A Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Segun Sowunmi, has expressed disappointment that some of the founding fathers of the party are looking away while the party suffers a haemorrhage.
The ex-Ogun PDP governorship aspirant, who was a guest on a television programme on Tuesday, said he expects former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan to have stepped in and resolved the protracted conflict that has plagued the party before the 2023 elections.
Some PDP lawmakers in the House of Representatives recently called for the resignation of the National Chairman of the party, Umar Damagum, accusing him of working for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Led by Ikenga UgoChinyere, the “60 lawmakers” questioned why the party leadership has stayed silent on the political situation in Rivers State and instead watched President Bola Tinubu intervene.
Sowunmi attributed the calls for Damagum’s removal and other strife within the party’s leadership to the “Wike problem”. He lamented that the PDP dealt with problem of the then Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, before the last general elections and still grapple with same phenomenon one year after the poll.
The PDP chieftain expressed sadness that the internal wrangling within the PDP has lingered beyond the 2023 presidential poll.
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.”