By Akinwale Kasali
Disturbed by what he termed the carefree attitude of former Presidents, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo as the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, continue to enmesh in crisis and bleeds, Segun Sowunmi, one the Party’s Chieftains has expressed his disappointment at both former Presidents.
Speaking on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television, Sowunmi said he expected Obasanjo and Jonathan to step in and resolve the protracted conflict that has plagued the party before the 2023 elections.
It would be recalled that Ikenga Ugochinyere and some members of the House of Representatives, comprising about “60 lawmakers,” had questioned the party leadership’s silence on the political developments in Rivers State, particularly criticizing their inaction while President Bola Tinubu intervened.
The Lawmakers had also demanded for the resignation of Acting National Chairman of the Party, Illiya Damagum, leading to crisis in the Party.
Sowunmi attributed the agitation for Damagum’s resignation and other internal discord within the party leadership to what he referred to as the “Wike problem.”
The ex-Ogun PDP Governorship aspirant lamented that the PDP had previously dealt with the challenges posed by the then Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, before the last general elections, yet similar issues persist even a year after the polls.
Expressing regret, the PDP stalwart noted that the internal conflicts within the party have endured beyond the 2023 Presidential election.
Sowunmi emphasized that it’s crucial for the founding fathers of the party to intervene and facilitate reconciliation among conflicting party members to strengthen and solidify the achievements 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.”
