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Segun Sowunmi, a prominent figure in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has voiced his disappointment that certain key figures who helped establish the party seem indifferent as it faces internal turmoil.
During an appearance on Channels Television's Politics Today show, Sowunmi, a former governorship aspirant for PDP in Ogun State, expressed his hope that former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan would have intervened to address the prolonged discord within the party ahead of the 2023 elections.
Several members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the House of Representatives have recently demanded the resignation of Umar Damagum, their acting National Chairman.
They accuse him of colluding with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Led by Ikenga UgoChinyere, approximately 60 lawmakers have raised concerns about the party’s leadership’s silence on the political situation in Rivers State while observing President Bola Tinubu’s intervention.
Sowunmi attributed the agitation for Damagum’s removal and other internal conflicts within the party’s leadership to what he termed the “Wike problem.”
He said, “A 25-year-old institution is supposed to be one of the legacies that one of the most populous black nations will tell the world that we can also run this thing.”
“I’m dissapointed that the founding fathers, the Jonathans of this world, the Obasanjos of this world and co, I am disappointed that they are looking at the platform that gave them the opportunity to lead; I am disappointed that they are looking it bleed.”
He expressed frustration that the PDP had faced challenges with the former Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, before the last general elections and continues to grapple with similar issues even a year after the polls.
The PDP stalwart expressed his regret over the prolonged internal conflicts within the party, extending even after the 2023 presidential election.
Sowunmi emphasised the necessity for the party’s founding members to intervene and unite conflicting factions to solidify its progress.