There were indications, yesterday, that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Working Committee (NWC) may sanction the party’s acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, and the National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, over an alleged correspondence to the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt division, in respect of the Rivers State political crisis.
News Direct gathered that some leaders of the PDP, including members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) were pushing for sanction against Damagum and Anyanwu, over the alleged letter, which was considered an anti-party activity.
The opposition party’s NWC has been divided over the Rivers crisis, thereby pitting Governor Siminalayi Fubara against his predecessor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
The 17-member NWC, which presently consists of 12 national officers and five national vice chairman, it was gathered, are currently divided into pro-Fubara and pro- Wike camps.
Damagum and Anyanwu had purportedly written a letter to the Deputy Registrar, Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt, asking the court to disregard a letter from the PDP National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade, announcing the withdrawal of opposition party in a suit involving 25 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) last December.
The letter, which has gone viral, is dated August 15, 2024, and addressed to the Deputy Chief Registrar, Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt, is entitled: “In the matter of appeal No:CA/PH/307/2024- Peoples Democratic Party Vs Attorney General of Rivers State & 33 others.”
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In the aftermath of the defection, the Rivers House of Assembly, under the leadership of Oke Jumbo, declared their seats vacant. Nevertheless, the affected members appealed, while some members of the Rivers PDP, it was gathered, applied to be joined in the suit, without the consent of the national secretariat.
A source at the PDP national secretariat told News Direct that when Ajibade got wind of it “he wrote a letter to the court to discontinue it that the party was not aware of it. And Damagum and Anyanwu now did a letter to counter the national legal adviser.”
Our correspondence gathered that the development has pitted many party leaders, including members of the PDP NEC, against the acting national chairman and national secretary.
According to them, the move is allegedly in favour of the defected members of the Rivers Assembly, who have been on a warpath with Fubara.
Consequently, they are demanding that the NWC should invoke Sections 58 and 59 of the PDP constitution, which bordered on discipline for anti-party activities and sanction the duo, just as national vice chairman, South South, Dan Orbih, was sanctioned recently.
A member of the PDP, told News Direct that party members, including NEC members have demanded their resignation or that the NWC should invoke Section 58 and 59, used against Dan Orbih and to bar them from participating in the activities of the NWC until the matter is investigated.”
The source added that the issue is likely to form part of the agenda, when the opposition party NEC meets tomorrow in Abuja, to deliberate on issues affecting the party.
“They will definitely meet tomorrow to discuss that. So, they will know their fate tomorrow. Many members see the whole thing as embarrassing. NWC has the right to investigate them on behalf of NEC.”
A member of the PDP NEC, Kola Ologbondiyan, while appearing on a television programme, confirmed that party leaders, across the country, are consulting over the issue.
Ologbondiyan, who described the issue as embarrassing, said: “It is unthinkable that the acting national chairman, the national secretary of our party would write a letter contravening Section 42(1) of the PDP constitution which confers the authority to chose legal representation for the party on national legal adviser.”
Repeated efforts to speak with Damagum on the issue was unsuccessful, as his phone was switched off as the time of filing this report.
