At a time the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) should be repositioned to wrest power from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), crises rocking state chapters are clogs in the wheel of progress. Assistant Editor EMMANUEL BADEJO examines the situation
The emergence of Senator Iyorchia Ayu as the national chairman of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) elicited a lot of hopes that the main opposition party was back to winning ways. Many had hailed the consensus arrangement that produced him. Some also saw his choice as the olive branch that would heal the wounds of some party stalwarts across the states.
With Ayu’s experience and exposure in political matters, some say, the party would likely rebound to reclaim some of the states it lost in 2015 when it was booted out of power at the centre.
Some activities that followed Ayu’s enthronement are an indication that the PDP is going through a process of rebirth to give the All Progressives Congress (APC) a good fight in next year’s general elections. The opposition party has been decimated since it lost the 2015 general elections. Since then, the party has been making efforts to regain the trust of Nigerians. But, the struggle to control the party’s architecture in most states has undermined its cohesiveness.
In a bid to redefine its existence, most of its chieftains agreed to give peace a chance and rally around to ensure the party’s rejuvenation.
However, the unfolding drama in recent times appears to be pointing in another direction; thereby casting doubt on the PDP’s ability to galvanise itself to wrestle power from the APC during next year’s election. While the centre appeared to be shaping up, the division in many state chapters may not allow the party to achieve its ambition of returning to power at the centre next year.
The division is gradually assuming another dimension, foretelling doom for the party’s future. There’s hardly any zone that is immune to this in-fighting and acrimony. The differences are spreading fast, albeit quietly like cancer. Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti, Edo, Imo, Sokoto, Abia, Anambra, Kaduna, Kano and others are affected. Even Benue, the home state of Ayu, is not insulated from injustice among the party faithful.
Those close to the party say that most of the issues are personal and selfishly motivated. While some party chieftains have been fighting for relevance, others are scheming toward the control of the party structure.
Of more concern to some leaders of the party is the situation in Lagos and Kano chapters; the two most active and populous states in the country’s politics. This unfortunate development is already sending shivers down the spine of many stakeholders because it is likely to lead to poor performance in the next general elections if the issues in those chapters are not resolved.
In Lagos, for instance, the crisis rocking the chapter has assumed another dimension, as some elders and leaders of the party have rejected the ratification of the congress conducted recently by the Governor Douye Diri-led committee. The election, conducted on February 27, produced a former commissioner, Philip Aivoji, who defeated the “anointed” candidate of the party, Dr Amos Fawole.
It would be recalled that Dr Fawole had been adopted as the consensus candidate of the party at a meeting convened by Oyo State’s Governor Seyi Makinde and attended by members of the Board of Trustees.
But, at the congress, it was learnt that two unity lists emerged, which prompted the chairman of the electoral committee to throw the race open for a contest. This led to the emergence of Aivoji who is said to enjoy the backing of former chairman, Deji Doherty and some of its members in the House of Representatives.
It was learnt that the aggrieved leaders and elders, shocked by the outcome of the congress, wrote to the appeal panel, alleging irregularity in the conduct of the congress. The protest against the outcome of the congress has stalled the inauguration of the new executive, even though the tenure of the caretaker committee, which was extended till March 19, had expired.
However, the NWC, led by the National Chairman, Dr Ayu, is said to have ratified the congress. But the PDP elders and some BOT members have accused the national chairman of acting as a sole administrator and ignoring the various complaints and petitions sent to the national secretariat.
In a communiqué issued at the end of their meeting, Dr Remi Akitoye, Senator Kofo Akerele-Bucknor and Chief Mrs Onikepo-Oshodi, the elders, alleged that “there is a well-planned, premeditated attempt to hand over our state to fifth columnists whose mission is unknown, whose purpose is shrouded in an ultimate goal that appears to be an attempt to weaken the party”.
Former Deputy National Chairman (South), Chief Olabode George said he had written a personal letter to the chairman on the festering crisis in Lagos, urging the party leadership to wade into the matter and correct the political shenanigan that was perpetrated under the last state’s congress.
