Fayose vs Mimiko: Fresh threat to PDP’s peace?

Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor, reports on the face-off between Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State and Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State over Mimiko’s emergence as Chairman of PDP’s Governors Forum and the likely implication of the showdown on the future of the party 

Members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other prominent party chieftains are working round the clock to nip in the bud, a fresh threat to peace in the party following festering confrontation amongst its governors over the chairmanship of the PDP Governors’ Forum.

Following a petition to the NWC by some governors rejecting the emergence of Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State as the new Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, the relative peace achieved by the party after its electoral defeat in the hands of the ruling All Progressives Party (APC) is now threatened. Party sources said the leadership of the party is worried by the development and will do anything to quickly nip it in the bud so as to prevent a return of the party to its warring days.

“This is a very wrong time for us to allow any crack amongst our governors. The ongoing disagreement between governors Fayose and Mimiko over the chairmanship of the PDPGF is unhealthy and dangerous. It is out rightly uncalled for and should be avoided.

The good thing is that the current party leadership is not leaving anything to chance. Firstly, we have mandated all parties involved to stop talking to the media about the issue. Even members of the NWC were warned not to answer questions from the media on the matter.

Secondly, we have promptly summoned a meeting with the governors to discuss the matter. It is my belief that after a few meeting sessions between now and the weekend, the matter will be resolved. I don’t see us allowing this to drag on for long in the interest of the party.

We are talking about governors elected on the platform of the PDP. How many do we have left that we will now allow them to bicker amongst themselves? They are the poster boys of the PDP as we speak and we cannot afford to joke with them. I agree with you that the disagreement is dangerous,” a member of the party’s NWC told The Nation on condition of anonymity.

But in spite of last Wednesday’s confirmation of Mimiko’s election by the leadership of the party, reliable sources claim Fayose and his co-travelers are unrelenting in their opposition to the Ondo governor’s leadership and this may just be the beginning of another round of intra-party squabbles in the embattled party.

A party’s nod

Mimiko’s earlier disputed election as Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum (PDPGF) was reconfirmed by his colleagues in the early hours of last Tuesday at a meeting held in Abuja. The leadership of the PDP subsequently endorsed his emergence the following day, claiming it has resolved the crisis generated by the PDPGF chairmanship.

Sources said all the PDP governors were present at the meeting with the exception of the Cross River State Governor, Professor Ben Ayade. Those in attendance were Governors Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Darius Isiaku (Taraba), Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo), John Jonah (Bayelsa), Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Ayo Fayose (Ekiti), Idris Wada (Kogi), Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Udo Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom), Dave Umahi (Ebonyi) and Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe).

Briefing newsmen after the meeting, Ebonyi State governor, Dave Umahi, said the election of Mimiko as Chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum was ratified by all the 12 governors present.

Mimiko’s emergence

Mimiko, a second term governor of the party in the southwestern state of Ondo, emerged chairman of the Forum last week at the governors’ meeting in Abuja, where only seven of the party’s 13 governors and two deputies were present.

PDP governors at the meeting besides Mimiko include Capt. Idris Wada (Kogi), Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Dave Umahi (Ebonyi), Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom); Darius Ishaku (Taraba), and the deputy governor of Bayelsa State, Rear Admiral John Jonah.

The meeting, which was slated for 7pm last week Tuesday night and did not start until about 9pm, but came to a close at 12am last week Wednesday morning, according to sources, who were in attendance, saw Mimiko elected as the PDPGF helmsman unopposed.

The Ondo State governor replaced former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio, who was the first to occupy the position following the formation of the Forum.

“I can only wonder why anybody will kick against the process that led to Mimiko’s emergence. It was a unanimous decision by all governors present at the meeting where election was held. Nobody contested against him and nobody showed interest before or during the meeting.

I’m afraid this is a bad time to allow ourselves to go sentimental about little things. We should learn from our past mistakes and avoid this type of rancor. Apart from Fayose, I am yet to get the names of the governors complaining. It appears this is a case of one individual threatening to bring down the roof over nothing,” a governor from the South-East who was at the meeting, said.

The Nation also learnt that the choice of Mimiko was endorsed by the party’s leadership before his election by the governors. According to party sources, Senator Godswill Akpabio, the outgoing Chairman of the Forum, had ensured the support of the PDP leadership for Mimiko even when it was obvious that some governors are opposed to his preference.

