PDP: A stormy NEC meeting to make or mar a divided house
The Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) is at a crossroad, with tough decisions on the cards at today’s National Executive Council ( NEC) meeting. Delicately poised between the Atiku Abubakar and Nyesom Wike- led groups is the fate of the acting national chairman, Umar Damagum, and by extension, who leads the opposition party, and charts path to the future, AZIMAZI reports.
TODAY’S
98th meeting of the National Executive Committee ( NEC) of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) has before now been generating issues capable of endangering the party’s chances in the 2027 general elections Two major warring camps, which emerged before the 2023 general elections have resumed political hostilities wrapped in machinations, wit and deep seated mischief.
Leaders of the two camps, former VicePresident Atiku Abubakar, and the Federal Capital Territory ( FCT) minister, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, will slug it out at the meeting that will define the future of the opposition party.
At the moment, Atiku’s camp prefers that a totally new person be elected to become the national chairman of the party in place of former chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, whose sack paved the way for the appointment of Umar Damagum as acting chairman.
This camp is strongly mobilising support for a former governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam, to take the number one seat. Some leaders of the party in the north central zone under the platform of North Central PDP Stakeholders Forum, have already endorsed Suswam.
Defending the endorsement of Suswam, Senator Emmanuel Yisa Orker- Jev, noted that in line with the constitution of the party, it was only right to return the position of the national chairman to Benue State. He said that the chairmanship position currently exists in Benue after the suspension of Ayu as the national chairman of the party about a year ago.
But the camp of the FCT minister is seeking the retention of the Damagum- led NWC until 2025 when a national convention will be held. Damagum’s strength lies in his ties with state chairmen of the party in the 36 states and the FCT.
Besides who becomes the national chairman of the party, the other issue on the agenda is whether or not to sanction party members alleged to have indulged in anti- party activities during the last general elections.
Bauchi State governor and chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Bala Mohammed, captured the mood of the party when he said that the opposition party could not afford the luxury of crisis in its fold.
“We are hoping to make sure that we reposition PDP, reduce the rancour and division, which have characterised us in the past because of our size and our divergent interests. Certainly, we don’t have the luxury of doing that.
“The country is suffering. There is a lot of hunger and anger, and for the third time the country is looking up to us. We cannot continue to be the weeping boys or girls or women.
“We must close ranks, give benefit of doubts to each other, give benefit of doubt to the party. We don’t have the luxury of division,” Muhammed added.
Also, a former PDP presidential aspirant, Cosmas Ndukwe, described the situation in the opposition party as life threatening.
He said: “The problem in the PDP is still widening by the day. They are arguing over who should be the national chairman and who would not be. The camp that will produce the national chairman and the camp that will not produce the national chairman. The camp that will produce the secretary and if the secretary that left to contest in Imo State should stay or not.”
Former Ogun State governorship aspirant, Segun Sowunmi, apparently exasperated by the state of affairs, recently filed a suit before a Federal High Court in Abuja to compel the PDP National Working Committee ( NWC) to convene a NEC meeting.
It has emerged that the crisis is about the 2025 national convention and 2027 general elections.
The issue is that whoever is chairman now will have influence in the outcome of the next convention. And the outcome of that convention will equally influence the 2027 contest. “Basically, the two camps are strategising and mobilising ahead of the NEC meeting, so that in the event they are to make a nomination for national chairman, they want it from their various camps,” said an analyst.
Before the current push for Damagum to be replaced by a substantive national chairman, some stakeholders had canvassed for the sack of the NWC. Although the push did not gain support from the majority of party leaders and members, criticisms mounted against the NWC, especially for continuously shifting the goal post on probe of allegations of anti- party activities.
Findings showed that the party’s national leadership had in the last eleven months, changed its mind on the probe of anti- party activities three times. In May 2023, it rose from its 571st NWC meeting and promised to set up a committee to conduct investigation into the thorny allegation of anti- party activities by some of its leaders.
This didn’t happen until December 2023 when it announced that it had changed its mind in favour of reconciliation of all forces to unite the party. The party later pushed the assignment to its chapters in the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory ( FCT) when it urged them to compile the list of all those suspected to have engaged in anti- party activities. Wike is key on the list of persons criticised for playing double standards on party matters. However, his loyalists in the party leadership have continued to draw attention to other cases of anti- party activities perpetrated in the past by prominent leaders of the party, adding that Wike’s case can’t be treated in isolation. The matter is fueling new agitations for a total change in the national leadership of the party to pave the way for an independent NWC. Defending the decisions of his party on the matter, Damagum expressed preference for reconciliation to ensure that all sides are united before the next election.
