The acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Umaru Damagum and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday knocked Chief Edwin Clark, after the elder statesman accused both of “colluding” to destroy the party.
This comes as The PUNCH learnt that at least 12 members of the National Working Committee of the PDP, led by Damagum, were allegedly collaborating with Wike to unseat the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara.
This, it was also learnt, had split the opposition party’s NWC into two, as three other members opposed the move to remove Fubara.
Our correspondent learnt that others allegedly involved in the plan to oust Fubara are the party’s National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu; National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, Deputy National Secretary, Setonji Koshoedo and eight others.
However, three members of the NWC, the National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN), National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, and National Financial Secretary, Daniel Woyegikuro, were reportedly against the plot.
For months, governance in Rivers State has been nearly paralysed due to the ongoing political feud between Wike and Fubara, both members of the PDP.
The conflict had led to a division within the state House of Assembly, with one faction, led by Martin Amaewhule, aligning with ex-Governor Wike, while the other, led by Victor Oko-Jumbo, remain loyal to the incumbent Fubara.
Efforts by President Bola Tinubu and other elder statesmen in Rivers and across Nigeria to reconcile the two sides have been unsuccessful, as the factions engaged each other in legal battles in Port Harcourt and Abuja courts.
Central to these disputes was a case marked PHC/2177/CS/2024, which revolved around the defection of Amaewhule and 26 PDP members of the state House of Assembly to the All Progressives Congress on December 11, 2023 to orchestrate the impeachment of Fubara.
During the week, rival factions of the Rivers State House of Assembly held separate public hearings on different bills.
The Oko-Jumbo-led faction held their public hearing on the Rivers Emergency Management Agency Bill 2024 on Tuesday while the Amaewhule-led faction held theirs on the Rivers State Electricity Market Bill 2024 on Wednesday.
The parallel public hearings deepened divisions in the two camps of the Rivers State House of Assembly, with residents kept wondering.
Jumbo-faction’s Deputy Speaker, Timothy Orubienimigha, said their Assembly was set to create robust laws that would guide the state, adding that the bill was aimed at establishing a comprehensive framework for effective emergency management and mitigation in the state.
Chairman of the House Committee on Power, Franklin Nwabochi, who is under the Amaewhule group, said on Wednesday the bill sought to establish the Rivers State Electricity Commission to enforce consumer rights and obligations, while aligning with the new constitutional order.
On Tuesday, a delegation of the PDP Board of Trustees, led by its Chairman, Senator Adolphus Wabara, paid a visit to Fubara at the Government House in Port Harcourt.
On the delegation were some of the founding fathers of the PDP, such Chief Bode George, Senator Ahmed Makarfi and Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo.
The BoT chairman said the party was worried by the news that Fubara was planning to leave the PDP over the crisis between him and Wike.
He expressed concern that the PDP might lose Rivers State if the crisis was not resolved.
Fubara, who described the visit as reassuring, however, dismissed the rumour of his planned defection from the party.
A senior member of the PDP NWC told The PUNCH that 12 members of the party’s leadership were allegedly acting on Wike’s orders against Fubara’s interest.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the issue, claimed, “During our meetings, Damagum, Bature, Anyanwu, Koshoedo, National Auditor, Okechukwu Daniel; National Treasurer, Ahmed Mohammed; Deputy National Treasurer Ndubisi David; National Women Leader, Amina Arong; National Youth Leader, Muhammed Suleiman, and the National Vice Chairmen of North Central, South East, and North West all supported Wike’s agenda.
“Last week’s NWC meeting led to heated arguments. While court injunctions preventing the party from conducting ward congresses were respected in other states, the same was not true for Rivers State.
“Despite the restraining order, Damagum, Bature, and Anyanwu insisted that the process should continue. Only Ajibade (SAN), Ologunagba, and Woyegikuro stood firm in insisting that the PDP should comply with the court order in Rivers. Others supported Damagum to further Wike’s objectives.”
On Sunday, the spokesperson for the opposition lawmakers in the House of Representatives, Ikenga Ugochinyere, accused Damagum and Anyanwu of scheming to oust Fubara as governor.
