*Fubara battles for Wike’s PDP structure in Rivers
*As Suswam suppoters fight to counter Ayu’s court case – Benue chieftains
By Daniel Tyokua
The battle for the control of the soul of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) shifts to Abuja Thursday as members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) meet to take far-reaching decisions on the future of the party.
Tomorrow’s meeting will be the first since May 2022 when the same NEC failed to zone it’s presidential ticket to any particular zone, leading to a bitter presidential primary election which saw the emergence of a former vice president Atiku Abubakar, as candidate.
Also expected to confront Wike tomorrow for control of the PDP structure in Rivers State is Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Things haven’t remained the same since the party’s presidential primary election, as the then Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike accused the then national chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, of supporting Atiku.
Tomorrow’s NEC meeting is expected to whether or not Umar Damagun, who became acting national chairman ever since Ayu stepped aside about a year ago, should continue in office.
On Tuesday, a meeting of the PDP Caucus in the House of Representatives ended in a deadlock as the lawmakers were sharply divided along the lines of those who want Umar Damagun’s continued stay in office versus those who want a substantive chairman.
The battle for control of the leadership of the chief opposition party comes amidst the dilemma faced by its chieftains on how to fill the vacuum created by the suspension of Ayu by his ward in Benue State.
The failure of Ayu to withdraw the appeal challenging his ouster as national chairman, The Authority gathered, may present a huge legal hurdle to those who want a new national chairman.
With Ayu still in court, they argue, it would be futile for PDP to seek to fill the position with any candidate from the North Central or anything other zone. This may have informed the lukewarm attitude of some key politicians from the North Central to push their candidacies to replace Ayu.
NEC members in support of Wike maintain that the FCT minister has, more than any other party chieftain, contributed so much to nurture the party during the Makarfi-Modu-Sheriff fued that threatened the party.
Wike is also credited with tremendously supporting PDP governorship candidates in Rivers, Cross River, Kebbi, Kaduna, Plateau, and Nasarawa States during the last general elections.
“What did those calling for Wike’s suspension do for PDP during the Modu-Sheriff days?
“He singlehandedly saved the party from extinction. Who did those people also do for PDP during the last general elections? They are only joking,” one PDP chieftain offered.
In March 2023, the executive members of Igyorov ward, Gboko LGA of Benue, passed a vote of no confidence on Ayu over alleged anti-party activities.
The LGA party executives also claimed that Ayu worked against the success of the PDP in his ward during the elections.
They alleged that he was not paying his membership fees and did not vote in the March 18 governorship and the house of assembly elections in the state.
The PDP ward officers also accused Ayu of not paying his party membership dues. Delivering judgement in a suit filed against Ayu, Justice Maurice Ikpambese said by virtue of article 8(9) of the PDP’s constitution, Ayu ceased to be a member of the PDP due to his failure to pay his membership fees.
The judge said article 46 (1) of the PDP empowers the ward to discipline a member of the party’s national executive committee (NEC).
Ayu has, however, challenged his suspension by the high court, maintaining that low-ranking officers of the party lacked the powers to suspend a national chairman.
In accordance with the PDP constitution, deputy national chairman (north) Umar Damagun became the acting national chairman, a move which is generating disquiet in the party.
Those who pitched tent for him say he is in acting capacity, so asking him to resign poses problems of which office: Deputy National Chairman or Acting Chairman?
The AUTHORITY gathered that members of the Atiku camp believe that Damagun and majority of the members of the National Working Committee (NWC) are loyal to the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike.
Even though Wike and his political supporters openly campaigned for President Bola Tinubu in the last general eldction, the Minister has maintained that he remains a bonafide PDP member.
But the decamping of his loyalists in the Rivers State House of Assembly to the All Progressives Congress has rrmsined an albatross to his loyalty to the PDP.
Aside Atiku, Wike has to contend with governor of his home state and erstwhile political godson, Siminalayi Fubara, over who controls the PDP state executive and other party structures.
