With just nine days to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, about 60 members of the National Assembly elected on the party’s platform, have called for the removal of its acting national chairman, Umar Illiya Damagum.
Led by Hon. Imo Ikenga Ugochinyere, the lawmakers claimed Damagun was involved in anti-party activities.
The party’s NEC is scheduled to hold April 18, while that of the Board of Trustees (BoT) follows in quick succession.
Addressing journalists Monday in Abuja on the state of the party, the group said it would also not hesitate to take legal options if the party’s NEC failed to heed their demand for Damagun’s removal, or alternatively, resign their membership of the PDP.
Ugochinyere said: “You may have heard rumours about ongoing events in my party, our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where there have been allegations of doctoring of Caretaker Committee members lists in Rivers state and at least 10 other states. This story is quite unfortunate and I can confirm to you all that it is not a rumour but fact.
“We have obtained very credible intelligence on the on goings in our Party’s Wadata House National Secretariat and it does not sound right at all. We currently have in the PDP a national leadership that is in bed with the APC and is working extremely hard to hand over the party to the APC.
“Following the removal of Sen. Iyorchia Ayu as national chairman of our party and assumption of office by Umar Illiya Damagum, who was elected as Deputy National Chairman to act in his stead, the party has only known misfortune and abdicated its responsibility as the leading opposition party in the country. That role which Nigerians would have loved the PDP to play as an institution it truly is, has been abdicated for a plate of porridge.
“A serious leadership would have set up structures to review what, why, and how the party failed to win the last presidential election and also failed to secure majority in both chambers of the National Assembly, rather the Umar Damagum-led NWC is assiduously working to hand over the party to the ruling APC and their agents.
“A serious leadership would have looked into the acts of open anti-party activities, established why they happened and set up measures to ensure that it never happened again in the party. A serious party leadership would have since the end of elections or even the tribunal matters, gone round to thank members and rally them for the challenge ahead of being the opposition and offering credible alternative to the people. We do not have any of these.”
“We are speaking on behalf of at least 60 lawmakers in the opposition lawmakers’ coalition in the National Assembly. We all won our elections without any form of help or support from the party hierarchy. It has become clearer to us that this scenario was foisted so that as many of us as possible will fail the elections. Damagum never really wanted us to win.
“Against their wish, we won the election and now Damagum and his co-travellers have launched the phase 2 of their protocol which is to hand the structures of the party to interests working for the APC. It is on this basis that we the genuine PDP lawmakers who believe in our party and its ideals hereby announce today that we would not stand idly by and allow Damagum destroy the efforts of Sir Alex Ekwueme, Prince Solomon Lar and other eminent former Chairmen and leaders of the party.
“We therefore declare that if the list in Rivers State PDP Caretaker Committee and the other 10 states were to stand, that the 60 lawmakers will resign from the Party, severe all relationship with the party and seek new political alliances elsewhere. Some leaders may not boldly speak out, but as you all know, we won our elections by scoring victory against the devil himself. So we can speak out,” the group said.