Expressing worry over the lingering crisis rocking the Lagos PDP and other state chapters, as a result of the last state congresses, the former Deputy National Chairman urged Ayu to as a matter of urgency revisit these issues with a view to finding a lasting solution. He warned that failure to adhere to this warning may affect the chances of the party in the states where these crises seem unresolvable, citing Lagos and Kano as examples.
George pointed out that looking into these issues and addressing them on time will prepare the party for the battle ahead. He said the party’s congress, conducted by Governor Diri, which produced the current executives in Lagos, was botched and inconclusive.
He said until the process is reversed, the party would be in disarray the Lagos. He said: “All we are saying is that the procedure is faulty. They only accredited three local governments out of 20 on the election day and proceeded to start voting. How do you know who is from where?
“The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) wrote a report that they accredited only three local governments out of 20. INEC confirmed that after the voting, they counted only three ballot boxes, the 34 other boxes were left uncounted; the election is inconclusive. Yet, Governor Diri went ahead to announce some jokers as winners.”
The situation is not different in Ogun. The rivalry between the loyalists of the late Senator Buruji Kashamu and those of Ladi Adebutu still rages. This has resulted in some women under the auspices of the PDP National Women Parliament urging leaders of the party to close ranks or risk losing Ogun State again to the APC in next year’s general elections.
In a statement by its National Coordinator, Yetunde Odubote, National Secretary, Omolara Williams and Diaspora Coordinator, Olanike Babawande, the group lamented the prolonged legal tussles among party leaders in the state. It also called on the gladiators to consider their actions carefully, based on what happened to the party in the past.
The statement reads, “Our party governed the state for eight productive years but lost to the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), now all Progressives Congress (APC) in 2011, 2015 and 2019 general elections. We are about to lose the upcoming 2023 general elections again if care is not taken.
“Have we forgotten why we lost all those electioneering years? Internal divisions, rancour, bickering, infighting and all, current PDP leaders continue to bicker and fight on faction bases to suit their personal interests.
“A unification rally was held towards producing another governor in 2017, all attended but at the end of the day, our party was enmeshed in legal tussles that started at the national level where one of the leaders followed the national leader then Ali Modu Sherif that lost to the caretaker Chairman Aliyu Markafi.
The women group accused some past national leaders of PDP not resolving the crisis in the state but stocking the fire leaving the issues to fester, “instead of resolving these crises in Ogun State PDP, they have taken turns in milking the problems, turning it into a cash cow”.
Similarly in Benue, the peace within the political family is being tested as a fresh crisis is already brewing in the chapter. Sources say the lingering issues are already threatening the position of Governor Samuel Ortom as leader of the party in the state. The sources also add that his chances of winning a senatorial election in 2023 are shaky, as a result of the crisis.
This is a sequel to the allegation that the PDP national chairman is planning to dump Governor Ortom, who Ortom played a key role in his emergence as chairman, and allot the Benue Northwest senatorial ticket to his preferred choice.
The trio of Ayu, Ortom and former Governor Gabriel Suswam is said to have secretly anointed candidates for the governorship and National Assembly seats, especially in zones A and B. The three political bigwigs, it is said, met on March 31 to choose a consensus for the governorship slot, which has been zoned to Jechira Federal Constituency and micro-zoned to Vandeikya Local Government. Dr Ayu and Governor Ortom were reported to have clashed at the meeting over who gets what ahead of the election.
Sources said the meeting ended in a stalemate because Ayu insisted on handing the ticket to the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Titus Uba, while Ortom had his eyes on another aspirant. Party supporters loyal to Ortom claim that if Ayu succeeds in installing Uba as governor with his position as national chairman, Ortom would be relegated to the background in the scheme of things in the state.
The Idoma-speaking part of the state and some elements from Kwande are also disenchanted with the consensus arrangement and are calling for an open contest.
In Osun, the party hopes to dislodge the APC during the governorship election scheduled to hold in August. However, the age-long rivalry between Senator Ademola Adeleke and Dr Akin Ogunbiyi, two of its leading aspirants in the race, is being revived. The two political actors are already on their way back to the trenches.
Adeleke and Ogunbiyi had slugged it out for the ticket in 2018 with the former emerging the winner. As it stands, while the court has recognized Ogunbiyi as the authentic PDP candidate, the party’s National Working Committee insist Adeleke is its preferred flag bearer.
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