… appoints Mohammed as Damagum’s replacement
.. NWC splits, issue counter suspension orders
…Court Bars NEC, BoT From Sacking Damagum
…Damagum remains suspended as PDP chair, says Ugochinyere
…No faction in PDP – Bauchi governor declares
The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has taken a turn for the worse as members of the National Working Committee, NWC, have suspended the party’s Acting National Chairman, Amb. Umar Damagum and Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, for alleged anti-party activities.
Salient Times gathered in Abuja that the decision to suspend the two national officers was taken at an emergency meeting held by a majority of members of the NWC which ended in the early hours of Friday.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Debo Ologunagba, confirmed this development. He issued a statement conveying the NWC’s decision at 3:18 a.m.
Rivers…
The statement read: “The National Working Committee, NWC, of the PDP has extensively considered the series of complaints raised against the Acting National Chairman, Amb. Illiya Damagum and National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, particularly with regard to the letter addressed by them to the Court of Appeal in Appeal against the Party’s position in the case involving the 27 former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, who vacated their seats upon decamping from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress, APC.
“The NWC condemned this anti-party activity of the Acting National Chairman and the National Secretary, which is in gross violation of the provisions of the PDP Constitution (as amended in 2017) and their Oath of Office.
“Consequently, the NWC, pursuant to Sections 57, 58 and 59 of the PDP Constitution, has suspended Amb. Illiya Damagum and Sen. Samuel Anyanwu as Acting National Chairman and National Secretary of the Party, respectively, and referred them to the National Disciplinary Committee for further action.
“In the meantime, the two officials are suspended from all meetings, activities and programmes of the NWC pending the conclusion of investigation by the National Disciplinary Committee.”
BoT summons
The party’s Board of Trustees, BoT, had earlier enjoined all party members to endeavour to appear before the party’s disciplinary committee should they be summoned.
Chairman of the BoT, Senator Adolphus Wabara, had at the 78th meeting of the board urged the NWC to expediate action and ensure that the party’s National Executive Committee, NEC, meets on October 24 as scheduled.
PDP Crisis: Court Bars NEC, BoT From Sacking Damagum
The Federal High Court in Abuja has restrained the National Executive Committee (NEC) and Board of Trustees (BoT) of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) from removing Umar Damagum as the Acting National Chairman of the party.
Justice Peter Lifu ordered that no person other than Damagum should be recognised as PDP national chairman until the party’s national convention scheduled for December 2025.
Justice Lifu issued the restraining order against PDP NEC, BoT, and others while delivering judgment in a suit instituted against them by Senator Umar El-Gash Maina.
The judge held that in line with Articles 42, 47, and 67 of PDP, it is only at the national convention of the party that national officers can be elected.
According to him, PDP members are bound by the party’s constitution and must always act in line with it.
The plaintiff, who claimed to be chairman of PDP in Yobe State instituted the suit against PDP and eight others alleging that some of the party’s stakeholders have been holding clandestine meetings to forcefully remove Damagum from office in gross violation of the party’s constitution.
He said that a former Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Phillip Salawu, was being pushed forward as Damagun’s replacement.
Maina claimed that upon becoming aware of the plan, two letters complaining about the clandestine meetings were delivered to the party’s National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu.
He also claimed that despite acknowledging the letters, Anyanwu and BoT members have never deemed it fit to act on them.
In the suit instituted on his behalf by Joshua Musa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the plaintiff prayed the court to invoke articles 45, 47, and 67 of the PDP constitution to stop the move to replace Damagum as the Acting National Chairman.
The plaintiff specifically asked the court to declare that the national chairmanship of the PDP is rotated between the north and south regions and not through any other procedure not enshrined in the PDP’s Constitution.
In his judgment after perusing the PDP’s Constitution and exhibits, Justice Lifu agreed with the plaintiff that Damagum can only be replaced at the national convention of PDP or through an order of a court.
Justice Lifu also held that any attempt to truncate the four-year tenure of the northern region, which has not been completed, without the national convention will amount to an affront to the PDP constitution.
Earlier, the judge had dismissed the opposition of the defendants to the suit on the grounds that the plaintiff had no locus standi to bring the case and that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear it.
Justice Lifu held that the plaintiff predicated his suit on the protection of the PDP Constitution from being violated and the northern region where he is from is being short-changed.
Justice Lifu said that the plaintiff having displayed his PDP membership card before the court and having raised the fundamental issue of protection of PDP’s Constitution had sufficient interest and justiciable cause to institute the case.
The judge therefore declared that PDP NEC and BoT are bound by the party’s Constitution and that Damagum as national chairman can only be replaced through the national convention of the party.
He also held that Damagum having been appointed from the northern region where a former national chairman Iyorcha Ayu hailed from is entitled to serve out the remaining tenure of the national chairman.
PDP crisis: Faction appoints Mohammed as Damagum’s replacement
The crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party. (PDP), has taken a turn for the worse as a faction of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), which suspended the Ag. National Chairman, Amb. Umar Damagum has appointed Yayari Ahmed, the party’s Treasurer, as his replacement.
This was contained in a statement signed by the PDP National Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, in Abuja, on Friday.
The statement read, “Following the suspension of His Excellency, Amb. Illiya Damagum as the Acting National Chairman of our great Party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the National Working Committee (NWC) has approved the appointment of Alhaji Yayari Ahmed Mohammed as the Acting National Chairman.
“The appointment which takes immediate effect is pursuant to the provisions of the Constitution of the PDP (as amended in 2017).
“The NWC calls on all Organs, leaders, critical stakeholder and members of our great Party to remain focused at this critical time especially as the NWC commences arrangements towards the holding of the Party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting already scheduled for Thursday, 24th October, 2024.”
The spokesman for the opposition Federal Lawmakers Coalition, Ikenga Ugochinyere, has welcomed the suspension of the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Umar Damagum, by a faction of the party’s National Working Committee
In his reaction on Friday, Ugochinyere disagreed with Justice Lifu, noting that the court order didn’t stop the NWC from suspending Damagum.
He insisted that “Yayari Mohammed remains the acting chairman while the party awaits the NEC meeting later this month.”
He urged the courts to stay away from PDP internal affairs
