023 elections with many party members accusing Damagum, a close ally of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, of being responsible for the unrest within the party.
At present, the National Working Committee, BoT, zonal, and state chapters are all embroiled in crisis, with members aligning themselves with different leaders.
Also, Wike, the Bauchi governor and others have continued to exchange harsh words, further escalating the schism in the party.
Commenting on the crisis, Damagum, who called the situation unfortunate, accused some members of the BoT of being complicit in the turmoil.
He stated “I want to say this with the highest sense of responsibility, part of this crisis that you see today within the NWC, is propelled by our leaders that are supposed to unite us.
“It is very unfortunate, I would say it the way it is, where people are called, we all know the working of NWC, some of you here have been NWC members. I’ll be sitting down as the chairman only to see my NWC members called by certain leaders to visit certain places, without my knowledge.
“And I want to use this opportunity to caution us, caution our leaders. You may have ambition, but you don’t ride on a dead horse to reach your destination. If you create crisis simply to further your ambition, you may get what you want, but your dream will not be realized because by that time, you have injured the horse you are going to ride to that destination.
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