The crack among governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the continued stay in office of the Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, has widened with some of them taking their positions to the court of public opinion and the social media.
As of the time of filing this report, four governors have either used public fora or posts on their X handles to make their position on the Damagum debate known.
Sunday Vanguard gathered in Abuja that behind this rift is a proxy war between former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, on the one hand and the desire of some of the governors to remain politically relevant beyond 2027 on the other.
Of the 13 PDP state governors, namely: Ahmadu Fintiri (Adamawa), Umo Enoh ( Akwa Ibom), Bala Mohammed (Bauchi), Kefas Agbu (Taraba), Godwin Obaseki (Edo), Peter Mbah (Enugu), Similaye Fubara (Rivers), Sheriff Oborewori (Delta), Duoye Diri (Bayelsa), Ademola Adeleke (Osun), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Caleb Muftwan (Plateau), and Dauda Lawal (Zamfara), at least four will be ineligible to seek re-election in 2027.
Preferences
Ahead of the party’s rescheduled National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting slated for Thursday, October 24, 2024, Wike and his supporters haven’t hidden their preference for Damagum to remain in office until the party’s next Convention.
Atiku and his loyalists, on the other hand, are said to be pushing for a candidate from the North Central to complete the tenure of the ousted National Chairman, Sen. Iyiorchia Ayu.
A member of the party’s NEC privy to what’s going on told Sunday Vanguard in confidence that the governors “are being ripped apart by personal ambitions.”
The source explained, “Governors Fintiri, Makinde, Bala Mohammad and Diri will be completing their second term in office by 2027 and like most politicians, they will want to install successors.
“To do this, they will definitely be interested in having a party leadership that will not only support them in this endeavour, but they will also be interested in positioning themselves as power brokers within the party.
“There is also the issue of who becomes the party’s presidential and vice presidential candidates in the next general elections. Mohammed has somehow indicated interest just like Makinde.
“We hear Atiku is still interested and Wike is waiting in the wings to repeat what he did in 2023 by working for an APC presidency while retaining his membership of the PDP.
“Mohammed, who is governor of Bauchi State in the North-East, wouldn’t want Damagum, who is also from his zone, to remain as National Chairman, whether in the acting or substantive capacity because this will arm those opposed to him; remember this was the argument Wike and his four friends who formed the G-5 governors used as one of the weapons to justify their actions in 2023.
“It will serve Makinde’s interest for Damagun to remain because it will be easier to push for a southern candidate with the chairmanship of the party in the North. He enjoys the support of Wike and Chief Bode George and most southern members of the party on this score.”
Change
While Fintiri, Makinde, Agbu and Muftwang are said to be championing the cause of Damagum’s stay in office, Mohammed and six others are pushing for change.
Mohammed, while hosting five members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) in Bauchi, recently, asked that the North-Central should propose a replacement for Damagum in line with the party’s Constitution.
Adeleke, on his part, joined the fray with his media aide, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, posting a tweet saying his principal supports the party’s constitutional provision on the subject.
Mohammed and Adeleke expressed their views just as Makinde, while hosting Damagum and another faction of the NWC in Ibadan, pledged support for Damagun whom, he said, was doing a good job.
His position was echoed by Fintiri who tweeted his support on his official X handle.
Fintiri wrote: “Solidly in support of Amb. Umar Damagum as National Chairman of @OfficialPDPNig! His leadership has restored public confidence, and we are confident he will steer the party to greater heights.”
Fintiri followed this up with a press statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Humwashi Wonosikou, expressing confidence in Damagum’s leadership on Thursday.
He claimed to be speaking on behalf of the PDP leaders and members in Adamawa, Taraba, Gombe, Borno, and Yobe states.
Fence-mending
Meanwhile, the PDP’s Board of Trustees (BoT) has been torn in-between as the Senator Adolphus Wabara-led body has been having a series of fence-mending meetings with party stakeholders across board over the last few weeks.
A former National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, has, however, expressed confidence that the party will overcome all of these challenges and bounce back.
He said, “The PDP has become an institution. Whatever challenges we are passing through today we will overcome. We are PDP, we have always overcome our challenges and forged ahead; this time will be no different. We want Nigerians to believe in our party.”
