Not less than 60 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members in the House of Representatives loyal to former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, have threatened to leave the party if the Acting National Chairman Umar Ililya Damagum does not resign immediately.
They said he should immediately be replaced by someone from the North Central in line with the constitution of the party among other demands.
The lawmakers accused Damagum of handing over the structure of the leadership of the PDP to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and the All Progressives Congress (APC), under which he’s serving as a minister.
Hon Ugochinyere Ikenga, who led five other lawmakers to address reporters at the National Assembly on Monday, delivered the threat on behalf of the 60 PDP lawmakers.
He said the Acting National Chairman, who has been allegedly engaging in anti-party activities, sold the party “for a plate of porridge.”
Ikenga pointed out that if President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had not been consistent in opposition over the years, he would have not succeeded as President today.
They said Damagun should go before destroying the party.
The lawmakers threatened that if this was not met they would leave the PDP and move to join other political parties.
“Following the removal of Sen. Iyorchia Ayu as national chairman of our party and assumption of office by Umar Illiya Damagun, 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.
“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 alternatives to the people.
“We do not have any of these. But again imagine if we had such with the current state of the nation.
“Imagine the suffering of Nigerians because PDP as opposition does not have direction due to the activities of Damagum and co. This is very disheartening.
“Disheartening because this is a man who is not supposed to be in the office in the first place. He was only constitutionally allowed to step in, hold the fort and midwife the process through which the North Central Zone where the Chairmanship of the party was originally zone to present another person who would complete the slot of the North Central.
“Not only did Damagun hold tight to the seat for well over a year now, he has abdicated every responsibility of the office of the Chairman of PDP and is very comfortable serving APC interests.
“There had been agreement of a broad spectrum of the party leadership when it became clear that Damagum was not interested in conducting elections but to appoint Caretaker committees in at least 19 states where the tenures of the State and local government leaders were expiring to extend the tenures of these officials by three months.
“This decision which was made to cover every state was the wisdom that restrained Damagum from announcing a wholesale list of a majority of Caretaker Committees populated by APC agents masquerading as PDP members.
However, despite that decision to retain everybody, Damagun went ahead and received a list of APC agents and announced them as members and leaders of the PDP Local Government Caretaker Committees in Rivers State and partially in at least 10 other states. This is a direct attempt to kill the PDP and ensure it goes into extinction.
“To make issues clearer, 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 them.
“We have been briefed of plans and ongoing mobilisation and lobbying of some PDP NEC members by APC loyalist masquerading as PDP Members to issue a kangaroo vote of confidence on Damagum to enable APC to continue their hold on the party via their agents who claim to be PDP while on APC mission to destroy PDP.
“Instead of allowing North Central zone produce the Acting Chairman as required by the PDP Constitution pending the conduct of convention or resolution of pending litigation, the pro-APC forces working with Damagum want to affirm him as Chairman of the party at the NEC meeting to help them set the party on the path of irredeemable damnation.
“If Ayu is in Court, why not allow an acting Chairman from his zone to act pending the resolution of all the issues since the tenure of office zoned to them is running and cannot be reversed?
“In case Damagum does not remember, we will remind him now. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was in opposition until 2015.
“If he was trading his party for porridge, he would not have been where he is today.
“So thinking that Asiwaju is even impressed by this mercantilist agenda of trading off the PDP would be infantile thinking.
“Yeah, Asiwaju could be benefiting, but he truly sees you as cheap betrayers and merchants who hold no values dear and have nothing to offer.
“Could you not have respectfully worked for Asiwaju without losing your respect? Chai, Damagum you have lost it.
“Gentlemen and fellow Nigerians, have you wondered why Damagun kept quiet while 27 members of Rivers State House of Assembly elected on the platform of PDP left the party?
“He kept quiet while they were threatening to impeach a Governor in his party. Nigerians will be shocked to hear that Damagum was consulted and is fully aware of the entire details of the plots to impeach the Rivers State governor and he gave his approval to the plot, yet he refers to himself as a Chairman of a party. The shamelessness in this entire episode is limitless.
“So as a last-ditch effort at rescuing the party and for peace in the PDP, we demand the following:
“Immediate resignation of Umar Iliya Damagum as Ag. National Chairman of PDP for anti-party activities and allow North Central to produce the Acting Chairman as clearly stated in the PDP Constitution or watch us reconsider our membership of the party in the months ahead if the right thing is not done.
“Or removal of Umar Iliya Damagum by the NEC of the Party with further sanctions against him for his anti-party activities.
“That the NEC of the Party should ensure that the list of party Caretaker Committees in Rivers State and all other 10 states tampered with by Damagun and his APC Friends are reversed and announced as originally agreed, that is by extension of the tenures of the outgoing leadership.
“That the move to use serving APC Members in Rivers State and 10 other states to lead our party caretaker at state, LGA and ward level is the highest act of political provocation and impunity that we are going to fight with everything in us.
“PDP cannot be handed over to the APC. APC officers cannot emerge our party officials in Rivers or any of the 10 states with alleged imposition of APC interest.
“Let the world know that why they are hell-bent on imposing APC officials as our party caretaker members is to fulfil a planned bigger plot which will see so-called PDP members who in reality are APC members decamping in mass into APC as PDP officials which will see the imposed executives of our party in over 11 states including Rivers joining APC on their set date just to embarrass our party, hence our resistance that we will fight with everything in us and to any length to resist that plan.
“God save the PDP. Just imagine imposing card-carrying members of APC in the entire PDP structures in Rivers and 10 other states, God how did we get here?
“That NEC of PDP should review the sources of generating finance for the party to pay its National secretariat staff and to discharge all other responsibilities of the party and to investigate the allegation that pro-APC supporters are funding the present PDP of today. This is the height of political treason.
“That PDP NEC sets up a Committee to investigate all continuing acts of anti-party activities from 2023 and mete out appropriate sanctions which will serve as a deterrent and also encourage cleansing of the party.
“Ward executives of our party where people were involved in anti-party activities or still involved like Cross River, Rivers, Benue, Abia, Ondo, Kano, Kogi, Edo etc should immediately announce the expulsion of all those involved without fear or favour.
“This must be done immediately. Any executive that cannot do this should be removed by members in those wards and new officers who have the courage to enforce the provisions of our party constitution constituted to do the needful.
“That a credible party leader from the North Central be confirmed Chairman of the party in line with the zoning formula as enshrined in the Constitution,” the group stated.