RIVERS CRISIS: DAMAGUM, WIKE WORKING AGAINST PDP, UGOCHINYERE ALLEGES
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Ikenga Ugochinyere, a prominent figure in the Peoples Democratic Party and member of the House of Representatives, has charged Umar Damagum, the party’s acting national chairman, and Nyesom Wike, the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, with organizing a scheme to bring back the 27 lawmakers from Rivers State who defected to the All Progressives Congress in December 2023.
Additionally, the federal legislator said that Damagum hired Joshua Musa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria who is thought to be a friend of the FCT minister, in order to “file secret action against PDP interest.”
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“We have called you today to give you an update on the recent happenings in the PDP following the now-confirmed reports which spread from last week about the PDP filing papers in court secretly in aid of the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who are no longer lawmakers after they left PDP for APC and their seats were declared vacant,” Ugochinyere, who represents Ideato South/Ideato North Federal Constituency of Imo State, said during a press conference on Thursday in Abuja.
“While we cannot speak about the issues of bribery allegations and the receipt of the sum of $2m by those behind this shocking act of betrayal of their party, we can, however, authoritatively speak to you about only what we can and have confirmed to be facts and to be true.
He continued, “After the National Executive Committee meeting, which agreed on a peaceful exit for Damagum at the next NEC meeting that will come in a few months, which will see the emergence of a candidate from North Central as PDP Chairman; many strange things have been happening.
“First, they went to secure an ex parte order that Damagum should remain in office using APC members who are parading as PDP members,” he added, stressing that “In an action that looks like payback, Damagum-led NWC now hired a lawyer to file court papers seeking to reinstate sacked APC lawmakers to enable them to attempt an impossible task of illegally removing Gov Siminalayi Fubara from office.
“Also, a strange court action which the Damagum-led National Working Committee is not opposing, came out from nowhere, ordering NWC to allow the PDP caretaker list filled with APC members to be inaugurated. Strangely, our PDP NWC allowed APC members to take over our party structures.”
He also tasked legal stakeholders to interrogate the manner ex parte orders are procured by political actors, saying “The Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee needs to immediately establish measures to determine whether any person under its authority has done anything warranting its disciplinary action.
“The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court needs to address this issue and save the institution from this image-damaging scandal. Was this the reason Uche Secondus, Celestine Omehia, and Austin Opara rushed off to the Court of Appeal to challenge the order restraining them from attending the PDP NEC meeting without bothering to challenge it before the judge at the Federal High Court?” he asked.
Ugochinyere also called on party organs including the governors to speak up on the issue of party leadership.
“We call on the National Executive Committee of the PDP, the Board of Trustees, and all other men of goodwill to take another look at the current leadership of the party and agree with us that Damagum is a clear and present danger to the PDP and its survival. He has now come out openly and is no longer disguising his loyalty to the APC. Urgent action is required now,” he further said.
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