The division within the ranks of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors over the party’s leadership widened yesterday as governors Adamawa and Osun States, Ahmadu Finitri and Senator Ademola Adeleke, respectively, differed on the continued stay of Amb. Umar Damagum as acting national chairman of the party.
While Fintri declared support for Damagum to continue in office, Adeleke said he stands by the party’s constitution and resolution of the PDP governors for Damagum to vacate the acting national chairman seat for a person from the North Central zone where the position was originally zoned to.
Their divergent view on the question of Damagum’s status comes barely hours after the chairman of the Forum and Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed and his Oyo State counterpart, Seyi Makinde, also expressed different positions on the acting national chairman.
The Adamawa State governor, Fintri, on his X handle declared, “Solidly in support of Amb. Umar Damagum as National Chairman of @OfficialPDPNig! His leadership has restored public confidence, and we are confident he will steer the party to greater heights. Let’s respect the court ruling and uphold our democracy.”
However, Governor Adeleke, while clarifying his position on the raging PDP leadership crisis, in a statement, said “I stand by the Constitution of our great party which clearly spelt out the succession procedure in case of the exit of an elected chairman.
“I also stand by the resolution of the PDP Governors’ Forum of which I am an integral part.
“Our party must adhere to its Constitution at this critical time and at all times. That is the way to build a responsible political party.”
After a meeting with some members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) in Bauchi on Wednesday, Governor Mohammed, said “According to our party’s constitution, any leadership vacancy should be filled by someone from the region where it originated,” stressing that Damagum would be replaced soon considering that he hails from North East and not the North Central.
Same day, Makinde, during the groundbreaking of the upgrading of Ladoke Akintola Airport, Ibadan, to an international airport, which was attended by another set of NWC members, led by Damagum, said he would support whatever decision the Damagum-led NWC would take to reposition the party.
The evolving rift, which comes barely days to the contentious National Executive Committee (NEC) of PDP, followed a back and forth between the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike and the Governors forum, who declared support for Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara to be made leader of the party in the state.
Damagum, who is considered a close ally of Nyesom Wike, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, was appointed acting national chairman after the removal of Iyorchia Ayu in June 2023.
Meanwhile, the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the PDP led by Senator Adolph Wabara, met with members of the National Assembly caucus in Abuja.
The close door meeting comes barely hours after the BoT met with Wike in Abuja.
While Wabara refused to comment on the essence of the meeting with the lawmakers, it was noticed that most of the lawmakers didn’t honour the invitation.