Amid the ongoing crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Yayari Mohammed, the new factional acting National Chairman, has urged the rival National Working Committee (NWC) faction, led by Umar Damagum, to address their security concerns.
During a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, Ibrahim Abdullahi, the acting National Publicity Secretary of Damagum’s faction, warned that security actions might be taken against Mohammed’s group to maintain the rule of law as the internal dispute continues.
The PDP has been grappling with an internal crisis since 2022, which has split its NWC. The situation escalated on Friday when the party officially fractured into two factions, with Yayari Mohammed and Umar Damagum each leading a rival group.
PDP’s factionalisation followed the suspension of its National Legal Adviser, Adeyemi Ajibade, and the National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, by a faction of the NWC led by Damagum, on Friday, after the 593rd meeting of the NWC on Thursday.
Ibrahim Abdullahi and Okechukwu Osuoha were appointed by the faction to replace the duo in acting capacities.
But in a counter statement, the National Publicity Secretary, Ologunagba announced the suspension of Damagum and the National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, by the NWC due to what the statement described as the series of complaints raised against the duo.
On the same day, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja restrained the NEC, the highest decision-making organ of the party, and the Board of Trustees from removing Damagum as the acting national chairman.
In a judgment delivered via Zoom, Justice Peter Lifu ordered that apart from Damagum, no other person must be recognised as the PDP acting national chairman until the party’s convention scheduled for December 2025.
Speaking on the basis of the court order at the press conference on Monday, Abdullahi, warned the Mohammed group against disobeying the judgment recognising Damagum as the authentic chairman of the party.
He stated, “We must ensure that certain actions are not guided by sentiments and personal interests, but by the party’s constitution.
In the face of this reckless violation of a subsisting court order, we are left with no option but to deploy the services of security agencies to enforce the rule of law.”
Abdullahi added that to enhance the learning process of party leadership and administration, members must ensure that actions were based on the party’s constitution and existing guidelines, rather than influenced by “sentiments and personal interests.”
He added, “Let all concerned know that the Deputy National Publicity Secretary, my humble self, now acting National Publicity Secretary and Deputy National Legal Adviser and now Acting National Legal Adviser assumed office following the Decision of the NWC; and it is in line with the PDP Constitution (2017 as Amended) following the absence of our substantive officers. It is made abundantly clear in Section 40(2) and 42(2).
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