Acting Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Umar Damagum and PDP Governors’ Forum Chairman Bauchi Governor Bala Mohammed should be blamed for the deepening crisis in the party, Senator Gabriel Suswam said yesterday.
The one-time Benue Governor berated the duo for failing offer effective leadership to the main opposition party, saying they have failed members.
Speaking yesterday on a national television, Suswam stated most people no longer have confidence in the leadership of the party.
He blamed Damagum for not informing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that the party’s Secretary, Sam Anyanwu, left to contest the off-season governorship election in Imo State.
He said: “The person recognized by INEC is Anyanwu, when he left, the chairman should have informed INEC, but he didn’t do that. This is where I have indicted the chairman.
The acting chairman has created confusion in the party, without that we won’t be where we are.
Anyanwu tendered a letter of resignation. You can’t say you are on leave to go and contest. The chairman is complicit in this. They have ulterior motives. He was supposed to have been properly replaced.
“I put the blame squarely on Damagum and Bala Mohammed. If there was proper leadership, we won’t be where we are today. It is not about Wike. There was a lot of deceit. Damagum is a major culprit,” he said.
The former Benue Governor noted that if appointed, he would have done far better than the acting chairman, adding that it would be difficult to resuscitate the party with the current leadership.
In Benue, there are factional PDP groups, these are fundamental issues that should be addressed. If the National Working Committee (NWC) had done the right thing from the outset, we wouldn’t be here today”, Damagum said.
