Politics
Wike, Fubara face-off splits PDP, 60 Reps demand chairman’s resignation
Sixty members of the House of Representatives elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, on Monday, demanded the resignation of the party’s acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum.
The development was a fresh twist in the political war between the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
The 60 lawmakers hinged their call for Damagum’s resignation on his alleged silence amid the political crisis between Wike and Fubara in Rivers State.
Fubara and Wike’s loyalists have been at loggerheads in a political crisis in Rivers State.
Last October, 27 lawmakers loyal to Wike moved to impeach Fubara, a move he vehemently fought against and survived.
An intervention by President Bola Tinubu last year helped to douse the tension for a while, however, the political gladiators seem to be back in the trenches lately, signaling the breakdown of the agreement reached at the meeting presided over by Tinubu.
Last week, the 27 pro-Wike lawmakers threatened to reactivate the impeachment move against Fubara, a situation that has seen the governor’s supporters pushing back and questioning the legitimacy of the 27 lawmakers on the grounds that they had defected from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress in the heat of the crisis last year.
On Monday, 60 lawmakers led by the PDP member representing Ideato North/Ideato South Federal Constituency, Imo State, Ikenga Ugochinyere, demanded the resignation of Damagum, accusing him of, among others, siding with Wike and working for the ruling APC, a party that gave Wike the FCT ministerial appointment.
The 60 lawmakers alleged that the 27 pro-Wike lawmakers seeking to impeach Fubara had Damagum’s backing.
Speaking on their behalf, Ugochinyere said, “Have Nigerians wondered why Damagun kept quiet while 27 members of Rivers State House of Assembly elected on the platform of PDP left the party? He kept quiet while they were threatening to impeach a governor in his party. Nigerians will be shocked to hear that Damagun was consulted and is fully aware of the entire details of the plots to impeach the Rivers State Governor and he gave his approval to the plot, yet he refers to himself as a chairman of a party. The shamelessness in this entire episode is limitless.
“If Rabiu Kwankwaso could leave the PDP and build a party and win Kano State with several federal and state lawmakers and Peter Obi also left the PDP to grow the Labour Party to win Abia State as well as several federal and state lawmakers, then Damagun and his allies could as well leave the PDP and go ahead to support the APC since their spirit is already out of the PDP.”
The 60 PDP Reps accused Damagum of plotting to use the Federal High Court to legalise the extension of the tenure of Rivers State Local Government Areas Chairmen believed to have the ears of Wike.
“We have now received credible intelligence of a plot to use the Federal High Court to secure a secret ex parte order that will attempt to legalise the illegal extension of the about-to-expire tenure of LGA chairmen in Rivers State, which was carried out by the former members of the state Assembly who lost legitimacy as lawmakers, the very moment they decamped to the APC knowing full well that there was no crisis in the PDP, hence, their seats as lawmakers became vacant immediately the remaining legitimate members declared the seats vacant.
“We are raising this alarm in view of the legitimacy of the desperate move which if not halted can lead to anarchy and collapse of constitutional governance. We want to call on the Chief Judge of Federal High Court, Justice Omotosho and other eminent judges to be aware of these plots that those behind it are already celebrating that the ex parte order is in their pocket awaiting release to the media even when the case has not been heard.
“To our respected Chief Judge, we are compelled to publicly bring this shocking development to your attention for the interest of justice and preservation of the image of our nation’s judiciary,” the group further said.
But the Minority Leader of the House, Mr Kingsley Chinda, who is a known political associate of the FCT Minister, was conspicuously absent at Monday’s briefing, fuelling insinuations that the war between Wike and Fubara had extended beyond the shores of Rivers State.
The lawmakers demanded that Damagum should immediately leave to pave the way for the emergence of a new PDP Chairman from the North Central zone of the country.
Damagum became the PDP acting National Chairman after Wike orchestrated the removal of the party’s acting Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, who is from Benue State in the North Central geopolitical zone.
Ahead of the PDP’s 98th National Executive Committee holding on April 18, the governors elected on the party platform are divided over who will replace and complete Ayu’s tenure.
Speaking further, Ugochinyere said, “We demand the immediate resignation of Damagun as acting National Chairman of the PDP for anti-party activities. The North Central zone should be allowed to produce the acting Chairman as clearly stated in the PDP Constitution. Watch us reconsider our membership of the party in the months ahead if the right thing is not done.
“We also call for the removal of Damagun by the National Executive Committee of the party with further sanctions against him for his anti-party activities.
