The special convention of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja has ended in a fiasco as prominent members raised a parallel leadership to protest the perceived exclusion in the fold by the dominant power bloc.
When the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains converged on Eagle Square, Abuja, for its special convention, little did its national leader, President Goodluck Jonathan, and national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, know that the exercise will end in a fiasco. Instead of uniting the warring chieftains, the convention generated more bitterness, which eventually led to the split of the party.
President Jonathan entered the venue around 11.35 am, waving to the 3,500 delegates from the troubled state chapters. He was accompanied by the disputed Nigerian Governors’ Forum chairman, Plateau State Governor David Jang, some governors who belong to the faction and other aides. Barely two hours later, news got to him that a faction had emerged from the party. Immediately, reality dawned on the President, who had exuded bravado over the PDP strength, while reeling his achievements on the podium in a clownish manner, that the party was suddenly ebbing away.
The President, his deputy, Alhaji Namadi Sambo, Board of Trustees (BoT) chairman Chief Tony Anenih, Convention Committee Chairman , Senator Jerry Gana, and Convention Electoral Panel Chairman Senator Ken Nnamani were visibly worried. They made enquires, which confirmed their fear. At the nearby Sheu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who has a presidential ambition, was glued to the drawing board. With him were the aggrieved chieftains-Governors Sule Lamido (Jigawa State), Musa Kwakwanso (Kano), Muritala Nyako (Adamawa), Aliyu Muazu (Niger) Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) and Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto); former Governors Shaba Lafiagi (Kwara), Adamu Abdullahi (Nasarawa), former Deputy National Chairman Sam Jaja and other chieftains, who had stormed out of the convention. .
They had a pre-determined agenda. After brainstorming for few minutes, Atiku and his group installed the former Acting National Chairman, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, an associate of former Governor Bukola Saraki, as the PDP factional chairman. Before the convention, there were speculations that the “G5” members may boycott the convention. Thus, when they strolled in, there was a temporary relief. However, when they hurriedly left the venue, the mood at the convention changed instantly. It was a spontaneous reaction. More delegates moved out to seek for further information about the unfolding drama. Suddenly, the power equation in the party was altered. Since there is no permanent friend in politics, but permanent interest, the forces loyal to Obasanjo and Atiku foot-soldiers started a new co-habitation.
On the day the acclaimed largest party in Africa celebrated its 14th birthday, the big political family was torn apart by pride, prejudice, ego and clash of ambitions. Delegates, who expressed worry over the turn of events, attributed the tragedy to the weak national leadership, which ultimately failed to broker reconciliation effectively and prevent the damage. It was evident that 2015 calculations had polarised the octopus, judging by the clandestine moves by the key factional leaders.
To observers, it was an explosion waiting to happen. The founding fathers at the venue, including Chief Don Etiebet, Senator Olu Alabi, Alhaji Abba Gana, Chief Jim Nwodobo and Chief Peter Odili were in sober reflection. None of them could avert the impending doom. Many party members said that they were caught unaware. The slippery party and its unpredictable leadership were boxed into a new phase of crisis. Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson, who heads a reconciliation team, was jolted out of the delusion of possible rapprochement. So were many other leaders who nodded at the party’s decline in influence.
The handwriting was bold on the wall. But the signs of an imminent danger was flagrantly ignored by over-confident party lords basking in the euphoria of incumbency of power. The chief servant of Niger State, Muazu, had stirred controversy when he alleged that the President had a pact with some undisclosed Northern leaders to spend one term in office. The disclosure generated tension in the party. It has not been resolved. The mini-convention was organised to correct the costly mistake made 17 months ago when national officers were elected without following the due process. But, as alleged by the seven governors, who stormed out of the convention, more unpardonable mistakes were committed at the event.
Senator Abdullahi alleged that there was wrongful exclusion of delegates at the convention, saying that the act smacked of injustice. Echoing him, the Turaki Adamawa, Alhaji Abubakar said that the party had been badly managed. Four states-Adamawa, Anambra, Nasarawa and Rivers-were bones of contention. Only statutory delegates from these crisis-ridden chapters were allowed to vote by Convention Committee. Gana explained that the committee opted for that method, owing to the division in the chapters. “There are two executive committees of the party in Adamawa. Therefore, we said that only statutory delegates should vote”, he explained. “We are devoted to transparency. That is why the event is beamed live on the television. This is one of the best conventions”, Gana added.
A source said that there was communication problem between the big wigs from the affected states and the Convention Planning Committee. Although Gana’s committee also included other non-voting delegates as observers, it was doubtful, if the aggrieved governors got the message from Senator Bello and Senator Jonathan Zwuigina, who were mandated to verify the delegates list. In fact, the excluded delegates from Adamawa threatened to go to court after the convention to challenge the basis for their exclusion.
Other chapters went to the convention with their acrimonies. For example, there was commotion at the Anambra camp. The supporters of the Tony Nwoye, the governorship candidate recognised by the party, and Senator Andy Uba, who is in court challenging Nwoye’s victory at the primaries, exchanged blows. Nwoye’s men claimed that the Uba brothers; Andy and Chris; were not part of the delegates, since they have been expelled. But Uba’s supporters said that the court has put the suspension on hold. A similar quarrel was recorded among Adamawa delegates.
