Despite the leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, at the National, Chief Patrick Agbe, has expressed the belief that the party will cling back to power in 2027.
Agbe who is an ex-officio member of the party from the South South region stated this in an exclusive interview with TNN where he affirmed that the future of PDP in Nigeria is great.
He described the defection of members of the party to the ruling All Progressives Congress APC, as natural, mostly in states that the PDP do not have sitting governors.
Agbe explained that, “for instance, Cross River State does not have a governor in the PDP. Our excos, state excos, local government, ward, they don’t get any stipend and a lot of people who survive on government patronage from the party no longer enjoys that, so it is natural to see this movement but this movement going to APC you will still see the movement towards the buildup of 2027 moving back to the PDP.
“The backward and forward movement is actually what is politics so I don’t see anything wrong in it but I know there are some people that will never move. Some of us were created to manage the crisis and make the party to be strong again, so I don’t see anything wrong and I don’t think that movement will end PDP.
“Let me tell you in Cross River State where I come from and most especially Ogoja Local Government. Are you aware that two weeks ago we had more than 1,500 defectors from the APC into the PDP, just in five local governments, so how then do you say that PDP is migrating into APC?”
On the supposed extension of Illya Umar Damagun’s tenure as the acting National Chairman of the PDP as confirmed at the NEC meeting held on Thursday, the ex-officio member explained that “I think most of your reports like we have been reading; Wike won, that person won, is not correct.
“The NEC which we had became the first time where at the caucus meeting Ayu formally tendered a resignation as the National Chairman of the PDP. Also, tendered the withdrawal of his court suit which he was contesting the position by the removal with the court order. With that, it was clear that PDP no longer have a party chairman and it became the first NEC to inform the NEC that the seat of Ayu is vacant.
“If you remember, since when Damagun took over as the acting chairman there hasn’t been any NEC so even in his acting capacity he was never confirmed so he was officially confirmed as the acting chairman on the NEC that took place on the 18th and he was going to act for three months, which a new chairman was going to come in.
“Our constitution does not allow for a vacuum and are stated clearly that once the national chairman is no more either by death, by resignation or impeachment the deputy national chairman from the zone which the chairman was coming from will take over not to allow for vacuum so by that pronouncement and tendering of resignation of Ayu it officially move Damagun, being the deputy national chairman from the North to take over as the chairman.
“Also, by the provision of the constitution it also says that the replacement of the chairman must come from the zone in which the outgone chairman comes from to complete his tenure and that will be done in consultation with the stakeholders from that zone and Ayu come from the North Central and in North Central he comes from Benue State. So, haven notified NEC that Ayu is no longer the chairman of the party it behooves on the North Central to go and produce a chairman, but that chairman will be in consultation with all other zones.
“So the NEC decided to work strictly with our constitution and that is to say, our constitution stipulates that there should be NEC at least every quarter and the next NEC has been fixed for the 15th of August which by then, the North Central zone must have met, produced their chairman and in consultation with the other five zones so on the NEC being the 15th of August the new chairman will be presented to NEC by consensus and probably be sworn in and Damagun returns to his position.”
Further on the issue of Rivers State, he explained that “while people were saying Wike won, Wike won, I did not see what Wike won, the caretaker committee in Rivers State which Fubara had raised an alarm was also asked to stay on hold, that was the resolution from both the caucus and the NEC.”
Agbe further affirmed that Wike was still a member of NEC by his virtue as a former governor and still in the caucus until the reactivated disciplinary committee of the party comes out with a report to indict him and others regarding antiparty activities.
