A leadership crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) comes after its acting national chairman, Umaru Damagam, denied claims that the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) had upheld a recent court judgment against Rivers State executives. Now, we are entering a new phase.
Naija News understands that this clarification refutes a statement by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Debo Ologunagba, who announced the acceptance of the NWC judgment.
On Thursday, Ologunagba said that following the judgment of the Rivers State High Court on January 13, 2025, the NWC has declared the Name Robinson Ewole faction loyal to Rivers State Governor Simu Hubara as the legitimate PDP leadership in the state. He claimed to have admitted it.
The court had restrained the Wike faction led by Aaron Chukwuemeka from functioning as the PDP executive in the state.
Mr. Ologunagba further announced that the NWC has accepted the court’s judgment and upheld Mr. Ewole’s group as the effective executive branch of Rivers State.
However, at a press conference in Abuja on Friday, the PDP National Publicity Deputy Secretary, Ibrahim Abdullahi, refuted Ologunagba’s statement, calling it baseless and motivated by personal gain.
Mr Abdullahi said: “The recent actions of my colleague, the Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba, have made it clear that the party is displeased with some of his recent attitudes.
“He seemed to be speaking out of both sides of his mouth. Just yesterday, on the direction of the National Chairman, I issued a disclaimer regarding the Chairman’s statement that the NWC had met and accepted the judgment regarding the Rivers State House of Assembly. announced.
“The NWC did not accept the judgment recognizing the Ewoh-led executive. That is wrong. The NWC has not met since September last year. This is verifiable. So how did he know that the NWC met and adopted the judgment? Is it possible to claim that?”
Mr. Abdullahi further criticized Mr. Ologunagba for similar unauthorized statements on judgments in Imo and Ebonyi states, stressing that the Public Relations Secretary has no authority to speak on behalf of the NWC without prior approval.
He added: “The National Public Relations Secretary does not have the authority to act independently. He cannot speak on behalf of the NWC without authorization. His recent actions demonstrate a lack of adherence to protocols. This is not expected of him as a lawyer.
“We are witnessing a situation where personal emotions cloud his reason and have a negative impact on his work. must be given.”
