Ohuabunwa Says INEC’s Recognition of Damagum as PDP Leader Is a Misunderstanding

The factional chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Mao Ohuabunwa, has described his faction as the authentic leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

According to him, his faction took over after the group led by Senator Adolphus Wabara, acted otherwise by taking sides in a crisis rocking the party.

Speaking on Monday during an Arise News interview, Ohuabunwa rejected claims that his factional BoT was illegitimate or created outside proper structures.

“The truth is that there are now two parallel National Working Committees.

“When one group suspended the other, we had to act because the BoT, which is supposed to be the conscience of the party, became complicit and took sides.

“Our BoT was formed in line with the constitution, from members who align with this vision. It may not include everyone yet, but others will join once they see that we are doing the right thing,” he said.

Ohuabunwa added that his faction intervened in order to restore order, unity, and constitutional discipline within the PDP and correct the leadership failures of the party.

“We have come to recover the party and reconcile it.

“Over time, we’ve been disobeying our own constitution, and the BoT kept quiet. If we had intervened earlier, there wouldn’t be any need for factionalisation.

“The BoT is the conscience and compass of the PDP. We are playing that role now, and we are reaching out to everyone to bring peace back to the party.”

He insisted that it is simply a misunderstanding for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognize the Umar Damagum-led faction of the PDP, Naija News reports.

“Before now, a letter had been written to INEC for different congresses and primaries, signed by both Damagum and the National Secretary, Sam Anyanwu. So INEC’s recognition isn’t new. That letter predates the emergence of this faction,” he said.

Ohuabunwa acknowledged that he is leading a faction of the PDP, but argued that they are on track to correct the errors within the party.

“Yes, we are a faction, but we are the conscience of the party.

Our mission is to recover the PDP and make it what it was meant to be: a disciplined, democratic institution guided by its constitution,” he said.