By Peter Duru, Makurdi

The lawmaker representing Benue South District in the National Assembly and Senate Minority Leader, Sen. Abba Moro has described the call for the resignation of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, acting National Chairman, Amb. Umar Damagum as ill-timed and inappropriate.

Senator Moro in a statement issued Sunday by his Media Adviser, Emmanuel John, was reacting to the recent call by the lawmaker representing Ideato Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, Ugochinyere Ikenga demanding the resignation of Amb. Damagum’s after allegedly accusing him of working with interests outside the party.

He also cited the failure of the acting National Chairman to call a National Executive Council, NEC, meeting since he replaced Senator Iyorchia Ayu as the PDP National Chairman as one of the reasons for the call for his resignation.

Reacting to the development, Sen. Moro said the call was a personal opinion of Ikenga as it did not reflect the opinion of PDP federal lawmakers, especially PDP Senators.

According to him, “the call coming few days to the long-awaited and most anticipated NEC meeting of the party was a needless ruffling of feathers.”

On the scheduled NEC meeting, Senator Moro said it would afford members of the NEC to ventilate their opinions on the goings on in the party. He said they were looking forward to a very robust discussion on the issues concerning the party and Nigeria in the meeting.

On the seat of the National Chairman of the party, the senator said the issue was a very crucial one. He averred that there was no basis for anyone to suggest that the seat be thrown open or zoned to any other region apart from North Central. He said the PDP had a constitution, the grand norm of its existence, which provides for two deputy Chairmen. He said where there was vacancy, the deputy chairman of the zone where the embattled National Chairman comes from would act. He said he did not subscribe to any call for the seat to be thrown open or zoned to any region aside from North Central.

He counseled that “if the party must regain its lost glory and remain formidable as the biggest political party in Africa, then NEC members must go into the next meeting with some level of circumspection so that the baby is not thrown away with the bath water.”

Commenting on the APC government, Senator Moro said the strange bedfellows that seized power in 2015 seem not to know what to do with power. He said everything had gone haywire in the country. According to him, “everything about governance in the country at the moment is wrong.”

“Nigerians are hurting. The cost of living is so high that Nigerians cannot afford two-square meal in a day. Even the reported appreciation of the naira against the dollar, which is a mind game being played on Nigerians by the APC government, has no impact on the prices of things in the market.

“Things are getting worse by the day and in the face of this grinding suffering, the government has gone ahead to increase electricity tariff. I think this is the height of insensitivity.”

On opposition politics, Senator Moro said it was unfair to say that PDP had not been playing opposition politics. According to him, “opposition is not fighting. We are not going to war with each other but we have been voicing out the ills of the APC government.”

On disciplinary measures against erring members of the PDP, Senator Moro said NEC would not sit in Abuja and compile names of members who acted in ways and manners that undermined the party in the last elections.

“Relevant organs of the party have relevant responsibilities to discharge to the party. NEC cannot sit in Abuja and write names of party member A or B that acted to undermine the party in the last elections, that’s the duty of the various ward EXCOs,” he said.

Senator Moro who expressed optimism that PDP would come out in the next election reclaiming its winning ways, said members only needed to sit down and reflect on the way forward to reclaiming the lost glory of the party.