The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) appears set to pick a new chairman, after months of bickering over the leadership of the party, following its loss of power in last year’s election. While it is still not certain that the August 17 scheduled national convention will end the crisis in the party, Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, in this report, takes a critical look at the fierce contest, the candidates and the permutations.
AGAIN, the battle for the soul of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nigeria’s main opposition party, is raging. Following the announcement by the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led Caretaker committee that it is ready to hold a convention next month to elect new officials for the party, about eight top members of the PDP from the southern part of the country are currently jostling for the national chairmanship seat.
Although the crisis in the party persists with embattled former acting National Chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sherrif, still insisting that the planned convention is illegal as he is still an incumbent chairman of the troubled party, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed Makarfi as the Acting National Chairman of the PDP, thereby giving the planned convention further legitimacy.
INEC’s position was contained in a statement issued by Nick Dazang, INEC’s Deputy Director, Voter Education and Publicity, last Tuesday in Abuja, the nation’s capital. He said INEC ratified the administrative approval granted Makarfi, based on the judgment of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt.
Dazang said the ratification was in line with INEC’s Decision Extract, issued on July 14, 2016 and signed by the Director, Commission’s Secretariat, Ishiaku Gali. He said INEC would recognise the National Caretaker’s activities such as the conduct of primaries of political officers and submission of the plaintiff’s list of the candidate for any election to be conducted by INEC.
It would be recalled that the PDP has been enmeshed in a series of leadership crises, which culminated in two parallel conventions in Abuja and Port Harcourt. Sheriff was chairman before the party’s national convention held in Port Harcourt on May 21. At the convention, Makarfi was appointed chairman of a caretaker committee and was backed by state governors and national lawmakers.
Explaining why Sheriff was removed, Ekiti state governor, Ayodele Fayose, said the action was to save the party. The governor said even though he was one of those who supported the former chairman, he had no option than to support his removal so as to forestall disintegration of the party, adding that: “We cannot sacrifice the party for any individual.”
The development set the stage for another of the party’s many internal crises. Several peace meetings were held to no avail and the two parties resorted to legal fireworks which resulted in many court judgements and injunctions. But with more of the party’s organ tilting towards Markarfi and some of Sherif’s colleagues abandoning him, party leaders started supporting the planned convention as a quick way out of the current crisis.
But there are leading party chieftains, including the national vice chairman for the south-south, Cairo Ojougboh, who believe Sheriff remains the authentic chairman of the party. This group of PDP chieftains are opposed to the planned convention and have vowed to ensure that it did not hold. Sources within the party says efforts are being intensified by Sheriff and his men to get the court to stop the convention.
However, the Nation learnt that aspirants already warming up to slug it out for the chairmanship position former deputy national vice chairman and leader of the party in the southwest, Chief Bode George; a media professional and a frontline chieftain of the party in Edo state, Chief Raymond Dokpesi; and a former governor of Ogun state, Otunba Gbenga Daniel.
Also said to have declared interest to lead the party are the out-going national vice chairman, Prince Uche Secondus; a former Minister of Education, Prof. Tunde Adeniran; a former Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Prof. Taoheed Adedoja; Senator Bode Olajumoke and Chief Shuaib Oyedokun.
Zoning
While preparations for the August 17 convention accelerates into top gear, the debate over how party offices should be zoned is yet to abate. Although the party has announced that the southern part of the country should produce the national chairman following its decision to zone the presidential ticket of the party for the 2019 election to the north, prominent chieftains from the southwest are of the opinion that the region should have been given the exclusive right to produce the next party chairman.
A former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Chief Olabode George once called on the National Executive Council and the National Working Committee of the PDP to consider zoning the position of the National Chairman of the party to the South West of Nigeria. The PDP chieftain said the region is the only one that is yet to produce the National Chairman of the PDP since 1999.
