BY: NEWS EDITOR, MAY 11, 2025/ 10:21PM

Youths in Yobe State staged a protest yesterday against the acting National Chairman of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), Amb. Iliya Damagum.

The protesters carried placards with inscriptions such as 'Damagum must go, PDP must be great once again' and 'PDP is not for sale, Damagum must go.'

According to Babangida Bangis, one of the protesters, a card-carrying member of the PDP and state coordinator of the PDP Youth Coalition, the protest was necessitated by the ongoing crises in the party, particularly leadership crises at the ward, state, and national levels.

Bangis said that despite efforts to meet with Damagum, their concerns were ignored, leading them to take to the streets.

Babangis explained that they followed all the channels to meet with Damagum but were unsuccessful, saying, 'Is either of the two, is either our message reach him but ignored or it didn't reach him, that's why we decided that this is the only way left for us to show people that this is the current situation of our party.

'The party that we hope will overthrow the ruling party is now suffering from defection and crises of leadership,' Bangis lamented.

He emphasized that Damagum's leadership has failed the party, citing his inability to address the crises and engage with the youth, who make up about 64-65% of the party's population.

He further noted that the party's leadership should regularly engage with its youth, stating, 'In every year or six months, the party suppose to sit with its youth... but nothing has been done to the youth.

'We will not let states like Yobe, Gombe, among others, feel like there is no PDP in their state,' he added.

Comrade Sani Iliyasu, a card-carrying member of the party, alleged that Damagum lacks leadership technical know-how, contributing to the defection of some governors, senators, and house of representatives members to the ruling party.

Fatima Adamu, a Potiskum LGA EXCO of the party, demanded that Damagum step down with immediate effect.

'We don't want him, we don't need him, he must go,' she said.

The protesters called on the national leaders of the PDP to remove Damagum, warning that his continued leadership would destroy the party.

They vowed not to keep quiet and watch the party be destroyed due to Damagum's sentiment or inability to lead.

'Amb. Damagum had failed PDP, he is a weak leader, he must go, we don't want his leadership again,' Bangis emphasized.