The Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ambassador Umar Ilyas Damagum has secured the support of state chairmen from across the 36 states.
The development comes ahead of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting scheduled for November 28.
Reports reveal that during a meeting held at the party’s national headquarters in Wadata Plaza, Abuja, Damagum and the state chairmen dismissed claims of internal tension or threats to his leadership.
The meeting, which was attended by newly elected state chairmen of the PDP, along with incumbent chairmen from all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, was described as a routine familiarization visit by Damagum.
In separate interviews, the chairmen expressed unanimous support for Damagum, despite calls from some party members for his replacement over alleged poor leadership and recent electoral defeats in Edo and Ondo states.
Chief Austin Nwachukwu, the Imo State PDP Chairman and Interim Chairman of the PDP State Chairmen’s Forum, told reporters that there is no tension and that they found no need to declare a vote of confidence in Damagum because all is well with the party’s leadership.
“We want to clear that erroneous impression that the fortunes of the party is diminishing each day, it is not; it is looking stronger into the new dispensation and what you may call a crisis in the party is just cosmetic,” Nwachukwu said. He blamed the PDP’s recent electoral losses on the tactics of the ruling party rather than allegations of poor leadership being attributed to Ambassador Umar Damagum.
Meanwhile, Damagum, appearing confident and composed, said that the state chairmen’s visit was primarily a familiarization tour, rather than the conflict and threats being circulated on social media. He stated that the meeting was to interact with the state chairmen and discuss other matters such as the coming Zonal Congresses.
“My state chairmen are my commander in the States, this is not an unusual meeting, we’ve had this kind of meeting before; this is not the first time and for the records, I want to make it very clear that this meeting was to interact with the state chairmen,” Damagum said.