Pro-Wike PDP Reps members reject call for Damagum’s resignation

The crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken a new turn as supporters of the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike have resisted calls for the Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum to step down.

The pro-Wike federal lawmakers are led by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Kingsley Chinda, a native of Nyesom Wike’s home state of Rivers State. He defeated Atiku Abubakar’s ally in the 2023 race to become the Minority Leader of the House after Wike was nominated as minister.

The group led by the caucus and minority leader, Kingsley Chinda; the deputy minority leader, Ali Madaki; the minority whip, Ali Isah; and the deputy minority whip, George Ozodinobi, characterized the coalition led by Ikenga Ugochinyere on Tuesday as “a body unknown to the parliament.”

A statement signed by the House’s minority leaders states, “Our attention has been drawn to a press release by the group and we state unequivocally that the minority caucus and the PDP caucus dissociates themselves from the said press statement.

“The said coalition of lawmakers led by Ikenga Ugochinyere is unknown to the parliament and both caucuses condemn in totality the absurd move, the uncouth and unparliamentary language of the group.

“The general public should take note that such a coalition is unknown to parliament, and their demands do not represent that of the minority parties.

“The said lawmakers should desist from further misinformation of the public and be more honourable in their conduct.”

According to a report published by WESTERN POST on Monday, 60 PDP lawmakers in Abuja demanded the Peoples Democratic Party’s acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, resign over alleged anti-party activities.

They threatened to leave the party if Damagum does not step down to make room to appoint a new acting chairman from the North Central region, home to Senator Iyorchia Ayu, the party’s suspended national chairman.

However, in an attempt to ensure that his men assume control of the PDP ahead of the eagerly awaited meeting of the National Execution Council (NEC), Atiku Abubakar, the party’s presidential candidate in the previous election, has started taking steps to guarantee his men become the party’s new leaders.

In addition to plotting to appoint his men as PDP leaders while serving as the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Wike claimed that he is still a member of the PDP despite having backed the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election in which Atiku was defeated.

However, Wike’s allies who occupy strategic positions have moved to shield their man so that his influence in the party endures, and they are also in charge of the party’s affairs in his home state of Rivers, even as Atiku and his allies continue to plot a way out of the mess.