A Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Segun Sowunmi, says he is disappointed that some of the founding fathers of the party are watching on while the party bleeds.
Sowunmi, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday, said he expects former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan to have stepped in and resolved the protracted conflict that has plagued the party before the 2023 elections.
Recently, certain members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) within the House of Representatives have demanded the resignation of the party’s National Chairman, Umar Damagum, alleging his allegiance to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Spearheaded by Ikenga UgoChinyere and comprising around “60 lawmakers,” they questioned the party leadership’s silence on the political developments in Rivers State, particularly criticizing their inaction while President Bola Tinubu intervened.
Sowunmi attributed the agitation for Damagum’s resignation and other internal discord within the party leadership to what he referred to as the “Wike problem.”
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The ex-Ogun PDP governorship aspirant lamented that the PDP had previously dealt with the challenges posed by the then Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, before the last general elections, yet similar issues persist even a year after the polls.
Expressing regret, the PDP stalwart noted that the internal conflicts within the party have endured beyond the 2023 presidential election.
Sowunmi emphasized that it’s crucial for the founding fathers of the party to intervene and facilitate reconciliation among conflicting party members to strengthen and solidify the achievements of the party.
“A 25-year-old institution is supposed to be one of the legacies that one of the most populous black nations will tell the world that we can also run this thing,” he said.
“I’m disappointed that the founding fathers, the Jonathans of this world, the Obasanjos of this world and co, I am disappointed that they are looking at the platform that gave them the opportunity to lead, I am disappointed that they are looking it bleed.”