All eyes on PDP governors as Ayu’s lawsuit withdrawal alters balance for Damagum

• Governors rule out discussion on change of leadership • North Central leaders insist on producing next chairman • Damagum gets confidence vote from NWC • Clark advises PDP to discipline members who worked against its victory • Don’t fall for Wike’s gimm

AHEAD of today’s National Executive Committee ( NEC) meeting of the main opposition’s Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP), governors elected on the party’s platform yesterday rose from a meeting and declared that they won’t discuss change of leadership for the party.

The meeting, which had eight of the 13 PDP governors in attendance resolved to work with the party’s leadership to resolve existing crises.

In a communiqué read by the Bauchi State governor and chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, Bala Mohammed, it was stated that “the meeting reviewed recent developments in the party and urged the National Working Committee ( NWC) to set in motion the machinery to conduct credible congresses in all the states where tenures of party officers have expired.”

Answering questions on the existing crisis in the party, Muhammed stated: “I said the issues have been resolved and we are looking forward to doing everything within the constitutional provision of the party. So, we are not here to discuss about change of leadership. But certainly, the public is free to permutate, of course, NEC will decide on some of these issues.” This is just as the North Central zone of the party insisted that the region must produce the next national chairman of the party following the removal of the former chairman, Iyorchia Ayu from office.

The PDP North Central leaders claimed that there are plots to sidestep the PDP Constitution and perpetuate the acting national chairman, Iliya Umar Damagum, who is from Northeast, in office, when the position of the National Chairman was already zoned to the North Central.

They rose from a meeting yesterday directing the party’s Zonal Vice Chairman ( North Central), Theophilus Dakkas Shan, to transmit the position of the zone to the National Working Committee ( NWC) ahead of the NEC meeting.

A motion to that effect, which was moved by Senator Tunde Ogbeha, was widely supported without dissent as the North Central zone is said to have perfected arrangement to name Ayu’s successor for necessar y inauguration at the NEC meeting.

They restated their position that Damagum should immediately revert to his position as the Deputy National Chairman ( North) in the interest of the stability of the party.

Earlier, the suspended national chairman, A yu withdrew a la wsuit challenging his removal from the party’s leadership to pa ve the way for the former Benue State governor, Gabriel Suswam, to replace him as the party’s substantive chairman.

The la wsuit is believed to have impeded the PDP from having a substantive national chairman since 2023 when a High Court sitting in Makurdi, the capital of Benue State, stopped A y u from parading himself as the party’s leader.

In a notice of withdrawal of appeal tagged CA/ MK/ 88/ 2024 SUIT NO: MHC/ 85/ 2023 dated April 15, made available to newsmen on Wednesday, the Court of Appeal of Nigeria in Makurdi, revealed that Ayu has withdrawn the appeal against the respondents filed on June 27, 2023. The lawsuit was between Ayu ( appellant) and Terhide Utaan and the PDP as the respondent.

Sixty PDP House of Representatives members under the aegis of the opposition lawmakers’ coalition have applauded Ayu over the withdrawal of the suit. Spokesperson of the group, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, who spoke to reporters at the National Assembly complex in Abuja described the decision as a welcome development for the party.

The lawmakers described the sacrifice made by Ayu over the withdrawal of his suit as a sacrifice worth emulating by members of the party.

The lawmaker representing Ideato North/ South federal constituency of Imo State argued that the development has now paved the way for both the PDP NWC and the

NEC to replace Damagun with any eligible chairmanship aspirant from the North Central geo- political zone of the country.

“We the opposition lawmakers coalition – the G- 60 opposition lawmakers received the news with so much excitement and this has also brought to rest the argument why we should not have an acting chairman tomorrow,” he said.

But in a dramatic twist to today’s NEC meeting, a vote of confidence was yesterday passed on Damagum by the NWC.

Damagum’s continued stay as acting chairman has attracted serious opposition from many leaders and members of the party loyal to the former vice president, Atiku Abubakar. However, the Federal Capital Territory ( FCT) minister, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike and his loyalists are insisting that Damagum be allowed to continue in office till a national convention is held in 2025 to elect a new national chairman.