PDP Crisis Rooted In Greed And Disobedience Says Ohuabunwa

Factional Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees, Senator Mao Ohuabunwa, has blamed the party’s lingering crisis on disobedience to its constitution and the unchecked ambitions of some leaders.

Speaking on Arise News on Monday, Ohuabunwa said the PDP’s divisions were self-inflicted, stemming from years of ignoring internal rules and prioritising personal interests over party discipline.

“We got to this point for no other reason than disobedience to our own constitution. If we had kept to our laws and obeyed our rules, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” he said.

Ohuabunwa, who leads a parallel PDP BoT, said his faction was formed to “recover and reconcile” the party, which he claimed had lost its moral direction. He recalled that the PDP failed to act on the recommendations of the Ekweremadu Committee after its 2015 electoral defeat, leading to repeated mistakes in 2019 and 2023.

According to him, greed and personal ambition have remained the main drivers of the party’s troubles. “Every crisis in the PDP has been about who wants to be president. People leave the party, come back, and want to take the front seat immediately. That is unfair and against our constitution,” he said.

He also faulted the handling of leadership succession after former National Chairman Iyorchia Ayu’s resignation, saying the party violated its zoning rule. “When Ayu left, the constitution made it clear that the North Central should produce his replacement. Damagum was only to act temporarily,” he noted.

Defending his faction, Ohuabunwa said his BoT emerged lawfully after the existing board became “complicit and partisan.” He insisted that his group’s goal is to restore order and discipline. “We are the conscience of the party. Our mission is to recover the PDP and make it what it was meant to be — a democratic institution guided by its constitution,” he stated.

The PDP crisis deepened recently after the Umar Damagum-led National Working Committee suspended National Secretary Samuel Anyanwu and other officials over alleged anti-party activities. In response, Anyanwu’s camp suspended Damagum and five others, naming Mohammed Abdulrahman as Acting National Chairman and Ohuabunwa as BoT Chairman — appointments the Damagum group has dismissed as illegitimate.