Loyalists of the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, are pushing for former Senate President, David Mark, to become the party’s next chairman.
PDP has been without a substantive chairman since March 2023 following the e suspension of the National Chairman of the party, Iyorchia Ayu, at the ward level of the party in Benue State.
Umar Ililya Damagum emerged as the acting national chairman but Atiku camp has reportedly been uncomfortable with him.
Atiku’s camp is reportedly not pleased with Damagum’s emergence as he is seen to be close to a former Governor of Rivers State and now Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, who is serving under the All Progressives Congress government.
TheCable reported that sources from Atiku’s camp said Mark, if appointed as the next Chairman, has the capacity to deal with renegade party members who are involved in anti-party activities.
Some supporters of Atiku, former governor of Jigawa, Sule Lamido, former governor of Niger, Babangida Aliyu and Adamu Maina Waziri, a former minister, once tried to move against the acting chairman but pulled back because of a possible backlash.
A former governor was reported to have said, “You would expect the PDP to have suspended or expelled Wike by now for his anti-party activities, worsened by his acceptance of a ministerial appointment from a rival party.
“But it is very clear that the national working committee is in Wike’s pocket, so we should not expect any form of discipline in the party.”
