PDP Crisis: Embattled Damagun-Led NWC Plans To Lock Out Unauthorised Members During NEC Meeting

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is on edge as it gears up for tomorrow’s National Executive (NEC) meeting.

Tensions within the main opposition party have intensified, with the expanded decision-making body, led by Ambassador Umar Damagum, opting to limit attendance to recognized constitutional members.

The primary agenda of the meeting revolves around either selecting a new national chairman to fill the void left by the suspended Senator Iyorchia Ayu, or extending Damagun’s tenure as acting chairman.

Two factions, headed by Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, are entangled in a power struggle within the party.

But Damagun is alleged to be backing Wike. Menahwile, the National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba, confirmed the restriction on non-constitutional members of NEC.

However, loyalists of Atiku, who clinched the PDP presidential nomination in the 2023 election, remain unperturbed.

Expressing concern over the party’s internal strife, the House of Representatives Caucus, yet to take a unified stance on the party’s leadership, advocates for an end to legal disputes as a prerequisite for genuine reconciliation.

Furthermore, there’s a cloud of uncertainty hovering over the PDP regarding the proposed sanctions against Wike, a PDP stalwart allegedly involved in anti-party activities within the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Following its routine session at the party headquarters in Abuja, the National Working Committee (NWC) announced limitations on attendance at the upcoming NEC meeting.

In a statement released by Ologunagba, it was emphasized that only constitutionally recognized NEC members would be granted access to the meeting.

The statement reads: “The National Working Committee (NWC) of our great Party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), informs all members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) that the 98th NEC meeting scheduled for Thursday, April 18, 2024 will commence at 2pm.

“By this announcement, all NEC members are expected to arrive promptly at the NEC Hall of the PDP National Secretariat, Abuja for the commencement of the meeting.

“For the purpose of accreditation, only constitutionally accredited members of NEC will be allowed into the meeting.

“All members of the Party should please take note and be guided accordingly.”

However, Chief Emmanuel Olusunle, a former Special Assistant to President Olusegun Obasanjo, representing the Atiku camp, expressed indifference towards the restriction.

He remarked: “A dominant character trait of Atiku Abubakar is that he is perennially nonplussed; if you were speaking to him in person, he would almost predictably be calm and smiling.

“The PDP is not the kind of institution that can be procured off store shelves like we procure beverages and similar things and no singular individual can warehouse a political party which has evolved over 25 years now in his pocket.

“The PDP will come out of the forthcoming National Executive Committee (NEC), much less rancorous than before.

Insiders suggest that the decisions taken at the PDP National Caucus meeting will set the tone for subsequent deliberations across other party organs.