Former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has welcomed the suspension of the embattled National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Umar Damagum, describing his removal as a necessary step toward rescuing the crisis-ridden opposition party.
Fayose, who addressed journalists in Ado Ekiti on Sunday, said Damagum’s ouster and the emergence of Mohammed Abdulrahman as the acting national chairman marked “a new beginning” for the PDP.
“The party needs a leader who can reunite everybody at this time. So, I congratulate Abdulrahman and I want to assure all party members that it is a new beginning,” Fayose said.
The former governor, who has been a consistent critic of the party’s leadership, likened Damagum’s fall to that of former chairman Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, insisting that both men left the PDP weaker than they met it.
He lamented that the party under Damagum had “become a shadow of itself,” saying it was now in a “hopeless situation.”
“There is no hope of PDP coming back for now. Even the captains of our boats are jumping ship. They are jumping from one bed to another. So who is going to hold the party together? PDP has reasonably gone into extinction, unfortunately,” Fayose declared.
He accused the Damagum-led National Working Committee (NWC) of being “undertakers” who came to “bury the party,” citing the spate of suspensions and counter-suspensions as evidence of deep dysfunction.
“Damagum is not going to return to that office as chairman. His last service to the party was before the suspension. In the first place, he was not supposed to be the chairman. He only represented an interregnum, but manipulated the process to become the chairman and caused so much confusion everywhere,” Fayose said.
Despite his harsh criticism, the former governor expressed optimism that Abdulrahman’s leadership could revive the party, describing him as a “doctor willing to turn the table around.”
“If somebody comes to the rescue and decides to rescue the party, as in the case of Abdulrahman, we will give him a chance. That’s why I said earlier that he should go and rescue this party,” he added.
Fayose urged the new acting chairman to focus on rebuilding trust, reconciling factions, and preparing for the long-overdue national convention.
“We are happy we have a new acting national chairman, Abdurrahman, who emerged yesterday as a result of the confidence reposed in him after the suspension of the former chairman,” he said.
He also called for the implementation of recent court rulings mandating fresh congresses across state chapters before the national convention, saying due process must be followed to restore stability.
“After everybody must have obeyed the last court judgment that congresses must be held in all state chapters before the convention, I stand here to tell the whole world that Abdulrahman will be affirmed by the necessary court so that there will be stability,” Fayose concluded.
