From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Working Committee (NWC) and spokesman of the opposition coalition in the House of Representatives, Ikeagwuonu Ugochinyere, on Tuesday, clashed over the crisis in the party.
While the deputy national publicity secretary, Ibrahim Abdullahi, blamed former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, for the woes of the opposition party, Ugochinyere said the acting national chairman, Umar Damagum, was responsible for the crisis in the party.
They spoke in Abuja, yesterday, at an event organised by a group of PDP stakeholders, “Fix PDP, Fix Nigeria.”
Ugochinyere, who represents Ideato federal constituency of Imo State, berated the PDP leadership for allegedly running the party aground.
“The standard we are operating today is painful, embarrassing and insulting. It is nothing near what our founding fathers had, even though they had their own shortfall. I listened to the member of NWC speak passionately about how they inherited the challenges.
“But what I would ask him is, are you proud the way your own NWC is running now? Are you going to, because there are people who created these problems for you, those who are still creating that problem, is that a justification? Don’t you have your own sense of duty and responsibility to now say, let’s change the way these things are happening? Can’t you just say, I want this to change?
“The NWC is like a judge, not only doing justice, but you must be seen to be doing justice. If you look at some of the things that have happened, yes, we lost the election, we lost funding, we started surviving from governors or individual stakeholders and so on and so forth. But the biggest problem your own NWC is facing today, which is also affecting our role as an opposition party.
“When I was coming, I saw Fix PDP to Fix Nigeria. Very fantastic. But before you fix PDP you have to fix everything that is internal. And that starts with the issue of leadership struggle. We can’t wave it aside. And let me tell you, as long as we don’t resolve these issues, the people out there are just laughing at us.
“But then what are we doing? What are we not doing as a group to rescue the party? So the point I’m trying to make here is that Article 47, 45 was very clear that when a vacancy occurs, a party NEC picks another person from that zone or area where the former occupants originated.
“And you have become acting chairman by virtue of 45. Call a NEC meeting to appoint an acting chairman. Is that difficult for somebody, who wants Nigeria to take him serious? And that inability to do that is what brought this round of crisis again. And let me say this, you people know what you are doing.” Earlier, Abdullahi had said the NWC inherited the current problems plaguing the opposition party. He emphasised that Atiku caused the problem in the country, when he allegedly “foisted” President Muhammadu Buhari on the country.
He explained that the NWC is not in the pocket of anyone as insinuated by Ugochinyere, stating that “we inherited the problems we are facing today. We are not in the pocket of Wike. Atiku Abubakar succeed in foisted the worse government in the person Buhari on us.”