“This situation is a dicey one because nobody thought it would escalate this way. The outgoing chairman, Akpabio, sought the support of the party leadership for his preference of Mimiko as his successor. After assuring the party that opposition to the choice has been addressed, Mimiko was endorsed by the party.

“Perhaps we should have gotten more involved than we were. Perhaps we shouldn’t have gotten involved at all. Well, the position now is that we have a crisis on our hands and we need to move swiftly to stop it. And that is what we are doing now,” our sources within the NWC said.

Fayose’s grouse

But Fayose reportedly rallied some other governors in the party to kick against Mimiko’s emergence. Consequently, he petitioned the national leadership of the party to intervene before the matter degenerates into a full blown crisis.

Fayose and three of his colleagues were conspicuously absent at the meeting where Mimiko was elected. Party sources claimed their absence was because they had earlier opposed the choice of Mimiko for the chairmanship position.

Aside the Ekiti State Governor, PDP governors absent at the meeting that produced Mimiko as the new PDPGF chairman include Governors Ben Ayade of Cross Rivers State, Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State, Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State and Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.

A source at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja was quoted to have confirmed the receipt of the petition against Mimiko. The party’s National Working Committee (NWC), it was learnt, promptly decided to meet with the governors to iron out the matter.

“There is a petition against the emergence of Governor Mimiko as PDPGF chairman. The complainants did the right thing. The party leadership has been petitioned and it is left for them to do the right thing as soon as possible. It is only when they fail to act that we may see a full blown crisis over the issue,” a source said.

While it was confirmed that Fayose signed the petition, it wasn’t established as at the time of filing this report which of this colleagues joined him in appending their signatures to the petition.

“I can only tell you that I know Fayose authored and submitted the petition to the NWC. I don’t know if he had other people with him as co-signatories,” our source said.

According to glimpses from the petition, the aggrieved governors were said to have protested that the choice of Mimiko did not follow due process on grounds that Mimiko defected to the PDP only last year.

However, Mimiko’s supporters insist that his emergence as chairman of the Forum followed a proper process. They denied that any governor stayed away because they were opposed to Mimiko’s choice.

“Apart from the attendance of majority of PDP governors, the notice of the meeting at which he emerged, was properly circulated. Those who were absent didn’t come because of pressing issues in their states. Some even sent their deputies to represent them at the meeting,” an aide of the Ondo Governor said.

An old feud?

The Nation also learnt that beyond the chairmanship issue, there has been no love lost between Fayose and Mimiko since the latter’s defection to the PDP last year. Sources claim the rift between the duo dates back to Fayose’s struggle for the PDP governorship ticket in Ekiti State.

“There is this story that Mimiko preferred another candidate to Fayose and secretly worked against the latter’s emergence as the PDP candidate in spite of the fact that he was not a member of the PDP as at then.

And when Fayose picked the PDP ticket, Mimiko allegedly encouraged former Lagos Commissioner, Opeyemi Bamidele, to join the Labour Party and run against Fayose. He supported and campaigned for Bamidele against Fayose and the PDP. These are the genesis of the face-off between the duo.

For Mimiko, those who are close to him say his dislike for Fayose stems from the unceremonious manner in which the Ekiti State Governor dumped Mimiko’s Labour Party after contesting on its platform for the senate in 2011.

Although he lobbied Mimiko immensely before getting the nod to run on the platform of the Labour Party back then, Fayose didn’t deem it fit to consult the Ondo governor afterwards before he returned to his former party, the PDP” our source said.

It was also gathered that the two clashed over who should be the coordinator of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign in the South-West. While party leaders in the zone favoured Mimiko to lead the campaign, the presidency was better disposed towards Fayose following his earlier surprise victory.

Although Mimiko eventually emerged the campaign boss, Jonathan had to invite the duo alongside prominent party chieftains in the zone to a meeting where he reportedly said Fayose is the key to the party’s success in the zone, urging Mimiko and others to accord him more regard in the scheme of things if the party is to win in the South-West.

In spite of the Presidential intervention, the two governors failed to close ranks and pundits believe this affected the party in the South-West. Not even the numerous efforts by embattled Senator Buruji Kashamu to reconcile the two yielded much fruits.