The acting national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Umar Damagum, says Chief Edwin Clark, leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), should desist from being sentimental regarding the political crisis rocking Rivers state.
He spoke on Wednesday in Abuja, while reacting to a recent letter addressed to him by Clark amid the Rivers crisis.
In the said letter, Chief Clark said Nyesom Wike, who is the minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), should exit the PDP for the opposition party to survive.
The elder statesman also accused Damagum of being a “tool in the hands” of Wike to “bring down” the government of Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers state.
“The obvious anti-party activities of you and the national secretary, both of whom are obviously tools in the hands of Barr. Nyesom Wike, used with all intention to bring down the government of Siminalayi Fubara, the executive governor of Rivers State, as confessed by Barr. Wike himself during his recent outing at Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area, the local government of Sen. George Sekibo, is palpable,” Clark wrote in the letter.
Both Wike and Fubara have been at loggerheads over the control of the political structures in Rivers, culminating into a crisis that has divided the state house of assembly.
Nonetheless, while inaugurating the reconciliation and disciplinary committees at the PDP headquarters, Damagum stated that he cannot be pressured to resign from his role as the party’s national chairman.
“Let me send a message to everyone talking about Damagum… I cannot be intimidated. The more you mention me, the more popular I become,” Damagum said.
“I will borrow Olisah Metuh’s remarks from 2015 when Edwin Clark left the party.
“There’s no doubt that he is an elder statesman. But I thought that when you reach that age, God has given you the opportunity and wisdom to be a father to all, (you) don’t engage in public arguments.
“He has all it takes to do the needful. Not by taking a sentimental approach to the situation. I was not raised to be disrespectful to elders, so, I don’t intend to dwell on this further.”