Group Demands End to Damagum’s Alleged Blackmail of Wabara

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

The apparent cold war between the Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Amb. Umar Damagum and the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman, Senator Adolphus Wabara has continued to raise concerns in the party. 

Consequently, a pressure group in the main opposition party known as PDP Frontiers for Change and Progress(PFCP) has  alleged that Damagun was sponsoring media propaganda and blackmail against Wabara “for speaking the bitter truth” on the ills of the party. 

Wabara came under attack for questioning the repeated postponement of the National Executive Committee(NEC), by the Damagum-led National Working Committee (NWC). 

The Convener of PFCP,  Emeka-Yellow Ikpegbu, said that Damagum was the one sponsoring the anti-Wabara sentiment posted on the Facebook wall of Northern PDP Social Media. The unsigned post dragged the BoT Chairman, accusing him of “working against the interest of PDP” and antagonising the Damagun-led NWC. 

Wabara appeared to have provoked the ire of Damagun and his backers in his opening remarks at the December 5 emergency meeting of the party in which he expressed disappointment over the continuous rescheduling of NEC meeting. 

The postponement of the NEC meeting has occurred on three consecutive occasions with the latest being the meeting earlier fixed for November 28, 2024. 

In criticising the continuous shifting of goal post, Wabara noted that the delay in convening NEC meeting “not only undermines the trust and confidence of our members but also weakens the unity and democratic processes that are the foundation of our party.” 

“It is with a deep sense of disappointment that I must express the BoT’s dismay at the continued shifting by the NWC in convening a NEC meeting,” he said. 

Ikpegbu said that the BoT Chairman spoke “the bitter truth” to Damagum and his cohorts, adding that Wabara had indeed spoken the minds of the PDP faithful. 

He lauded the former Senate President for speaking out courageously as the BoT chairman, saying that by expressing his frustration with the “errors of NWC” did not in any way justify the sponsored media attacks. 

The PFCP convener described the attacks on the BoT chairman as “unwarranted, ridiculous and a display of political immaturity by those behind the cheap blackmail.” 

He defended Wabara for speaking out when it mattered, saying that he has diligently played his role as the Chairman of BoT, which is the conscience of the party, thereby providing direction to the NWC so that the party would not be misled or derail from its democratic principles. 

“We are not surprised at this infantile antics of sponsoring fallacious media propaganda to blackmail the BoT chairman who has remained courageous in speaking against the errors of the NWC. This lame script is dead on arrival,” he said. 

According to Ikpegbu, the actions and activities of the Damagum-led NWC “lend credence to growing suspicions that the Acting National Chairman is in bed with the ruling APC for selfish interests.” 

He said: “The signals are very obvious and ominous. Damagum cannot deny that he is the one working for other interests. PDP may not survive till 2027 with the way Damagum -led NWC is running the affairs of the party.”