FULL LIST: Northern PDP Bigwigs Who Could Replace Umar Damagum as Party’s National Chairman

There is pressure on Umar Damagum, to step down as the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Recently, reports emerged that governors elected under the PDP and the party’s national working committee (NWC) agreed to remove Damagum from his position.

Damagum, from the northeast, is a close ally of Nyesom Wike, the federal capital territory (FCT) minister.

The 61-year-old was appointed acting national chairman after the removal of Iyorchia Ayu in June 2023.

PDP chieftains against Damagum explained that it is a “constitutional aberration” for Damagum to continue in office. They contend that the north-central region should be allowed to complete the term of former chairman Ayu, who hails from Benue state.

In this report, News Direct looks at three candidates that can replace Damagum to complete the tenure of Ayu/north-central.

Bukola Saraki

Saraki served as the 13th president of the Nigerian senate from 2015 to 2019. He was elected the president of the 8th senate on June 9, 2015, under the All Progressives Congress (APC). He previously served as the governor of Kwara state from 2003 to 2011 and was elected to the senate in 2011, under the PDP, representing the Kwara Central senatorial district. Saraki was then re-elected in the 2015 general elections under the party of the APC. He left the ruling APC and returned to his former party, the PDP, in 2018. Saraki declared his presidential campaign for the PDP presidential ticket in the 2019 election but lost the primaries to Atiku Abubakar. He was subsequently announced as the director general (DG) of Atiku’s presidential campaign for the 2019 presidential election, which the former vice president lost to Muhammadu Buhari.

David Mark

Mark is a retired Nigerian army brigadier general and politician. He served as the 12th president of the Nigerian senate from 2007 to 2015 and was the senator for Benue South senatorial district from 1999 to 2019. He is considered a strong member. Before his senatorial adventure, Mark was the military governor of Niger state from 1984 to 1986, and is a one-time minister of communication. He is the longest-serving president of the Nigerian senate.

Gabriel Suswan

Suswam is a former governor of Benue state. He represented Benue North-East senatorial district of the 9th assembly. Suswan has already declared interest in the PDP national chairmanship position. In a statement issued by Bede Bartholomew, his media aide, in March, Suswan expressed his desire to vie for the position during an expanded caucus meeting of the party, held at his residence in Katsina-Ala, Benue state. Those who attended the meeting included Titus Uba, Benue PDP governorship candidate in the 2023 election; Margaret Icheen, member of the PDP board of trustees (BoT); and Maurice Tsav, north-central secretary of the party.