On July 8, 2024, the Rivers State High Court issued an ex parte order preventing key state officials from interacting with the defected lawmakers.
However, to the surprise of party members, including the PDP National Legal Adviser, lawyers hired by Wike appealed the order on behalf of the party without its consent.
Though Ajibade reportedly attempted to withdraw the appeal on July 24, a letter dated August 15, signed by Damagum and Anyanwu and sent to the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt, distanced the PDP from the withdrawal of the appeal.
“The letter, which is now in public, was intended to betray Fubara in the interest of Wike. As a result of the letter from Damagum and Anyanwu, other party leaders are now becoming alert to the situation. Many of them are coming together to rally and ensure the party’s survival,” a national official of the PDP, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak on the matter, said.
“At this point, the NWC is largely divided with the majority under Wike’s control. So, the PDP is on the brink of collapse, and only the PDP governors can save it. I am telling you that at no cost.”
Another source, who is also a member of the PDP NWC, stated that the party structure in Rivers State would continue under Wike’s leadership.
According to the source, the PDP ward congresses across all states, including Rivers, were conducted successfully.
“While only three NWC members opposed the Rivers congress, the rest approved it. Consequently, Wike’s structure won the ward congress elections in Rivers. Therefore, Wike’s role as the PDP leader in Rivers State remains unchanged, as this same structure was responsible for Fubara’s election,” our source said.
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, one of the three NWC members who opposed the move to unseat Fubara, told The PUNCH the party would continue to support the governor.
“We have no reason not to support him because he is the leader of the party in Rivers State. The PDP Constitution is very clear, that the governor of a state is the leader of the party in that state, and issues relating to the state are consulted with him because he is part of the decision-making in that state. Nothing will change that,” Ologunagba said.
“Fubara is a governor under the platform of the PDP. We acknowledge his contributions to the party. He is a silent and diligent achiever in Rivers State. We as a party support him because he is a member of our party and is doing well in delivering the dividends of democracy to the people.”
“The position of the party remains the same as communicated in the past. That position has not changed. The party’s stance is consistent with the PDP Constitution and the Supreme Court’s pronouncement on defection. Those former lawmakers of Rivers State cease to be members of the state House of Assembly and the PDP because they defected when there was no crisis in the party. The party is united on this, and the NWC is not divided over it.”
On the alleged division over the Rivers State ward congresses, Ologunagba added, “Our party is a party of law and order. When there are court orders, we ensure that we obey and do not do anything that will affect the party with regard to the law.”
Meanwhile, FCT minister Wike says he has no plans to quit the PDP, despite the ongoing internal crisis, adding that he will stay and fight.
He stated this during a media parley on Wednesday to mark his first anniversary as the FCT minister.
“I’ve told you I do not run from any fight. I will stay there, I will fight it out. Who am I going to run from? The vampires? How can you say that? Can I tell you something? Anybody who knows me knows too well, if I want to join APC today; when I was in then PDP, didn’t I say that I will not support your presidential candidate? Did I do it secretly?
“All those people who are saying those things, did they bring one member who has won election? Did PDP not win? I stood my ground on principle, that if this is not done, we will not accept it. People should know you for something. Integrity is very important,” he said.
In a remarkable twist, Wike and Damagum criticised a former Federal Commissioner for Information and South-South leader, Chief Edwin Clark, for interfering in PDP affairs.
On Tuesday, Clark had urged Damagum to ensure that Wike exited the PDP, claiming it was essential for the party’s survival.
In an open letter to the party leadership, Clark accused Wike of leveraging his close ties with President Bola Tinubu to exert undue pressure on Governor Fubara and the PDP.
He stressed that Wike’s actions were unacceptable and needed to be addressed to protect the party and its members.
“Mr. acting National Chairman (Damagum), it is not just the National Legal Adviser of the PDP who is shocked by your actions; all well-meaning, reasonable, patriotic, faithful, and honest party members, including many Nigerians, share this shock,” Clark wrote.