According to him,” the NWC has already come up and approved a 2023 election review and reconciliation committee. They will go and investigate. We’ll give them the mandate to form subcommittees. However, there is only one national committee that will review the 2023 election and also review from 2015 to 2019. This is to ensure that at the end of the day when they bring the reports, we will meet and make decisions.”
Damagum, who admitted that many members were involved in anti- party activities at different levels, said, “If I said we should start suspension, I will end up suspending many people. So, please bear with us. We intend to keep this party together and to manage it. This is my mandate.” He insisted that, “When a substantive chairman comes, he can decide to suspend or dismiss anybody. But as somebody who loves this party, I think we need even those from the other side to come back and join.”
Sowunmi, in a recent interview, told The Guardian that what the party actually needed was a NWC, to change affairs in the opposition party. He said: “I think on the issue of the national chairman, most people are of the view that we actually do need a completely brand new executives to work very hard for about a year before we get off season. But if that is not going to be practical, the next thing is filling all the vacancies that exist, which includes finding a substantive national chairman. If you ask me, I think we are due for a comprehensive review of the party, with new executives from top to bottom.”
However, as the battle for the control of the soul of PDP rages on, there are suspicions that there might be a crack in the rank of the G- 5.
Recently, the PDP National Vice Chairman, Southeast, Ali Odefa, led an onslaught against the National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, fuelling speculations that G- 5 may be falling apart, especially as both men are part of the G- 5.
While Odefa owes allegiance to the Oyo State governor, Seyimakinde, the embattled PDP National Secretary is a loyalist of the FCT minister.
In the aftermath of the last Imo governorship election, which Anyanwu contested and lost, the Southeast PDP under Odefa’s leadership, had sought to replace the national secretary with the former National Youth Leader, Sunday Ude- Okoye.
According to the Southeast PDP leaders, Anyanwu having gone to contest for the Imo governorship poll can no longer return to his position as party scribe. The zone in a communique at the end of the Southeast Zonal Executive Committee and party leaders meeting held in Enugu in February had warned that it would no longer tolerate the delay in the ratification of Udeh- Okoye as the National Secretary.
The face- off is taking a toll on the state chapters of the PDP, whose ranks have depleted drastically in recent times.
A member of the House of Representatives, Joshua Gana, said that the party would come out strong from the present challenges. He maintained that the opposition party remains the “best structured party in Africa and with various organs to address different areas and challenges.”
According to him, “we are growing as an opposition party as we had gotten used to being a ruling party that created a pattern. Things are changing and our party is only going through metamorphosis so that credible leadership from the North- central would rise to replace and succeed Ayu.”
Already, signals of what the PDP may witness at the NEC meeting today have begun to emerge as a meeting of its caucus in the House of Representatives on Tuesday ended in commotion with the lawmakers sharply divided along the lines of those in support of Damgun and those against his continued stay in office.
This happened just as a group of over 60 lawmakers under the auspices of the Opposition Lawmakers Coalition ( OLC) maintained their ground that the acting chairman should resign and someone from the North- central zone take the position. They also insisted on the expulsion of Wike and any other politician involved in anti- party activities.
Recall that last week, a group of 60 PDP federal lawmakers threatened to quit the party if the doctored list of Caretaker Committees in Rivers State and 10 other states, which was filled with members and loyalists of the All Progressive Congress ( APC) is not nullified.
The group under the aegis of OLC also demanded the resignation of Damagun to pave way for a North- central person to emerge as acting chairman of the party, pending the conduct of convention as required by the party’s constitution.
The OLC at a press conference addressed by their spokesperson and the member representing the Ideato Federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, said they cannot be in a political party where its activities are determined by another political party.
“We call for immediate resignation of Damagun for anti- party activities and allow North- central produce the acting chairman as clearly stated in the PDP constitution or watch us reconsider our membership of the party in the months ahead if the right thing is not done.
“The NEC should ensure that the list of party Caretaker Committees in Rivers State and all other 10 states tampered by Damagun and his APC friends are reversed and announced as originally agreed, that is by extension of the tenures of the outgoing leadership. Any tampering in any state will be resisted and not acceptable. They should also ensure that disciplinary action and punishment are meted out on Wike and his cohorts for anti- party activities.”
The country is suffering. There is a lot of hunger and anger, and for the third time the country is looking up to us. We cannot continue to be the weeping boys or girls or women. We must close ranks, give benefit of doubts to each other, give benefit of doubt to the par ty. We don’t have the luxury of division.