A prominent member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Segun Sowunmi, has voiced his disappointment at the apparent indifference of some of the party’s founding figures while it faces internal challenges.
Speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today program on Tuesday, Sowunmi expressed his expectation that former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan would have intervened to resolve the ongoing conflicts within the party before the 2023 elections.
Recently, certain PDP lawmakers in the House of Representatives called for the resignation of the party’s National Chairman, Umar Damagum, alleging his allegiance to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Led by Ikenga UgoChinyere, these lawmakers questioned why the party leadership remained silent on political issues in Rivers State, allowing President Bola Tinubu to intervene instead.
Sowunmi attributed the calls for Damagum’s resignation and other internal discord within the party to what he referred to as the “Wike problem.” He lamented that despite the PDP’s efforts to address the issues surrounding former Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike before the last general elections, similar challenges persist even a year after the polls.
Expressing sadness at the prolonged internal conflicts within the PDP, Sowunmi noted that these issues have persisted beyond the 2023 presidential election.
Sowunmi said the founding fathers of party should step in and reconcile warring partymen to consolidate the gains of the party.
“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,” he said.
“I’m disappointed 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.”