“On the issue of national chairmanship, based on the spirit of equity and fairness which is the foundation and principle upon which our party was built by our founding fathers, the South West deserves the national chairmanship now. This is the right and proper thing which must be done. The South West is a significant zone for the Nigeria federation which cannot and must not be treated with levity.”
Remi Akitoye, a former Acting National Secretary of the party, is one of those who feels the southwest should be allowed to take the slot this time around. According to the party stalwart, if the zoning formula of the party is to be implemented, the South- West will automatically produce the chairmanship of the party. “It is zoned to us in the papers of zoning that is already there, except some people want to change it now,” he said.
But the party’s Zoning Committee, on Tuesday in Abuja, released the zoning arrangements of the 21 available positions between the North and the South. The report was presented by Gov. Dave Umahi, who headed the Zoning Committee, to the party National Caretaker Committee, led by Ahmed Makarfi.
The positions zoned to the North are: Deputy National Chairman 2, National Secretary, National Financial Secretary, National Publicity Secretary, National Auditor and National Woman Leader. Others were: Deputy National Treasurer, Deputy National Organising Secretary, Deputy National Youth Leader, Deputy National Legal Adviser and Deputy National Secretary.
The South got the positions of National Chairman, Deputy National Chairman 1, National Treasurer, National Legal Adviser, National Youth Leader and National Organising Secretary. Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Deputy National Woman Leader, Deputy National Auditor and Deputy National Financial Secretary, were also zoned to the South.
Mr. Umahi, while presenting his report, said: “After robust deliberations on proposals presented by members, the committee proposed that all positions should be keenly contested for among the major zones they are zoned to. “This will open the space and allow for full participation of members. That the chairmanship of the party be zoned to the Southern zone bearing in mind that the presidential ticket of the party for 2019 was zoned to the Northern zone. This is as was approved by the National Convention in Port Harcourt, Rivers on Saturday, May 21, 2016.”
Although interested candidates have emerged from both the southwest and the south-south zones of the region, party sources said leaders of the PDP in the southwest are still making frantic effort to get the position exclusively reserved for them at the convention. This, it was learnt, they are doing through consultations with leaders of other zones.
“We have realized that having won the first phase of the battle which is getting the position zoned to the south, what is left to be done is to seek the understanding of other zones in getting it relinquished for us in the southwest. We strongly believe we can get this done too because we have a very good case,” a leader of the party from Lagos State told The Nation on Thursday.
Frontline candidates and the permutations
Chairman of DAAR Communications Plc, Chief Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi, is leaving nobody in doubts of his determination to clinch the position as he has already kicked off his campaign for the national chairmanship of the PDP. He started by receiving blessings from his traditional ruler, the Okumagbe of Weppa-Wanno, during the week.
A statement from his campaign office said Dokpesi has embarked on a tour to “personally meet with, listen to and address all the delegates of the party who shall be voting at the National Convention slated for the 17th of August 2016 in Port Harcourt.” It quoted the media mogul as saying “It is in furtherance of my democratic ideals that returning power to the people must first begin with discussions with the people.”
Party sources claim Dokpesi is banking on the support he currently enjoys from former President Goodluck Jonathan’s political camp. The Nation learnt that Dokpesi’s ambition is hinged on his relationship with the former first family and some prominent members of the immediate past PDP administration.
“All things being equal, Jonathan’s people will queue up behind Dokpesi in the race for the national chairmanship of the PDP. This is because they see him as one of them. He is one of the now very few loyalists of the former President that have remained true to him since he left office. And considering the fact that Jonathan is the only former President still functioning within the party, he is expected by Dokpesi and his supporters to swing victory his way,” a party source said.
Meanwhile, a group under the aegis of PDP New Era Wednesday asked the former governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel to come out for the position and rescue the party from its present quagmire. Party sources told The Nation that the New Era group is an amalgamation of those opposed to the endorsement of candidates by certain forces within the party.
