Mohammed defies court order, assumes office as acting PDP chairman

….Approves October 24th NEC meeting

The ongoing crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) further deepened on Monday as Ahmed Mohammed announced that he will assume office as acting national chairman of the party in defiance to an earlier court order restraining members from sacking Iliya Damagum from office.

Recall that the Federal High Court in Abuja had restrained the National Executive Committee (NEC) and the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the PDP from removing Umar Damagum as the party’s acting national chairman

In a judgment delivered via Zoom on Friday, Peter Lifu, the presiding judge, had ordered that aside Damagum, no other person must be recognised as the PDP acting national chair until the party’s convention scheduled for December 2025.

Lifu had held that party members were bound by Articles 42, 47 and 67 of PDP’s constitution which stipulates that national officers of the party can only be elected during the party’s national convention.

The suit marked FHC/ABJ/ CS/579/2024 was filed by Umar Maina, Yobe State PDP chair.

Maina had instituted the suit against PDP and eight others alleging that some stakeholders of the party had been holding meetings to forcefully remove Damagum from office.

He said Phillip Salawu, a former deputy governor of Kogi State, was being pushed forward as a replacement for Damagun by the stakeholders.

He said despite sending two separate written petitions to Samuel Anyanwu, national secretary of the party, no action was taken regarding the issue.

The plaintiff, through Joshua Musa, his counsel, prayed the court to invoke articles 45, 47 and 67 of the PDP constitution to stop the move to replace Damagum.

The plaintiff specifically asked the court to declare that the national chairmanship of PDP is rotated between the North and South regions and not through any other procedure alien to the party’s constitution.

In his judgment, Lifu agreed with the plaintiff that Damagum could only be replaced at the national convention of PDP or through an order of a court.

Lifu also held that any attempt to truncate the four-year tenure of the northern region without the national convention of the party would amount to an affront to the constitution of the PDP.

But Mohammed, in a statement he personally signed, stated that the action was in line with the provision of the Party’s constitution, which has alloted the chairmanship position to the North Central

Mohammed, while stating that he will occupy the position in acting capacity, called on the North Central Zone, which is constitutionality entitled to produce a replacement, to serve out the tenure of Iyorchia Ayu, former national chairman, to “urgently meet and forward its nominee to my office for necessary preparation and forwarding for consideration and approval by NEC at the October 24, 2024 meeting.”

According to him, “I hereby seek and solicit the co-operation, support and advice from my colleagues NWC members, all Organs of the Party especially the PDP Governors’ Forum, the Board of Trustees (BoT), National Assembly Caucus as well as leaders, critical stakeholders and members towards a successful NEC meeting that we can all be proud of.

“It is with the deepest sense of duty that I address you at this time. The domestic events within our Party in the last few days calls for deep reflection about the management of the PDP especially at this crucial time in our nation, particularly as it relates to our role as an opposition Party and general management as a Constitution Compliant Party in the true spirit of the mission and vision of the founding fathers which are equity, fairness and justice.

“I am humbled and grateful by the numerous messages of solidarity, support and best wishes received from members of our Party across the country. The enthusiasm and relief expressed revealed the desire and determination of our members to see a PDP that is strong, democratic and based on strict adherence to its Constitution.

“Regrettably, we must admit that we have not satisfactorily carried out the critical role expected of a virile opposition in a democracy. This, it has been observed is as a result of conflict on interests; – personal or political – elevated above Party interest which continues to have debilitating effect on the ability of our Party to perform effectively at various levels, particularly at the national level.”

Tracing the circumstances that led to the current situation, he noted that the state of affairs of the party continues to affect its performance and viability to perform its role as a platform which Nigerians have come to admire and look up to in view of its robust constitution (as amended in 2017) and the monumental achievements in 16 years in government, which period is referred to with nostalgia as the golden years of governance in Nigeria.

He disclosed that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP, desirous of revamping the party in line with the vision of its founding fathers, on Thursday, October 10, 2024 appointed him as the acting national chairman to lead the charge to rekindle the hope and aspiration of teeming members especially the youths, critical stakeholders and generality of Nigerians who wish to see a political party that is ready and willing to play the role of effective opposition in the quest to develop democracy and seek responsible and responsive government in our country.

” The NWC under my leadership will be guided strictly by the Constitution of our Party and I will at all times be fair to all members irrespective of their status, position or state in the Party. Only this will guarantee and engender loyalty and commitment of our teeming members.

“In this regard, my primary goal, focus and mandate in the onerous assignment is to restore confidence of our members by immediately setting in motion the process to hold the long overdue National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of our Party already scheduled for Thursday, October 24, 2024.”