“From all indications, you are conniving with detractors of PDP to ruin the party, for the All Progressives Congress. Allow Nigerians to decide what party they want through the ballot box.
“Stop colluding with Barr. Nyesom Wike to destroy the party. A day of reckoning will come for all of man’s activities.
“I wish and pray that you will not sell your soul and conscience for pecuniary and worldly gains, otherwise you, Barr Wike and your cohorts will be consumed by the Rivers State crisis.”
Wike, while replying Clark in Abuja on Wednesday, questioned which party Clark belonged to, following his letter to the PDP.
He said, “Let me say here that I don’t know the party Chief Clark belongs to. Frankly speaking, since I entered the PDP, I have never seen him at any PDP meeting. I don’t like to react to statements like that anytime he talks.
“If there is anyone who has contributed to the growth of the PDP as much as I have today, it is me. He was one of those talking about the southern President, and I supported the southern President. So, what is he going to investigate me about? Clark was one of those who said power must rotate. Is that the crime I committed, that I also believed in that?
“You see, in leadership, everything is not supposed to be smooth. When I was there, I had my own crisis. Did I blame anybody? No, I faced the crisis squarely. You saw what the Federal Government did to me. Did I accuse any ethnic group? No.”
On his part, Damagum advised the Ijaw leader to adopt a more inclusive approach rather than being sentimental in his approach to issues.
“I will borrow Olisah Metuh’s remarks from 2015, when Edwin Clark left the party. There’s no doubt that he is an elder statesman but I thought that when you reach that age, God has given you the opportunity and wisdom to be a father to all, not to engage in public arguments.
“He has all it takes to do the needful, not by taking a sentimental approach to the situation. I was not raised to be disrespectful to elders, so I don’t intend to dwell on this further,” he stated.
The PUNCH gathered that PDP’s newly inaugurated disciplinary committee, chaired by former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Tom Ikimi, will review reports and investigate party members for alleged anti-party activities.
The party unveiled its disciplinary and reconciliation committees, which consist of 26 and 25 members respectively, in Abuja on Wednesday.
There have been ongoing discussions within the party about imposing penalties, such as suspensions and expulsions, on those who engaged in anti-party activities during the 2023 general elections.
Notable figures like Wike, Ortom and a few other party leaders have been allegedly named in these discussions.
A senior member of the PDP NWC told one of our correspondents that the disciplinary committee and the reconciliation committee, chaired by former Osun State Governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, will resolve all issues around anti-party activities.
“So, we have inaugurated these committees. We have reports from all the states of the federation regarding those allegedly involved in anti-party activities during the 2023 election. We also have reports from individuals with opinions on what transpired during the election.
“All those reports will be given to Ikimi’s committee, and they will invite anyone involved to defend themselves. The committee will then make recommendations to the National Executive Committee meeting on September 26.”
Our source stated that members’ anti-party activities contributed to the defeat of the party and its 2023 Presidential candidate.
“These reports came from states where our leaders clearly engaged in anti-party activities, such as Rivers, Kebbi, Kaduna, Nasarawa and Ogun. That’s why we constituted the committee, which will make recommendations to the NWC, which will then present them at the next NEC meeting.”
While addressing party members on Wednesday in Abuja during the inauguration of the committees, Damagum emphasised the importance of maintaining the party’s unity.
Damagum said, “That’s why this committee is in place at the right time. I want to urge you, please, let’s set aside our personal interests and focus on doing what’s necessary for the party. The party is still the party to beat.
“They (APC) have been campaigning for us. They are the opposition now. This government is like an opposition. They lack even the basic knowledge of governance. They lack the ability to address common issues. They don’t know how to go about it because in the first place they were not supposed to be there. So let us capitalise on this so that we can create an enabling environment for our aspiring members who want to come on board in 2027.”
In his acceptance speech, Ikimi stated, “Discipline is a requirement for efficiency in any organisation, including political parties. For some time now, there’s been proliferation of action of gross indiscipline, which has caused the party electoral misfortune.”
