By Bayo Davids<\/p>\n
A few hours before the commencement of the National Executive Committee meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party, opposition lawmakers in the House of Representatives seeking the removal of the party\u2019s acting national chairman, Umar Damagum, on Thursday warned of the dangers of delaying the decision till August, 2024.
\nThe spokesman of the group and member representing Ideato South\/Ideato North Federal Constituency of Imo State, Ikenga Ugochinyere disclosed this in a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja on behalf of his colleagues.
\nRecall that 13 governors elected on the platform of the PDP met in Abuja on Wednesday night and resolved that removing Damagum from office would not be in the interest of the party, adding that rather, the party should work harder in resolving its internal wranglings in some of its state chapters.<\/p>\n
The statement read in part: \u201cWe say n to the last minute plan to shift today’s expected stepdown of Umar Damagum as Acting National Chairman of PDP to August 2024, before a candidate from the North Central Zone can take the chairmanship position of the party. This is a last-minute plan by the All Progressives Congress loyalists in the PDP backing him up to give them room to use the extension period to inflict irreversible damage on the PDP by filling the over 19 PDP state executives with pro-APC members as state party officials. NEC Members must stop this madness today if they want PDP to survive.
\n\u201cThe plan to give Damagum a soft landing till August 2024 is to give room for the election of APC members as PDP state executives in the over 19 States where PDP will be holding party congresses, thereby planting those who will massively decamp to APC to create the impression of crisis in the Party. The NEC must arise and state it clearly and give our party the leadership it deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ugochinyere also noted that the excuse often given for Damagum\u2019s continuous chairmanship was the suit instituted by the suspended National Chairman of the PDP, Iyorchia Ayu challenging his removal from office in March 2023, noting that following the withdrawal of the suit by Ayu, Damagum has no right to continue to remain in office as acting National Chairman.<\/p>\n
\u201cAyu\u2019s case was used as an excuse for Damagum to attempt to elongate his illegal stay in office. But to their shock, Ayu made a huge sacrifice by withdrawing his case from court, to pave the way for the emergence of a North Central candidate as the National Chairman today. However, the APC agents controlling Damagun after their secret meeting, came up with a new agenda which is being sold to party members to allow Damagum handover by August 2024. To many, this will be seen as a victory in the struggle but to us, it is a fraudulent and illegal arrangement targeting the upcoming congresses in over 19 States where the tenure of PDP State Party Executives will be expiring before the August handover.<\/p>\n
The lawmakers further accused Damagum of working with an unnamed All Progressives Congress Minister to destroy the PDP ahead of the 2027 election.
\n\u201cThe plan is to use Damagum, who is working with G-5 ex-governors to elect APC come 2027 to fill up those expiring EXCO positions with APC members whose names have been supplied by the serving APC Minister who is bankrolling Damagum to destroy our party. This scenario is similar to the failed attempt in Rivers State to elect APC members as State Party EXCO members,\u201d the statement further said.
\nThe group further said it would reject any plan to extend Damagum\u2019s staying in office, saying it would amount \u201cTo a rape of our party\u2019s constitution,\u201d adding that if allowed, the development \u201cWill deny the North Central Zone their legitimate right as enshrined in section 47(6) and will pave the way for pro-APC forces\u00a0 to plant pro-APC officials as our State Party executive officers in over 19 States.\u201d
\nThe lawmaker also claimed that the said APC Minister has been penciled down to work as campaign manager for the ruling party\u2019s 2027 presidential election.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe G-60 lawmakers frown and condemn the idea of allowing a serving APC Minister into the highly confidential national caucus meeting knowing fully well that the Minister is a Campaign Manager for the APC 2027 Presidential election. This is a political abomination and clear evidence that the Damagum leadership has officially merged PDP with APC and is desperate to hold on to power to execute the demise of the party. Such abomination should not be allowed at the NEC meeting and NEC members should have the balls to walk out of any serving APC official in the party to avoid continued sabotage and compromise,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
By Bayo Davids A few hours before the commencement of the National Executive Committee meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party, opposition lawmakers in the House of Representatives seeking the removal…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":111462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n