Some members of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) said it is disheartening to observe and read in the media the unpatriotic attempt by some members of the National Working Committee(NWC) who are either ignorant of or are pretending to be ignorant of PDP constitution as amended in 2017, to have issued a rejoinder to the letter written by the Acting National Chairman of PDP, Umar Damagun.
By this action of some members of PDP NWC, It was abundantly evident that these individuals have placed personal narrow interest over party constitution and interest.
In statement signed by coordinator and secretary of PDP Support & Advocacy Coalition Bartholomew Okoh and Hajia Hauwa Ibrahim Magaji, the coalition added that It is not out of place to infer that these NWC members are under undue pressure to protect the inordinate interest of those who are behind their emergence as National Officers.
“This no doubt goes against the letter and spirit of PDP constitution and by implication the interest of the party. The letter written by some members of the PDP NWC against the acting National Chairman who incidentally is the party’s chief executive officer is an affront on constitutional party democracy. It does appear that there is deliberate attempt by the fifth columnists (in this case, those with inordinate ambition for 2027) to destabilize the leading opposition party in Nigeria and this is not healthy for the future of democracy in Nigeria”. The statement said.
“The pertinent question to ask these PDP national officers is: who benefits from the current travails of their party? The ruling party of course. That is why in an attempt to salvage the party from political destabilizers, Ambassador Umar Illiya Damagum, in his capacity as the Acting National Chairman, wrote to a lawyer, as it appears the National legal adviser has chosen to undermine the party’s efforts and progress. Another critical question should be: does the Acting National Chairman have the constitutional right to do so? The answer is a resounding yes, pursuant to specifically section 35(1)c, d, e, h and i, which bestowed on only the acting National Chairman the superintending and supervisory role over national officers by the PDP constitution. While not holding brief for the Acting National Chairman of PDP, but he has to a large extent demonstrated patriotism and good faith in sustaining the party thus far”. The statement further stressed.
“We strongly believe that the letter by some members of the National Working Committee (NWC) is tantamount to a coup and brazen unconstitutionality designed to surreptitiously unseat the party’s acting national chairman”.
“The above views that we hold tenaciously are predicated on the fact that those signatories to the letter do not have the constitutional powers or rights to write such letter – which they even recognized in the said letter, except the national legal adviser, who has unfortunately given the Acting National Chairman plethora of reasons not to trust his capacity and judgement to fairly prosecute the case in the interest of the party and the National officers involved, hence, the need for the acting national chairman to act fast”
“It is also worthy to state here that even the signatories to the purported letter acknowledged Ambassador Umar Iliya Damagum, as the Acting National Chairman but for reasons known to them, and sadly alien to the party’s constitution want to undermine the position of the acting National Chairman.”
“It is of grave concern to PDP faithfuls in Nigeria that our party’s national legal adviser has acted unprofessionally by reducing such an important position to ridicule by aligning with forces that are hell bent on keeping PDP in disarray. How does one explain the involvement of our national legal adviser in such shameful letter, let alone appends his signature to such charade? Put succinctly, the national legal adviser has displayed lack of capacity to discharge his duties, and no one fault the intervention of the Acting National Chairman for proper job supervision”.
The group said another glaring example of unconstitutional act which can also be classified as contempt of court in the purported letter is the presence of the signature of the expelled PDP National Vice Chairman South East Zone,
Chief Ali Odefa, whose expulsion was confirmed by the Federal High Court Abakaliki division in suit number FHC/AI/CS/182/2024, on November 29, 2024.
“It is our considered opinion that the PDP has given so much to these NWC members, so why do they want to destroy the party.
They called for this bickering within the party to stop so that PDP can be well position ahead of 2027.
Nigerians have so much expectations from the opposition parties, especially in the light of gross misgovernance, pervasive corruption, nepotism and worsening insecurity under the inept and clueless APC administration.
They called on all PDP members to rally round the current leadership.
“It is time for all PDP members to make personal sacrifices for the sake of the suffering masses”. The statement concluded