Tag: NWC

The Appeal Court’s judgment that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should reinstate its estranged National Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, has generated ripples. Assistant Editor GBADE OGUNWALE examines the implications of the verdict for the self acclaimed party in Africa.

Former Osun State Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola has cause to smile. The Appeal Court has ruled that he should be reinstated as the National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). But he has also not renounced his position as the National Secretary of the Baraje faction.

The puzzle is: can Oyinlola work harmoniously with the National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur?

The Okuku-born politician is at war with the party that launched him into partisan politics 14 years ago. The party is also at war with him.

Little did the chieftains guess that the intra-party wriggling, which was triggered by the distribution of party positions a year ago, would fester. The members of the National Working Committee (NWC) led by Tukur came into office amid the controversy. The PDP national convention, which held in Abuja on March 24, last year, was the bone of contention. Many chieftains complained that they were excluded from the exercise.

A crisis broke out between Tukur and Oyinlola, few days after the party officials were sworn-in. The 2015 presidential elections divided the two leaders. While Tukur is believed to be supporting President Goodluck Jonathan for a second term; it was difficult for the President to get the secretary’s support.

The relationship between the two leaders degenerated when they started exchanging memos. Oyinlola accused Tukur’s aides of usurping the functions of the national secretary. He drew the attention of the chairman to extant establishment manual guiding the day-to-day running of the secretariat. Responding to Oyinlola’s memo, Habu Fari, for Chief of Staff to the national chairman, cast aspersions on the office and person of the national secretary.

Things started falling apart at the PDP secretariat. Miffed by what he described as the aide’s insolence and disregard for constituted authority, Oyinlola demanded Fari’s sack. It degenerated to open confrontation between the chairman and the national secretary. The furore died down when Tukur eventually fired Fari. But that did not end the animosity between the chair manand the scribe. On September 11, 2013, Tukur and Oyinlola took one other to the cleaners. Tukur had through his Special Adviser on Media, Oliver Okpara, described Oyinlola as an incompetent official, whose politics is at variance with the prevailing political dispensation.

The chairman also accused Oyinlola of getting into elective positions through the “back door”, citing his ouster as the governor of Osun State by the Court of Appeal in 2010 and his removal from office as the PDP National Secretary. Tukur also accused Oyinlola of directing his frustrations at him, since he was removed as National Secretary. he said: “Under normal circumstance, he should not be heard to resort to platitudes or righteous pontifications on the ideals of democracy and the rule of law.

“This is because, by training and orientation, he (Oyinlola) is a slave to ‘Order and Command’ of the military. Oyinlola was smuggled in as the National Secretary of the PDP, when he was bereft of the basic competence, experience and the pedigree to hold such a sensitive position in a big political organisation like the PDP. Since his removal from office, following the patent loop-holes in the electoral process that produced him, Oyinlola has continued to besiege the portals of our courts in search of far-fetch reliefs, which are neither here nor there. Besides, he now relishes brick-bats and vitrioli on perceived enemies, especially Alhaji Tukur.

“Unfortunately, Oyinlola has refused to understand that Tukur is not the architect of his political problems. Oyinlola’ nemesis is traceable and also has its roots in the way and manner in which he was foisted on our party. His political career will continue to nose-dive, until he undertakes a political re-think. The major mantra in PDP is adherence to the core values of rule of law and due process. In politics, rules and regulations are obeyed, for a statesman is judged by his selfless love and service to his people and not by the enormity of effusions and vituperations from his mouth or pen. Oyinlola should retrace his steps, return to the path of political rectitude, remove his military toga and dictatorial tendencies, study the manifesto and constitution of any party he chooses to join in order to have a place in our current political dispensation.

“Oyinlola was one of those militray putchists, who held down our democracy for a long time. As a former military man, Oyinlola is an unrepentant dictator of the first-order. He lacks any credible credential to sermonise on democracy and due process, including rule of law. No self respecting party can afford the chalice of imposition of candidates like in Oyinlola’s case, which is the bane of Nigerian politics. Oyinlola’s antecedents are well-known. He has been a miliatry dictator, who suddenly became a letter-day democrat. He miraculously became the governor of Osun State and was booted out, following litigation over his election which swept him out through judicial fiat.

“There must therefore, be something vehemently wrong with Oyinlola and his peculiar brand of politics, which always sees him mount the saddle of leadership only to be found tumbling and crashing thereafter. Oyinlola has refused to change with time. He has failed to come to terms with the fact that democratic dispensation is in place in Nigeria and that the ways of democracy are not the same with the command structure of the military. Oyinlola might have been a good military tactician,but a kindergarten politician who requires total political re-adjustment and the removal of his military toga to face the realities of the moment. Oyinlola’s differences with the chairman stemmed from the fact that he could not appreciate the essence of rule of law against the essence of rule by force. It is his lack of democratic posture that made it impossible for him to work with Tukur who is an accomplished statesman, politician and a highly successful businessman with outstanding administrative sagacity and acumen”. Many believe that the statement was full of bile.

But Oyinlola would not let the verbal assualt go unchallenged. According to him, the party chairmnan must have gone senile, owing to his advanced age. He said: “ While I don’t want to join issues with Baba Tukur, out of respect for his old age, one can excuse him on his account of senility.

