•PDP acting national chairman, Umar Damagum
The Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) governors, under the aegis of PDP Governors’ Forum, have summoned the Acting National Chairman of the party, Amb. Umar Damagum; the National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, and others to a meeting over the crisis in the party.
The meeting of the governors scheduled for today in Abuja, it was gathered, was to find a soft-landing for the acting national chairman, secretary and others and douse the tension in the party ahead of the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting scheduled for October 24, reports Daily Independent.
Recall that the continued stay of Damagum as the Acting National Chairman has generated bad blood in the party in the past few months.
While the North Central zone of the party has been clamouring to complete its tenure after the removal of Sen. Iyorchia Ayu, Damagum has resorted to court to stop his removal.
Recall that the Chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum and Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed, while addressing newsmen on Tuesday, last week, stated that the crisis in the party has ended.
But from all indications, the crisis in the party has not ended as stakeholders in the party have continued to look for solution to end the crisis in the party.
Addressing newsmen yesterday after meeting members of the National Assembly Caucus and others, the Chairman of PDP Reconciliation Committee, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, said that the meeting was to share in their experiences as to what is causing the dwindling fortunes of the party politically.
“We’ve had useful discussions with them and I think there are suggestions that we have that will make our party to unite and more formidable. That’s what has happened this evening.”
Asked about the efforts being put in place to strengthen the party, Oyinlola said, “One obvious thing is that for any party to be able to go into battle and win is that they must be united. And that’s what we are going for.”
Reacting to the statement credited to the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, that the party would capture Ondo State and then use that as a gateway to capture Oyo State and Osun States, the National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, described the statement as reckless and irresponsible.
“I just feel I should have this conversation to react to the reckless and irresponsible statement by the chairman of the All Progressives Congress, which was credit to him in Ondo State, wherein he said that the APC is set to capture Ondo and then use that as a gateway to capture Oyo State and Osun State.
“And these are the statements that we have seen over the months, talking about totalitarianism and one-party state in this country.
“If you look at the dictionary meaning of capture, and I just checked it and it says, to take by force or strategy, take prisoners. So what he’s saying is that he’s going to take the South West state and its people as prisoners of war. So for us, it is troubling.
“But this is actually a warning. The people of South West has a very rich history, a people that are very strong willed, that are politically educated and they know what they want. And for anybody who is a student of history, will recognise clearly that the South West has always been a bastion for democratic right.
“In the old Oyo Empire, there are controls for the Oba, the Alaafin of Oyo that whenever he is acting away from the people, they can tell him to go and commit suicide as a control. So for anybody, Ganduje for that matter to come into Ondo State and say those reckless things, calls for the attention of Nigerians and indeed international community that he is a threat to democracy.
“In 1983, you will recall, when the recklessness of the then NPN continued in this manner, and it is unfortunately, it looks like history is repeating itself, when they tried to impose Omoboriowo as governor of Oyo State by rigging election, the consequences of that can again be traced to what brought that Republic to an end in 1983. So we are warning the APC, this is a warning directly to Ganduje.
“And so to Ganduje, he should be careful about South West, because he could be declared as a ‘personal non grata’ in the South West for these recklessness.
“The APC should know, and I’m sure some of the leaders APC recognise that and they should stay away from Ondo State. The election of November 16 in Ondo State is a different ball game entirely.
“The people of Ondo State are ready, they are set to vote the PDP and any attempt, haven regards to the history of Ondo people, you can’t cow them, you cannot suppress them from whatever they believe in. So recognising that, the APC should watch it, and they should know that, we do not take threats and the idea of capture.
“We’ve never been captured, we are not prisoners. If Ganduje was captured, which I think from the history they were, he can reflect that in his own area, but not in South West. And it’s actually a clear signal that the APC should steer clear of Ondo State, allow it to have a free and fair election.”
