PDP crisis: BoT expresses disappointment in NWC, to meet Wike in January

The Board of Trustees (BoT) of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has expressed disappointment with the Ambassador Umar Damagum-led National Working Committee (NWC) for repeatedly postponing the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting.

The NEC meeting was supposed to address the future of the acting National Chairman, Damagum, and other pressing issues within the party.

The 99th NEC meeting, initially scheduled for August 15, has been postponed multiple times by the Damagum-led NWC. It was first rescheduled for October 24, then November 28, before being postponed indefinitely. Despite this, the party’s governors have given the NWC until February 2025 to ensure the meeting takes place.

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The Chairman of the BoT, former Senate President Adolphus Wabara, who read a communique at the end of a BoT meeting on Thursday, expressed concern over the current state of affairs in the PDP, particularly with the party’s administration.

“The BoT calls on the PDP Governors’ Forum to unite and work alongside other party organs to resolve ongoing issues quickly,” Wabara said.

“The NWC must show leadership, honour its word, and convene the NEC meeting as scheduled in February 2025. Further postponements could worsen the challenges and may have disastrous consequences for our party,” he added.

Wabara urged leaders in the North Central Zone to convene a meeting of regional stakeholders to nominate a replacement for former National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu.

Before the closed-door session, Wabara told the gathering he was disappointed by the postponement of the last NEC meeting. He revealed that both the acting chairman, Damagum, and National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, were absent from the party secretariat, despite being expected to attend the BoT meeting.

The BoT chairman also disclosed that the party would continue its efforts to resolve the crisis by meeting with the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister in January 2025.

Reacting to the BoT meeting’s outcome, Kola Ologbondiyan called the decision for the North Central Zone to nominate a replacement for Ayu “timely, patriotic, and commendable.”