Damagum keeps mum on PDP NEC meeting after visit to INEC

Umar Damagum, acting national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, declined to speak on the planned national executive committee (NEC) meeting of the party after a sit-down with the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday.

BACKGROUND

The meeting follows the controversy surrounding the proposed PDP NEC meeting.

In May, the PDP wrote to the electoral body of its plan to hold the NEC meeting at its national secretariat in Abuja on June 30.

The notice, signed solely by Damagum, was in accordance with INEC’s 21-day notification requirement for political meetings of such magnitude.

However, in a letter dated June 13 and addressed to the party’s chairman, INEC said the notice of the meeting failed to comply with its regulations.

The commission said the notice of the proposed NEC meeting ought to have been jointly signed by the party’s national chairman and secretary.

There has been a tussle within the PDP over the position of national secretary, with Samuel Anyanwu and Sunday Udeh-Okoye laying claim to the title.

However, speaking at a press conference on Sunday, Debo Ologunagba, national publicity secretary of the PDP, said the party would go ahead with the NEC meeting, noting that INEC’s approval was not required for the PDP to hold the gathering.

In a reaction about 24 hours later, Damagum countered Ologunagba and said he was not authorised to speak on the issue.

The PDP acting chairman said the party’s spokesperson made the statement “prematurely and without due consultation”.

Damagum said Ologunagba has previously acted “unilaterally, disregarding the collective decision-making structures” of the party.

THE INEC MEETING

Before Tuesday’s meeting with senior party members and INEC officials, Damagum said the visit to the electoral umpire’s headquarters was to seek clarification and guidance on the office of its national secretary.

“We are here today, as you are aware that we have issues pertaining to the status of our national secretary,” he said.

“We are here today to discuss and interact with you sincerely, because we had NEC and there was a decision of NEC which mandated me to sign a letter to avoid controversy.

“I have received your reply to that letter, urging us to be guided.

“So, I think we are here to interact sincerely with you off-camera so that it will guide us when we get back, to have a position that would further help us in taking decisions that will help us out of the situation we found ourselves.”

Responding, Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairman, said it was important “to get clarification from the party on who the secretary is”.

Yakubu said the electoral body had received correspondences from the PDP signed by different persons claiming to be secretary, including Anyanwu, Udeh-Okoye and Setonji Koshoedo.

At the end of the sit-down, Damagum said a “larger stakeholders” meeting of the opposition party would be held to discuss whether the NEC meeting would be held on June 30 as planned.

“Politics is dynamic and pragmatic as well. So, we will go back and meet our larger stakeholders and disseminate all the discussions that have taken place today and come out with a position immediately,” he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Ologunagba reiterated that the NEC meeting would be held as planned.