“It is our call on Damagum to immediately resign so that the party can ‘midwive’ a process and hand over to someone from the North Central in line with the provisions of our great party.
“It is also our call to the leaders of our party from the North Central, Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau, Senators David Mark, Bukola Saraki, Abba Moro, Gabriel Suswam and Babangida Aliyu, to rise up now and save the soul of the part.”
More allegations
The 60 Reps further accused Damagum of “doctoring of caretaker committee members lists in Rivers state and at least 10 other states.”
Ugochinyere said, “This story is quite unfortunate and I can confirm to you all that it is not a rumour but fact.
“We have obtained very credible intelligence on the ongoings in our party’s Wadata House National Secretariat and it does not sound right at all. We currently have in the PDP a national leadership that is in bed with the APC and is working extremely hard to hand over the party to the APC.
“Following the removal of Iyorchia Ayu as National Chairman of our party and assumption of office by Damagun, who was elected as Deputy National Chairman to act in his stead, the party has only known misfortune and has abdicated its responsibility as the leading opposition party in the country. That role, which Nigerians would have loved the PDP to play as an institution it truly is, has been abdicated for a plate of porridge.”
Describing Damagum as unfit to lead the party to battle, the lawmakers said the Yobe politician “was only constitutionally allowed to step in, hold the forte and ‘midwive’ the process through which the North Central zone, where the chairmanship of the party was originally zoned, should present another person who would complete the slot of the North Central.
“Not only did Damagun hold tight unto the seat for well over a year now, he has abdicated every responsibility of the office of the chairman of PDP and is very comfortable serving APC interests.
“There had been an agreement of a broad spectrum of the party leadership when it became clear that Damagum was not interested in conducting elections but to appoint caretaker committees in at least 19 states where the tenures of the state and local government leaders were expiring to extend the tenures of these officials by three months.
“This decision, which was made to cover every state, was the wisdom that restrained Damagum from announcing a wholesale list of a majority of caretaker committees populated by APC agents masquerading as PDP members.
“However, despite that decision to retain everybody, Mr Damagun went ahead and received a list of APC agents and announced them as members and leaders of the PDP local government caretaker committees wholesomely in Rivers State and partially in at least 10 other states. This is a direct attempt to kill the PDP and ensure it goes into extinction.”
The lawmakers also accused Damagum of failing to retain most of the states in the South-East, noting that currently, the party is only in charge in Enugu State, “which it literally snatched from the jaw of a lion.”
The aggrieved lawmakers added that the party “lost Benue, Abia and Sokoto states. The PDP leadership kept mute while PDP state and federal lawmakers lost their seats at the tribunal and Court of Appeal on grounds that were obviously untenable, which have since been upturned by the Supreme Court.
“If the party had spoken up and raised the necessary alarm, all our colleagues in Imo and Plateau states, particularly, would have been with us in the Assembly today.”
Addressing the National Chairman frontally, Ugochinyere said, “You have a chance to resign immediately, leave or be embarrassed out of the party. At least 60 of us in the PDP in the National Assembly will sever all relations with the Damagun leadership until he leaves office. At the scheduled National Executive Committee meeting, if Damagun, by any maneuvering, however, conjectured, remains in office with the help of his APC friends at the end of the day, the party is now heading to the final slaughter shed.”
At the briefing were lawmakers representing Okehi/Adavi Federal Constituency, Kogi State, Abdulmaleek Danga; member representing Askira-Uba/Hawul Federal Constituency, Borno State, Midala Balami and and member, representing Ikara/Kubau, Kaduna State, Aliyu Abdullahi.
The Presidential Candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has dismissed a public debate challenge from the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, saying the minister must first become a presidential candidate before seeking such an engagement.
Obi made the remark during an interview with media entrepreneur Chude Jideonwo, where he responded to Umahi’s challenge following his criticism of the condition of Nigerian road.
The former Anambra State governor argued that presidential debates are reserved for candidates seeking the nation’s highest office, insisting that Umahi does not fit that category.
According to Obi, the controversy over the poor state of the roads had already produced results, noting that his criticism prompted repairs.
“If he is inviting me to a debate as a presidential candidate, then he has to become a presidential candidate first,” Obi said.
Drawing an analogy with international football, the NDC presidential flagbearer likened Umahi’s challenge to a team that failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup inviting a qualified team to a match.“The World Cup is going on now. You cannot stay outside and invite a team that qualified for the World Cup to come and play against you simply because you think you are good. No. There is a qualification process,” he added.
