Court restrains PDP from removing Damagum as Acting National Chairman

The Federal High Court in Abuja has issued an order preventing the National Executive Committee (NEC) and Board of Trustees (BoT) of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) from removing Umar Damagum from his position as Acting National Chairman of the party.

Justice Peter Lifu ruled that only the party’s national convention, slated for December 2025, has the authority to elect or replace national officers. As a result, no one other than Damagum can be recognized as the PDP national chairman until then.

The judgment came after Senator Umar El-Gash Maina filed a lawsuit against the party’s leadership, alleging that some stakeholders were secretly plotting to remove Damagum in violation of the PDP constitution.

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Maina, the PDP chairman in Yobe State, claimed that a former Kogi State Deputy Governor, Phillip Salawu, was being positioned to take over the chairmanship.

In his ruling, Justice Lifu emphasized that PDP members are bound by the party’s constitution, which stipulates that the selection of national officers must occur only at a national convention. The court also upheld the plaintiff’s argument that the national chairmanship should be rotated between the north and south regions.

Justice Lifu dismissed the defense’s objections, stating that the plaintiff had a legitimate interest in protecting the party’s constitution and the representation of the northern region. The court declared