The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has condemned the acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Umar Damagum, and the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, for their disparaging remarks on elder statesman Edwin Clark.
In a statement issued on Thursday, IYC President Dr. Theophilus Alaye described Clark as an “uncommon and very courageous leader” who commands national respect and wide acceptance, particularly among the Ijaws and the people of the Niger Delta.
Alaye accused Damagum of colluding with Wike to destroy the PDP from within, citing his failure to take decisive action against dissident members as evidence of his intention to undermine the party.
The IYC president also criticized Damagum’s attack on Clark, saying it exposed his lack of interest in rebuilding and strengthening the PDP as a viable opposition party.
Furthermore, Alaye chided Wike for his ingratitude towards the Ijaws, who he claimed had supported his political rise. He noted that Wike’s acceptance of a ministerial appointment from the same party he had previously condemned spoke volumes about his lack of moral standing.
The rebuke by the IYC comes after Clark called for Wike’s expulsion from the PDP due to his alleged anti-party activities.
In his response during the inauguration of the PDP National Reconciliation and Disciplinary Committees in Abuja, Damagum advised Clark to reflect on his age and refrain from engaging in public disputes.
Also while addressing a media briefing to mark his one year in office as FCT Minister, Wike hit back at Clark.
He said: “I don’t know the party Chief Clark belongs to, but in 2014 when I came out to run, he said no because it’s the turn of the Ijaws.
“He said nothing will make me to win but to the glory of God I won.
“I wasn’t a bad person when i championed for an Ijaw man to be governor but I have become a bad person because there are issues. There is nothing Clark has not said but I vowed never to respond.
“He spoke about southern President which I supported, he spoke about power rotation to the South; which I believed in. So, what crime have I committed?
“In leadership, everything must not be smooth; I had my own crisis when I was there. Did I blame anybody? I faced the crisis squarely. When I was there you all saw what the Federal Government did to me. Did I accuse any ethnic group? No.
“If you are in a leadership position, you should be able to stand and face the crisis, that’s what politics is all about. Sometimes it will be good and other times it won’t be rosy.”
