Leadership crisis may mar upcoming PDP NEC meeting, Bauchi Governor tells Wike to resign
The lingering leadership crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has cast doubt on whether the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting will be held as scheduled in February 2025.
Bauchi State Governor, Sen Bala Mohammed asked the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike to resign from the Peoples Democratic Party over alleged anti-party activities.
Despite reassurances from the party’s National Secretary, Sam Anyanwu, that the NEC meeting will proceed as planned, factional divisions within the National Working Committee (NWC) and ongoing legal challenges remain significant obstacles.
Anyanwu, whose position is currently being contested by Sunday Ude-Okoye recently declared the substantive PDP National Secretary by the Court of Appeal told the Nigerian Tribune on Sunday that the NWC will meet to set a date for the NEC meeting.
However, he did not specify when the NWC meeting would take place.
The deepening rift among key stakeholders raises concerns about the party’s ability to convene and effectively deliberate.
Although the party reopened its national secretariat on January 13 after the Christmas and New Year holidays, the NWC has been unable to hold its weekly meetings due to the dispute surrounding the office of the National Secretary.
The NEC meeting, initially scheduled for October 2024 and later rescheduled for November 2024 before being postponed indefinitely, is considered crucial for addressing key issues affecting the party.
These include reviewing the leadership structure, resolving internal conflicts, and formulating strategies for upcoming elections.
At the center of the leadership crisis is acting National Chairman Umar Damagum, whose position has been a source of controversy.
Calls for his resignation, particularly from the PDP Governors Forum have intensified amid allegations of indecisiveness and an inability to bridge the growing divisions within the party.
The NEC meeting, initially scheduled for October 2024 and later rescheduled for November 2024 before being postponed indefinitely, is considered crucial for addressing key issues affecting the party.
These include reviewing the leadership structure, resolving internal conflicts, and formulating strategies for upcoming elections.
At the center of the leadership crisis is acting National Chairman Umar Damagum, whose position has been a source of controversy.
Calls for his resignation, particularly from the PDP Governors Forum have intensified amid allegations of indecisiveness and an inability to bridge the growing divisions within the party.
Bala Mohammed, who accused the FCT Minister of already serving the ruling party, All Progressives Congress’s interests, said it’s better for him to join the APC officially.
He labeled Wike’s attempts to tarnish his reputation as desperate and ineffective, stating that Nigerians can see through the minister’s alleged facade.
Recalls that the Bauchi governor had last Thursday slammed Wike, calling him a “transactional politician” whose loyalty shifts with his personal ambitions.
Reacting, Wike in a statement by his media aide, Lere Olayinka, tackled Mohammed, accusing him of being a greedy politician.
Olayinka urged the governor to stop using the appointment of the minister by President Bola Tinubu as an excuse for his “lack of capacity to provide leadership as chairman of the party’s Governors’ Forum”.
But responding in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mukhtar Gidado, Mohammed who doubles as Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum described Wike’s recent attack as reckless, deceptive, and reflective of declining political relevance.
He accused Wike of a pattern of betrayal, citing figures such as Senator John Azuta Mbata, Dr. Peter Odili, and Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi as victims of Wike’s alleged treachery.
The statement further criticized Wike’s tenure as a “use-and-dump” politician who contributed to internal crises within the PDP by orchestrating the downfall of successive party leaders, including Uche Secondus and Iyorchia Ayu.
“Let Nyesom Wike be reminded that while he lives in a delusional self-created universe of seeing splits and factions in the PDP the party is resolute and united apart from a few turncoats and quislings led by him who are desperately committed to weakening it for the benefit of the APC whose willing tool and favoured foot soldier he has become.
“Under Sen Bala Mohammed’s vibrant and visionary leadership the PDP Governors Forum and the party’s core organs including the BOT are working quietly and assiduously in cleaning the party of Wike’s treachery and perfidy.
“Such a path of perdition is not the portion of genuine PDP members who are working tirelessly to retire the APC in 2027- the very party, with its failed policies, that Wike has vowed to help win re-election in 2027.
“Wike’s antics cannot detract Bala Mohammed’s record. His outburst is the desperate cry of a man whose political relevance is fading.
“The time for noise making is over; it is time for governance. Let Wike reflect on his conduct and do the honorable thing: RESIGN AND ALIGN FULLY WITH THE APC he so eagerly serves. Until then his words will remain as hollow as his loyalty,” the statement reads.
