Fmr. Senate President David Mark dumps PDP citing unresolved internal wrangling
Senator David Mark has resigned his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party, naming deepening internal divisions and unresolved leadership crises as the reason.
He mentioned deep, unresolved internal issues that have left the party a shadow of its former self and exposed it to public embarrassment.
In a letter, titled “Notice of Resignation from the PDP,” partly read, “I bring warm greetings to you and members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Otukpo Ward 1, and by extension, to the entire Benue State and Nigeria. I write to formally inform you of my decision to resign my membership of the party with immediate effect.
“You may recall that over the years, I have remained firm and deeply committed to the ideals of the PDP. Even when nearly all stakeholders departed the party following our loss in the 2015 presidential election, I pledged to remain the last man standing.”
“Recent events marked by deepening divisions, persistent leadership crisis, and irreconcilable differences have reduced the party to a shadow of its former self, subjecting it to public ridicule,” he added.
Explaining that the decision to leave the PDP came after extensive consultations with family, political allies, and close associates, Mark declared his next political move.
“After wide consultations with my family, friends, and political associates, I have resolved to join the National Coalition of Political Opposition Movement in Nigeria, as part of the collective effort to rescue our nation and preserve our hard-earned democracy,” he stated.
The politician joined the Senate in 1999 and became the Senate President in 2007.
He served as the senator representing Benue Central Senatorial District for 16 years, having been sworn in in 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, and 2015.
He is renowned as one of the most loyal members of the PDP, having not defected to another party since 1998. His resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party and movement to another political party is his first recorded defection from the PDP.