“Tukur has gone senile. In addition, the fact that I trained as a military officer has never negatively affected my administrative capabilities and abilities. I remain a gentleman in all my services as a public officer and a politician. Tukur should attempt to do an opinion survey at the headquarters of his PDP and I can assure him that his findings would make him abdicate his position without further delay, based on the fact that he lacks the support of the members of staff, who regard his authoritative style as being responsible for the crisis in the PDP.

“That I’m a stickler for due process is a plus for me and Tukur should find out, if I ever circumvented rules and regulations or acted in an improper manner that he (Tukur) always does in company with his co-travelers. I remember he (Tukur) once granted an interview, in which he described me as a fine officer and a gentleman. This same view was expressed by Olisa Metuh in a media interview recently. His statement shows inconsistency and poor leadership qualities”.

Oyinlola described his brief tenure as the National Secretary as the best ever, adding that the records are there to speak for him. He stressed: “It is on record at the headquarters of the PDP, that the period I served as the National Secretary marked remarkable changes in the administration of the PDP. For instance, I made sure that all the rules and regulations of the PDP were strictly followed to the letter and that made it impossible for Tukur to appoint the Chief of Staff, which he wanted, in violation of extant rules and regulations. He also attempted to appoint innumerable special advisers, who were unknown to the establishment manual of the PDP. It is on record, and you can ask any member of the National Working Committee, that he (Tukur) used his special advisers as parallel NWC members, thus effectively undermining the leadership of the party.

“Everybody knows that Tukur’s tenure, so far, has been the worst in the 14 years of the party and nobody should be surprised that Tukur, who came in with pre-conceived personal agenda of caging and antagonizing state governors and other interest groups in the PDP, has been a monumental failure and he is the root of all the crises within the PDP today.

“I ask that the leadership of the PDP should subject our tenure to a management audit to be able to determine who serially violated the PDP constitution through reckless administrative actions and who attempted to sanitise the whole administrative procedure at the national headquarters”.

The staff at the PDP national secretariat will never forget Oyinlola’s brief stay as the national secretary. Within few weeks, he ensured an upward salary review for the workers, who had been on the same salary level, since the inception of the PDP in 2008.

He also ensured that all outstanding allowances owed the staff were cleared. Up to now, the workers testify to the fact that Oyinlola brought a new lease of life to the PDP. So, it was bad news for the workers when a Federal High Court in Abuja, on Friday, January 11, voided Oyinlola’s election as the National Secretary. On January 14, the party replaced Oyinlola with his deputy, Onwe Solomon Onwe, as the Acting National Secretary, pending the time a new national secretary would emerge. Justifying Oyinlola’s replacement, Tukur said: “Pursuant to the powers conferred on the National Chairman by Chapter V Section 35 (1), 35 (1)(b), as well as section 36(2) of the constitution of the Peoples Democratic Party, (as amended), the Deputy National Secretary of the PDP, Barrister Solomon Onwe, is hereby directed to assume duties as the Acting National Secretary of the PDP. Barr. Onwe shall, by this directive, conduct all correspondences of the party, issue notices of meetings of the National Convention, the National Executive Committee, the National Caucus and the National Working Committee as stipulated in the Constitution of our great Party.

“This directive takes immediate effect and is hereby communicated to all the levels and offices of the party”. Many said the speed with which the national chairman replaced Oyinlola with Onwe smacked of vindictiveness.

But the party defended the chairman, saying that the action was in compliance with the court judgment that voided Oyinlola’s election. The statement, dated January 15, 2013 and signed by Metuh said: “The National Working Committee wants to make it very clear that what happened was nothing more than obedience of a court judgement, and the consequential application of the relevant sections of the party’s constitution. Section 45 (1) states that if a national officer of the party is removed or resigns from office, he shall immediately hand over to the National Secretary all records, files and other properties of the party in his or her possession. Section 45 (2) states that inthe case of the National Secretary, he shall hand over to the Deputy National Secretary.

“We want to make it clear that our great party is a law abiding party, which bases its conducts and activities on internal democracy and rule of law. Whatever a court of competent jurisdiction decides on any matter involving the party, the PDP will have no hesitation in obeying and implementing the judgement”. Metuh, in that statement had acknowledged the fact that Oyinlola had appealed the judgment and that the case was pending before the Court of Appeal”.

Metuh also gave a commitment that the party would accord Oyinlola immediate recognition, should he win the appeal.

He said: “In any event, reports have indicated that Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola has appealed against the court judgement and the NWC wants to say that, as soon as the appeal is decided, the party will, in the same way as it did in the case of the Federal High Court ruling, obey the appeal decision”.

Now that the Appeal Court has ruled in Oyinlola’s favour, will the PDP honour its own word?.

However, when he was contacted, the National Publicity Secretary said that the matter has not been discused because the chairman travelled out of the country. He also said that the party’s National Legal Adviser said he did not have a copy of the ruling yet. Metuh promised that the leadership of the party would meet today to take a decision.

The ruling party, according to analysts, have some options. The party can appeal the ruling at the Supreme Court or reinstate Oyinlola in the spirit of reconciliation.

Also, since Tukur and Oyinlola are not the best of friends, the party should broker peace between them, so that they can cohabit peacefully at the PDP secretariat.

But, are politicians good in mence mending?