By Augustine Akhilomen

It appears there is no end in sight to the lingering crisis rocking the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) after some big wings called for the resignation of the party’s acting National Chairman, Amb. Umar Damagum, and Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, over alleged anti-party activities and their role in the Rivers State political logjam.

The crisis escalated following Damagum’s suspension of the National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, and the National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade, who had been vocal in urging the acting chairman to ensure the party adhered to its constitution in its day-to-day operations.

Since its establishment nearly 26 years ago, the opposition and former ruling party is facing one of its biggest tests ahead of the 2027 general election. However, Thepledge learnt that the internal discord is fuelled by a struggle to control the party’s structure ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Interestingly, it is believed that the current crisis within the party may be caused by the two political gladiators in Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike and 2023 presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar.

The roots of the crisis can be traced to the 28 May 2022 presidential primary, which produced Atiku Abubakar as the party’s flag bearer. This led to open rebellion from Wike and the G5 governors—Samuel Ortom, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Okezie Ikpeazu (former governors of Benue, Enugu, and Abia), and Seyi Makinde, the current governor of Oyo State. The others have since left office having completed their tenures.

Ahead of the presidential election, the G5 governors demanded the resignation of the National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, as a condition for reconciliation, a demand Atiku and his supporters rejected. Unsurprisingly, Atiku and the PDP lost in all the G5-governed states.

Ayu was later ousted after he was suspended by his ward in Benue State and by a court that asked him to stop posing as chairman. That paved the way for Damagum to act as chairman.


This was widely seen as the G5 governors taking over the party’s structure. With Damagum as acting Chairman and Samuel Anyanwu as National Secretary, the control of the party was firmly in the hands of Wike’s camp, protecting him from the threat of suspension over alleged anti-party activities.

Historically, Atiku has shown little interest in controlling party structures, yet he has successfully won two primaries, even against candidates backed by governors. Atiku, a veteran of party primaries, has made no secret of his intention to run again in 2027 and has remained in the country, perhaps to avoid the usual criticism of abandoning the party after elections.

The PDP has always prided itself on having the strongest internal conflict resolution mechanism. Between 1999 and 2015, when the party held presidential power, conflicts were resolved with the intervention of the sitting president.

With the governors now divided, it seems that the internal conflict resolution mechanism may not work, given the many interests fighting for different objectives.

Again, there are fears that the internal frictions may blow open once more at the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting scheduled for November 28.

Neither Atiku nor Wike was invited to last week’s meeting which Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Bala Mohammed described as ‘a meeting of all of PDP’ stakeholders.

Reacting to the development, a founding member of the PDP, Bode George, urged Wike and the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to calm down.

George, in an interview on Arise TV, said Atiku and Wike should allow PDP elders to deliberate in resolving the crisis within the party, which started during the build-up to the last presidential election.

“I want to appeal to the leaders of the various groups in the party that it is time to shield your personal ambition and let us rebuild the party. Let the Iroko tree get back because the tap roots are still there and our people outside the country are asking what is happening with the party.

“There is no organization in the world without crisis, but it’s our ability to resolve the crisis. This crisis didn’t stand now; it started at the presidential convention, and nobody was able to manage it.

“We were the founders of the PDP, and I will never serve under Ikimi’s committee; it’s not about disrespect. Atiku and Wike should calm down and let us go to the elders meeting where we would start this discussion to trace this crisis back to that convention because that was where everything started going in the wrong direction.”

However, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said he has no hand in the leadership crisis rocking the party. His Special Assistant on Public Communication Phrank Shuaibu told The Nation that Atiku is not in any way part of the crisis in the party.


“Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar believes in due process and he has been focused on how to build the PDP into a more formidable Party and he completely has no hand in any crisis that would rather draw the party backwards.

“It is extremely farfetched and unfair to insinuate that Atiku has any involvement with any individual or group’s plans to brief lawyers and go to court towards vacating Justice Peter Lifu’s judgement,” Shuaibu stressed.

Meanwhile, the People’s Democratic Party Governors’ Forum (PDP-GF) said that the internal crisis rocking the party had been resolved. The forum’s chairman, Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State said stakeholders had agreed that all the suspensions within the National Working Committee (NWC) be set aside and the status quo maintained.

“All the suspensions you heard about have been resolved by the governors, the NWC, the caucus of the National Assembly, and the BoT.

“There is no faction; everything has reverted to the status quo under the acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, pending the time the governors and other organs of the party will sit down and resolve all the issues.

“There is no party that does not have problems. Some of them are legal, and we do not want to preempt the outcome of the legal procedures. So, whatever speculations and perceptions might have gone out are wrong.

“Both parties have agreed that in the interest of the party and Nigeria, we should return to the status quo before the suspension and counter-suspension.

“These suspensions have been lifted; there are no more suspensions. That is the resolution of the PDP-GF,” he said.

“Yes, we may have ill feelings here and there, but we should bury them. Our personal feelings should not be allowed to create perceptions that seem to divide us,” he said.

However a chieftain of the Party and former National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, on Wednesday, charged Nigerians to allow the party to breathe.

Ologbondiyan made the call in reaction to the rift between Atiku and Wike,

Stressing that the party is larger than Atiku and Wike, the former PDP’s National Publicity Secretary urged them to make peace in the interest of the party.

Featuring on Channels Television’s Morning Brief, the PDP chieftain said the party should not be brought down to the views of what Wike or Atiku’s faction are saying.

With no end in sight, Ologbondiyan said: “I look forward to the day when the PDP will be allowed to breathe without the issue of former vice president Atiku Abubakar or the current minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike.

“The PDP is larger than two individuals. It is a party of millions of people, and we cannot permanently reduce it to the level of what one side or the other is saying. What of those who don’t have sides and have moved beyond the election and the 2023 convention?”

With the current tension, it is doubtful if the next National Working Committee set for November 28, will achieve anything meaningful. It is however the hope of its teeming members and well-meaning Nigerians that the party and its leaders will put its house in order and put the ruling party, All Progressive Congress (APC) on its toes for the sake of the nation’s young democracy.