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As David Mark, Others Resign
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We Won’t Allow ADC To Be Hijacked By Any Elite Group –Stakeholders
THE National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) , Umar Damagum says the party remains united and intact despite its challenges.
Damagum said this after the meeting of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC), on Wednesday, in Abuja.
The PDP chairman, who noted that the party could not be conquered, said that it had mastered the art of conflict resolution.
“We know our problems, and we solve them within ourselves. As you can see, we are all here as the NWC of this party.
“We remain united despite all the challenges. We have sat down to discuss all thorny issues and thrash of them out today.
“The National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting scheduled from July 23 to 25 will still hold, so PDP members contemplating leaving the party should reconsider their plan.
“There is no place that will be as accommodating as the PDP. But if they feel otherwise, I will wish them good luck. But I know they will run back to us. To our members, I want to bring good tidings that your party is intact,” he said.
Damagum also warned members to stop demarketing the party. “We will watch them and take appropriate actions at the right time.
“If you believe in this party, you should be an ambassador that protects the fortunes that this party has given to the citizens of this country when in power,” he said
Meanwhile, a former President of the Senate, Sen. David Mark has resigned his membership of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Our correspondent reports that Mark, one of the prominent opposition figures in the country, was on Tuesday appointed as the interim National Chairman of African Democratic Congress (ADC), the platform adopted by the opposition coalition.
Former Gov. Rauf Aregbesola of Osun also emerged as the interim National Secretary of ADC, under the National Coalition of Political Opposition Movement in Nigeria.
Mark’s resignation letter, entitled: “Notice of resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)”, dated July 27, was addressed to the chairman of Ward 1, Otukpo in Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State.
He attributed his decision to quit PDP to recent developments, which, he said, had reduced the party to a shadow of its former self, thus subjecting it to public ridicule.
“I bring warm greetings to you and members of the PDP, Otukpo Ward 1 and, by extension, to the entire Benue State and Nigeria. I write to formally inform you of my decision to resign my membership of the party with immediate effect.
“You may recall that over the years, I have remained firm and deeply committed to the ideals of the PDP.
“Even when nearly all stakeholders departed the party following our loss in the 2015 presidential election, I pledged to remain the last man standing.
“I have worked steadfastly to rebuild, reconcile and reposition the party; efforts which, without sounding immodest, helped restore the PDP to national relevance and made it once again a party of choice for many Nigerians.
However, some concerned stakeholders in African Democratic Congress (ADC) have faulted the appointment of a former Interior Minister, Alhaji Rauf Aregbesola, as the party’s Interim National Secretary.
The stakeholders made their position known in a statement issued by Dr Musa Matara, on Wednesday, in Abuja.
Matara, who claimed to be the party’s National Publicity Secretary, insisted that ADC was not a private coalition platform to be hijacked by any elite group.
He faulted the emergence of Aregbesola as the party’s interim national secretary, saying that the appointment did not follow due process as well as the ADC’s guidelines.
According to Matara, the stakeholders’ group comprises the youth and women leaders, state party executives and ward coordinators across the country.
He said that while the stakeholders appreciated the enthusiasm with which Aregbesola delivered his acceptance speech as the interim national secretary of ADC, they, however, rejected the process of his appointment.
