Kola Ologbondiyan, a former national publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has announced that the party leadership has agreed that the North-Central region will nominate a candidate for the position of national chairman in November.
This decision comes as a replacement for Umar Damgunm, who has been acting in the role since Iyorchia Ayu was ousted by a court ruling in 2023.
Ologbondiyan stated that this consensus was reached during a meeting of PDP leaders in Abuja on Tuesday. They also decided to postpone the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, originally set for October 24, to November 28, 2024.
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The new chairman will be chosen from the North-Central region, which is also where Ayu hails from.
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“The reason for the postponement is to enable the leadership of the party lead the party to win election in Ondo State,” Ologbondiyan said on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, The Morning Brief, on Wednesday.
“And for that singular reason, members are calming down since it is certain now that after the victory in Ondo that on November 28, we will have a NEC meeting where the North-Central will have the opportunity to produce its replacement for Senator Iyorchia Ayu.
Probed further whether the leadership of the party which has been in disagreement on the chairmanship position all agreed that the North-Central should produce a candidate for that position in November, Ologbodiyan said, “part of the discussion and decision reached last night is that come November 28 the North-Central will produce a replacement to Ambassador Iliyasu Damagum, I can say that anywhere.”
The rescheduling of the NEC meeting was announced by Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, who serves as the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum.
This decision followed a consultative meeting of various party organs held on Tuesday at the Bauchi State Governors’ Lodge, Tatari Ali House, Asokoro.
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Governor Mohammed emphasized that the postponement aims to unify the party as it prepares for the upcoming Ondo gubernatorial elections on November 16, 2024, with the goal of unseating the struggling All Progressive Congress (APC) government in the state.
The meeting also addressed the need to resolve disunity among members.
Attendees included members of the PDP Governors’ Forum, the Board of Trustees, the National Working Committee (NWC), the National Assembly leadership of the PDP Caucus, and the Forum of Former Governors.
This meeting was called in response to ongoing internal conflicts within the party.
The PDP Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, and National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, had suspended National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba and National Legal Adviser Ajibade.
In turn, Ologunagba and Ajibade suspended Damagum and Anyanwu, creating a stalemate that the PDP Governors’ Forum has now helped to resolve.
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