“The New Era group is made up of those of us who are tired of having either the governors or the President handpick leaders for our party. We have seen where such acts landed us, so we seek a change. That is why we are moving to ensure that doesn’t happen again. Ours is a choice by the people. We represent the real members of the party,” a female chieftain said.
Addressing Journalists yesterday in Abuja, Secretary, PDP New Era, Benji Obute said the group has come to a conclusion that Otunba Daniel should be the next National Chairman of the party. Obute said members of PDP New Era had embarked on broad based consultations among party stakeholders, men and women, old and young, leaders and followers on the right person to lead our party to greatness again.
“In all our consultations, one name kept resonating. That name is His Excellency, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, former Governor of Ogun State. It was a consensus that since the position of the National Chairman is expected to be filled by the South West for the first time at the coming National Convention, Otunba Gbenga Daniel is the right personality for the position of the National Chairman.
“Going by his antecedents, OGD parades all the leadership qualities required to fix our party at this critical time. The leadership our party needs should be of uncompromising integrity, dynamic and sagacious, far sighted and focused with towering capacity of a team builder and player, open and courageous. All these OGD amply and naturally possesses,” he said.
The Nation also gathered that plans have been intensified in many quarters within the party to ensure that Agbaje emerges national chairman of the PDP. Party sources said the prime movers of the Agbaje chairmanship project are the Governors of the southwest namely Olusegun Mimiko and Ayodele Fayose of Ondo and Ekiti States respectively.
Senator Buruji Kashamu from Ogun State is also believed to have bought into the Agbaje for chairman idea. This is understandable given the Senators ongoing political rivalry with Daniel, who is from the same state with him. it was also learnt that the choice of Agbaje as chairman has received the approval of key party organs and stakeholders in the southwest.
Agbaje, it was learnt, currently enjoys widespread acceptance in other geo-political zones over and above any other candidate. This, The Nation gathered, may not be unconnected with the effort being put into selling his candidacy by the southwest governors and other prominent party leaders supporting his aspiration.
“Agbaje’s aspiration is receiving positive attention across the country. This is because his candidacy is being vigorously sold by those supporting him. He enjoys the support of PDP governors in his zone. They are going all out to project him as the man for the job and this is working well in his interest,” a source said.
It was the South West Democratic Youth Vanguard, a largely unknown group, that threw Bode George’s name into the fray when it canvassed support for him to emerge as the party’s National Chairman. But observers of the ongoing political contest largely feel the former deputy national chairman is not a strong contender.
Speaking in Lagos on Tuesday, coordinator of the Vanguard, Salau Kola, said the key attributes in the selection of the topmost position in the party include experience, integrity, maturity, boldness and knowledge, adding that Chief George adequately possesses these qualities. Another leader of the youth group, Segun Sowole said that the PDP needs Chief George to re-organise the party.
He said: “It is no doubt that Chief Olabode George has served more than what we expected from him. He was the one who made sure that the entire South West was delivered to PDP. We want the position of the National Chairman in the South West. We should all rally round to support Chief Bode George.”
For Secondus, the decision to contest or not, according to sources, largely depends on the opinion of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State. Currently, feelers are that WIke is being prevailed upon by some fellow Governors to allow Secondus drop the chairmanship ambition and return to office as deputy national chairman once again.
The outcome of the bargaining between the Rivers State governor and his colleagues who are rooting for a candidate from their own geo-political zone, will determine how far Secondus will go in pursuit of the chairmanship of the party he once led as acting National chairman before he was forced to relinquish power at the beginning of the current internal squabble.The Nasarawa state government urged the commission to revisit its information so as to be better informed and disabused the mind of the public on the issue of the fund. The government said governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura presented a cheque of N4.3 billion at a ceremony on October 23, 2015 to the state chairman of ALGON, Ahmed Wambai adding that N2.2bn was required to fully pay 100 percent of local government staff emolument, but said before the release of the bailout fund, local governments in the state had arrears of two and half months salaries amounting to N5.6bn for the months of July – September 2015.