Obi maintained that leadership should be measured by performance rather than rhetoric, suggesting that the repairs carried out after his criticism underscored the importance of holding public officials accountable.
His response comes days after Umahi declared that Obi posed no political threat to President Bola Tinubu or the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), while challenging him to a public debate over the state of federal roads and infrastructure across the country.
Ada Ogbu, who made the clarification in a statement posted on her official X account on Saturday, was responding to Keyamo’s ultimatum demanding that Obi apologise to airport officials, pay a ₦25,000 parking fine or face action by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).Executive Branch
Ogbu, who described herself as an eyewitness, maintained that she was among those who accompanied Obi to the airport on Saturday, July 4, and categorically denied the minister’s claim that the politician was driven by a police officer.
“As a member of the team that accompanied His Excellency @PeterObi to the Abuja airport on Saturday, July 4, I can state categorically that he does not have a police officer as his driver in Abuja. Therefore, if airport CCTV captured a police officer entering the driver’s seat of a vehicle, that vehicle could not have been Mr. Obi’s,” she stated.
She further argued that the incident highlighted by Keyamo was different from the one Obi narrated during his interview with media personality Chude Jideonwo.
According to her, Obi’s frequent travels across the country have exposed him and his aides to repeated hostile treatment by airport personnel.Government
“It is also important to note that Mr. Obi travels through as many as ten Nigerian airports every week. Over time, there have been several acts of hostility directed at him and members of his team by airport personnel across different locations,” Ogbu said.
She concluded that the aviation minister had referenced an entirely separate incident.
“Based on the account shared by the Honourable Minister, it is clear that the incident Mr. Obi referenced during his interview with @Chude did not occur on the date or at the airport cited by the Minister. They are plainly two different incidents.”
Her reaction comes hours after Keyamo released CCTV-based findings from an internal inquiry into the airport incident, insisting Obi must publicly apologise to airport workers and pay the prescribed parking fine within one week or risk further action by FAAN.
President Bola Tinubu on Friday formally retained Vice President Kashim Shettima as his running mate for the 2027 presidential election.
This was as political parties made last-minute moves to beat the Independent National Electoral Commission’s deadline for the submission of presidential and National Assembly candidates.
The ruling All Progressives Congress presented the nomination forms of Tinubu and Shettima to its National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, in Abuja for onward transmission to INEC, effectively ending months of speculation that the President could replace his deputy with a northern Christian.
The development came as INEC confirmed that it had received the presidential and vice-presidential nominations of the African Democratic Congress, Nigeria Democratic Congress, Social Democratic Party, Action Alliance, African Action Congress, Peoples Redemption Party and Young Progressives Party.
Meanwhile, several other political parties continued uploading the names of their candidates ahead of the commission’s Saturday midnight deadline.
The electoral commission had fixed July 11, 2026, as the deadline for political parties to upload the nomination forms of their presidential and National Assembly candidates through its online nomination portal in accordance with Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026.
The submission exercise, which commenced on June 27, covers Forms EC9 and EC9A to EC9E for presidential, vice-presidential, Senate and House of Representatives candidates.
According to the timetable released by the commission, political parties are expected to begin uploading the names of governorship and State House of Assembly candidates from July 18, with the exercise ending on August 8.
INEC is scheduled to publish the personal particulars of presidential and National Assembly candidates on August 1, while those of governorship and state assembly candidates will be displayed on August 29 to allow members of the public raise objections where necessary.
The commission also fixed August 22 as the deadline for the withdrawal and substitution of presidential and National Assembly candidates, while governorship and state assembly candidates have until September 19 for withdrawal or replacement in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
The July 11 deadline marks one of the most critical stages in the build-up to the 2027 general elections, as only candidates validly nominated by political parties through primaries monitored by INEC are eligible for submission.
The commission had repeatedly warned political parties against submitting the names of candidates different from those who emerged from duly monitored primaries, insisting that any nomination outside the provisions of the Electoral Act and its regulations would be rejected.
Against this backdrop, the APC used Friday’s presentation ceremony to publicly affirm its presidential ticket, signalling that it would head into the 2027 contest without altering the Muslim-Muslim ticket that secured victory in the 2023 presidential election.
Following President Tinubu’s emergence as the APC’s presidential candidate during the party’s convention, political discussions had intensified over whether the President would retain Shettima or opt for another running mate to broaden the party’s electoral appeal.
