Says plot aimed at ensuring a weak presidential candidate is foisted on party to APC’s advantage
Chides some Governors, other party leaders for working to sabotage ‘their own party’ for ‘absurdly’ selfish reasons
A coalition of opposition lawmakers in the House of Representatives has alleged that there is a plot to retain Umar Damagum as acting national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) until the 2027 general elections.
Spokesman of the coalition, Ikeagwuonu Ugochinyere, in a statement, said that is the reason the PDP has continued to shift the meeting of its National Executive Committee ( NEC), where a replacement for Damagum is supposed to be chosen.
Ugochinyere accused some Governors elected on the platform of the opposition party and some members of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) of driving the plot, alleging that the main objective is to pave the way for the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 election by producing a weak presidential candidate.
The PDP has been divided in recent time over whether or not Damagum should continue to act as the National chairman of the party, fueling speculations the continued postponement of the meeting of the party’s NEC to choose a substantive national chairman is deliberate after all.
At its meeting on April 18, the PDP NEC resolved to meet again on August 29. However, the NWC first postponed the meeting to October 24 and later November 28. Nevertheless, last Thursday, the national secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, in a notice called off the November 28 NEC meeting.
Ugochinyere noted that while the country is facing hard times, the PDP, which is expected to lead the opposition, has allegedly been hijacked.
“Today, our nation is facing different challenges both economically and politically. But there’s something that’s missing in all these problems and that’s a vibrant and responsive and responsible opposition,” Ugochinyere declared.
“Today we have a political party People Democratic Party (PDP) that’s supposed to lead the opposition, but what do you have? We have political charlatans hijacking the heartbeat of the opposition party. And turning it to an errand platform for the ruling party.
“Today I want to inform the whole Nigeria that they have perfected a plan to ensure that the NEC meeting to choose a chairman from North Central where the position is originally supposed to come from is not possible. They want Umar Damagum to continue to parade as the National Chairman and stay in office till 2027, so they can foist on us a weakling that will be the presidential candidate.
“The ruling party will be laughing at them now that they want to sabotage their own party. First, they said there was a Sallah holiday and they shifted it, since last year they kept on shifting the NEC meeting.
“Until now, no NEC meeting;Â they keep on giving different excuses. The national leaders of PDP are frolicking with APC leaders, going to London having meetings with APC leadership.
“If the founding fathers of this party are still alive and are seeing what I’m seeing, they will be crying. I will mention the names of these PDP Governors frolicking with APC. They think that by being a weakling some of them will be allowed to control their States.”
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