In Ogun, the pro-Obasanjo supporters abstained from the national congress, which was also boycotted by the former President. In fact, the delegates from the Southwest were not complete because the zonal congress, which should have produced the zonal officers could not hold due to protracted litigation. Also, the Convention Committee postponed the election into the office of the National Secretary because the former secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, is still in court challenging his removal.
Also, only anti-Amaechi delegates from Rivers State were accredited. It is a pointer to the future. A federal legislator said the national leadership, which had called for reconciliation, was also inadvertently fuelling the crisis between the President and Amaechi, who is currently on suspension, to ensure that the governor’s camp is liquidated, ahead of 2015. “How can there be peace when the leadership is insincere?”, asked the lawmaker.
Some delegates from the Southwest also grumbled. They claimed that the zone may continue to be marginalised, in the absence of a National Secretary and National Vice Chairmen, which was expected to emerge from the region. Some also said that Obasanjo’s absence at the convention had implications for the party. “Obasanjo as the former President and national leader has his influence and usefulness too. To be frank, I think the President should have mended fences with the old man”, said a delegate from Ogun.
When Kwakwanso and Wamakko entered Eagle Square, Northern delegates swarmed them. A group suddenly emerged, canvassing support for Lamido-.Amaechi ticket in 2015. Other delegates were amused by their campaigns. Tha members to close ranks. The Acting National Secretary, Dr.Remi Akitoye, who had observed that the party had faced cases of indiscipline, advised the members to avoid anti-party activities.
Tukur, the man in the eye of the storm, had also before the split, called for unity for the PDP to retain the leadership of the country. But reacting to the emergence of the Atiku faction, the national chairman chided the arrowheads of the faction. “They are treacherous”, he said, predicting that the faction would soon eclipse. What has given him the confidence that the faction may wither away is that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which monitored the convention at the Eagle Square, will recognise him as the authentic PDP chairman.
The PDP Governors’ Forum chairman, Chief Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, also dismissed the threat posed by the faction. He questioned the basis for splitting the party after attending the convention. Earlier, in his address to the delegates, he said “there is no shaking”. But when news filtered that the faction meant business, he still summoned the courage to say that there is no cause for alarm.
To former Adamawa State Governor Boni Haruna, an associate of Atiku, who stayed behind at the convention, what has happened to the PDP is not new. He said there is the tendency to attribute it to desperation. But he quickly added that, if the leadership had responded to the complaints and yearnings of the aggrieved members, trouble would have been averted.
Many observers believed that PDP’s future is bleak, if the faction fails to retrace its steps. The party has a number of options. According to concerned party leaders, reconciliation is not foreclosed, despite the obvious split. “We will do genuine reconciliation and there will be peace”, said former Federal capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Alhaji Abba-Gana, a delegate from Borno State.
It is believed that the aggrieved chieftains are only scheming for more “party power” and influence in the polarised fold by evolving a formidable platform for negotiation and bargaining. Indeed, the retracing of steps is not ruled out. The civil war in the PDP has no ideological connotation. Both divides are struggling for the soul of the party and the Presidency. There is no assurance that whichever side that wins the battle will muster the strength to reposition the country for progress and excellence.
Indisputably, many party chieftains agree that the factionalisation may have reduced the party’s numerical strength in the National Assembly. The implication is that the President may begin to face more heat from the parliament.
But the Baraje faction cannot survive by mere propaganda. For now, the composition is laced with ethnic colouration. Apart from Amaechi and Oyinlola, the majority of the factional members are from the North. A source said that spin doctors may attack the faction by blackmailing its members as ethnic bigots canvassing for power shift to the North under the leadership of Atiku, who may emerge as a presidential contender in 2015.
If reconciliation fails and the two factions go there separate ways, then, there will be a big hurdle for the PDP in 2015. But Baraje’s faction cannot totally liquidate the main PDP without the cooperation of other opposition parties. Last week, the Peoples Democratic Movement, which is believed to have a strong link with Atiku, said that it will seal alliance with the opposition. If APC, PDM and Voice of the people (VOP) combine their forces, 2015 may be the terminal year for the PDP.
The strength of the factional leaders lies in their fanatical loyalists and supporters in the Northwest states of Sokoto, Kano, Jigawa and Adamawa, and North Central comprising Niger, Kwara, Nasarawa and Benue. In fact, the PDP can hardly joke with the Northwest voting population, which may slip off from its reach. Already, the Southwest appears to be a no-go area for the ruling party. In the Southsouth, PDP can hardly boast of majority support in Edo and Rivers state. In the Northeast, votes for the PDP has dropped in Borno and Yobe. Now, the party may not have hope in Adamawa, if Atiku and Nyako maintain their hold on the state.
In the days of Obasanjo, a group led by the late Chief Sunday Awoniyi, moved out of the PDP to form another political party. The new party did not see the light of the day. Will Baraje’s faction achieved its desired objectives? Time will tell.
