Ezekiel Awojide, Abuja
The acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Umar Damagum, has expressed sadness over the defection of top members of the party in Delta State.
He said on Thursday in Abuja that the former ruling party had been magnanimous to Delta State and did not deserve the political treatment it received from the defectors.
In what caught many unaware, the Governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori, his predecessor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, and other stakeholders in PDP in the state announced their resignation from the PDP to join the ruling All Progressives Congress APC on Wednesday.
Damagum, who spoke while presenting a Certificate of Return to the PDP candidate for the Anambra State governorship election, Chief Ezenwafor Jude, assured that the party would win the Anambra poll.
He said, “It’s very sad and unfortunate because to me if there’s any state that should think that way, not Delta, because the party is very magnanimous.
“I thank God that in their message, they didn’t say that the party did anything wrong to them other than good.
“It’s a decision taken by them, but the pains will be in us not because of anything, but because we have given Delta State all our support, from the emergence of the governor to his predecessor, who also doubled as our vice presidential candidate.
“I think we’ve done it all for them in Delta State. We least expected this action from them.
“All the same, this is a party that has seen more than that, but it’s still standing.”
He disclosed that the PDP will be setting up a caretaker committee to run the affairs of the party in the state.
“We are still taking stock, and we will do that immediately. I also want to enjoin our members, both in Delta and the country in general, I want to remind us of what happened in 2023. The PDP can still make it,” he said.
Damagum said, “This election in 2027 is not about how many governors you have or how many leaders. It’s about Tinubu and Nigerians.
“The ordinary man is feeling the pain, and the decision is his. So I want to use this opportunity to tell Nigerians that it is their election. It is APC versus Nigerians.
“It’s not APC versus any governor or senator or anything but APC versus Nigerians.
“So I want to urge all of us to close ranks and rescue ourselves from this hardship that is inflicted on us by design, not any coincidence.”
