The leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has worsened after the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) and National Ex-Officio Forum clashed with Acting National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Damagum.
Trouble started when Damagum cancelled the 100th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting earlier scheduled for June 30 and replaced it with a national caucus session. He also reinstated Senator Samuel Anyanwu as National Secretary, a decision that sparked outrage within the party.
BoT Chairman, Senator Adolphus Wabara, described Damagum’s actions as unconstitutional and an abuse of office. He insisted that the NEC meeting must hold as planned.
“The Acting Chairman has no power to cancel the NEC meeting or reinstate Anyanwu,” Wabara said in a strongly worded statement on Thursday.
The crisis escalated when 11 out of 19 National Working Committee (NWC) members rejected Damagum’s decisions, vowing to proceed with the NEC meeting.
The PDP National Ex-Officio Forum also condemned Damagum’s statement, describing it as embarrassing and a betrayal of previous NEC resolutions.
“The Acting Chairman’s press release is an affront to the 99th NEC meeting he presided over,” the forum said in a joint communique.
Meanwhile, INEC had earlier rejected Damagum’s notice of the NEC meeting due to lack of joint signatures from both the National Chairman and National Secretary. Although PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, argued that INEC lacked powers to regulate internal decisions, Damagum distanced himself from Ologunagba’s statement, calling it personal.
The BoT has warned that Damagum’s actions could destabilise the party further and urged members to resist any unconstitutional move.