Those speculations gathered momentum in recent months amid reports that the ruling party was considering a northern Christian as vice-presidential candidate to address concerns over religious balancing.
Friday’s submission, however, ended the uncertainty, with the APC formally presenting Tinubu and Shettima as its flag bearers for the 2027 election.
The nomination documents were presented on behalf of the President by his Special Adviser on Political Matters, Ibrahim Masari, during a ceremony attended by members of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, the National Assembly, the Federal Executive Council, the APC National Working Committee, state chairmen of the party and APC governorship candidates.
Earlier, the APC National Organising Secretary, Sulaiman Argungu, described the event as the formal presentation of the duly completed nomination forms of the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
Argungu noted that President Tinubu had earlier secured the party’s presidential ticket through what he described as a transparent primary election, and urged party members to remain united ahead of the 2027 polls.
He also commended the President for what he described as the achievements of his administration before formally handing over the nomination documents to the APC National Chairman for onward submission to INEC.
Speaking on behalf of APC governors, Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, reaffirmed the governors’ support for President Tinubu and the party leadership.
“We are delighted that this event is coming after a well-organised and thoroughly supervised primary process. We reiterate our commitment to continue supporting President Tinubu and the party,” he said.
Uzodimma said the APC remained committed to internal democracy and inclusiveness, adding that the governors would continue mobilising support for the President across the country.
“We will continue to support him in the larger interest of Nigerians and to take the country to greater heights. To the National Working Committee, we reaffirm our support. Together, we are going to deliver victory for President Tinubu and ensure the party wins all elective positions, including the National and State Assemblies,” he added.
Receiving the nomination forms, APC National Chairman, Prof. Yilwatda, described the event as a reflection of the confidence reposed in President Tinubu by millions of party members across the country.
According to him, the President’s endorsement by members of the party demonstrated widespread support for his administration and its policies.
He stated, “Today is a reflection of the wishes of over 12 million members of the APC who overwhelmingly voted for Mr. President as the party’s candidate for the 2027 presidential election. We are proud that APC members across the country cast over 12 million votes for Mr. President and overwhelmingly endorsed him.
National Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has responded to recent remarks by the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, , agreeing that President Bola Tinubu has done his best to address Nigeria’s security challenges but arguing that his best is no longer enough.
Obi made the remarks during an interview with Chude Jideonwo, uploaded on YouTube on Thursday, while explaining why Nigerians should support his presidential ambition over other opposition candidates.
Asked why he should be elected president, Obi urged Nigerians to evaluate his past record alongside his current vision for the country.
“It’s for you to look at my past and look at what I’m saying now,” he said.
Responding to Adeboye’s recent comments on Tinubu’s handling of insecurity, Obi described the respected cleric as a sincere and credible religious leader whose assessment was fair.
“Somebody asked me yesterday, they said that Pastor Adeboye said Tinubu has tried his best and he’s not happy. And I said, no, Pastor Adeboye remains a very revered, respected religious father, whom I believe in his genuineness and goodness.
“And what he said was correct. He said he has tried his best. He’s trying his best. That’s it. It’s the correct answer.
“The question to ask is: Is his best good enough? Where we find ourselves today, that leads to the issue of capacity.”
Obi maintained that effective leadership is defined by competence, capacity, compassion, commitment and character, arguing that Nigeria’s persistent security challenges demonstrate the need for a leadership change.
“When I talk about leadership, I say competence, capacity, compassion, commitment, character. These are the issues. President Tinubu is tired. He needs to go home and rest,” Obi said.
Adeboye had earlier defended President Tinubu against criticisms over worsening insecurity during the US-Nigeria Faith Heroes Award Gala organised by the Save Nigeria Group in Washington, D.C., on June 23.
The cleric argued that the President had fulfilled his responsibility by issuing directives to the military, stressing that a commander-in-chief was not expected to personally participate in combat operations.
“I don’t support those who are accusing the President of not doing enough. When the commander-in-chief has given instructions to his subordinates, he has done his bit. You don’t expect him to go and put on khaki and fight,” Adeboye said.
Despite defending the President’s role, Adeboye expressed concern over the deteriorating security situation, noting that terrorism and kidnapping had spread beyond northern Nigeria into the southern parts of the country.
He also revealed that he advised the President to issue a 90-day ultimatum to military commanders to either end the insecurity or resign, while urging the government to identify and prosecute those sponsoring terrorist activities.
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