PDP Rift Deepens As Governors Disagree Over Chairman, Damagum’s Fate

The internal divisions within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have intensified as party governors and key figures are split over the fate of the acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum.

While some governors push for the convening of the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, a faction loyal to Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, staunchly supports Damagum’s continuation in his role.

The disagreement has led to postponing the originally scheduled October 24 NEC meeting, with the new date set for November 28.

The postponement reflects the ongoing struggle for control and direction within the party, as different regional blocs—specifically from the South-West, North-East, and North-Central—advocate for a delay in the meeting.

A source who spoke with Punch on the crisis in PDP said, “The position on Damagum now is far more complicated than when we first started. The complication there is that there are too many court orders, judgments and all that have not been taken into consideration. It is too tricky for the political party to act as though it can do things notwithstanding court orders and judgments.

“The second problem is that the PDP governors are still not on the same page. It has made deciding on the matter far more difficult. The constitution is also ambiguous on how much power the NEC has over the NWC. Though the power to summarily dissolve states was there, it was not given to them to do the same to the NWC. The powers of the NEC are beautiful and comprehensive. But still, it is a little bit also restrained.

“We created the slots for two national vice chairmen to cure the defect that in case something happens to the national chairman from a zone, we won’t run into the trouble of saying that zone can’t complete the tenure. It could have been Arapaja. But it wasn’t Arapaja because he had to remain in his zone where he came from. Now, the argument is neither here nor there.

“Those kinds of things are not open to interpretation and they have gone to courts to go and ask for a proper interpretation. And the court has given a judgment that he has the power to complete the tenure. Until you vacate a judgment, you can’t do anything about it. So, it’s a little bit complicated, honestly. There is convention and there is law. By convention, if Damagun agrees (to leave), they can do that, but if Damagun does not agree, they cannot do anything outside the law.”