The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has recognised Chief Bayo Dayo as the chairman in Ogun State. But the faction supported by former President Olusegun Obasanjo is kicking against the directive. Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU writes on the new twist to the protracted crises rocking the troubled chapter.
Ogun State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is facing a precarious future. Beset by protracted internal crises, the refusal of its leaders to close ranks has become its albatross. Although the national leadership of the party has now affirmed Chief Bayo Dayo as the authentic state chairman, this has not gone down well with the factional leader, Senator Dipo Odujinrin, who has the backing of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The PDP national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, explained that the party decided to follow the rule of law by adhering strictly to the constitution and court ruling on the protracted leadership tussle in the Gateway State. He said since the court ruled that Dayo is the chairman, he had to abide by the judgment. Hailing the decision, Dayo, an engineer, said that the state executive committee had been strengthened to restore the lost glory of the party. However, Obasanjo’s faction frowned at the decision, saying that Tukur was bent on destroying Ogun PDP. “If they want to destroy the party, let them go ahead. Let them continue”, said the factional secretary, Mr. Dapo Adeyemi, who also chided the National Working Committee (NWC) for its aloofness to the welfare of the chapter.
Observers contend that the crisis in Ogun State PDP has been fuelled by the parting of ways by President Goodluck Jonathan and Gen. Obasanjo. Thus, Obasanjo’s camp believes that Tukur is acting Jonathan’s script. Sources said that the President, who has never underrated Obasanjo, is taking some decisive steps, ahead of 2015. One of the strategies being adopted, added the source, is to pull the rug off the General’s feet by attracting to himself aggrieved party men who have scores to settle with Obasanjo, particularly in the Southwest. The national leadership’s support for Dayo-led executive may have drastically reduced Obasanjo’s influence in the party.
As Dayo’s group converged on Ijebu-Igbo to celebrate victory, Obasanjo’s men also gathered at Abeokuta to plot their survival. Feathers have been ruffled. The retired general was rattled by the prospect of diminishing influence in his home state. It was a double tragedy as his supporters who were members ofnthe national executive committee, including Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Mr. Segun Oni and Mr. Bode Mustapher, were dethroned. Owing to ego, the crisis ultimately escalated as they could not reconcile themselves to the reality. Although Dayo, who is being backed by the billionaire businessman, Prince Kashamu Buruji, said that his team was ready for reconciliation, other members of the executive committee doubted the readiness of the other faction to respond positively to the olive branch. Instructively, neither of the two factions can take PDP to victory in an atmosphere of disunity.
The tragedy that hit the Ogun PDP was contemplated. The leaders ignored the warning signal due to over confidence. As party leaders were neck-deep in prolonged internal feud, endless personality clashes and protracted bickering, party structures were weakened by rancour, making some members to desert the boat, ahead of 2011 polls. Party leaders who basked in the imaginary euphoria of an elusive power of incumbency woke up on poll day to lick their self-inflicted wounds. Apart from losing power to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) at the general elections, the warring factions built on its abysmal performance at the post-May 29 local government elections. Unable to move on after their shocking defeat at the general elections, the aggrieved chieftains, who started to trade blames, also and penciled down themselves for political liquidation.
Ogun PDP obviously went into the general and council elections as a divided house, which was destined to fall. The intra-party squabbles created strains and distractions. Initially, two factions led by Obasanjo and former Governor Gbenga Daniel were at war. As the two groups flexed muscles, parallel lists of candidates were submitted to the electoral commission. But the Federal High Court presided over by Abdul Kafarati rejected the list presented by Daniel’s group, pointing out that the faction had ceased to exist following the setting up of the Harmonised State Executive Committee led by Dayo Soremi, a member of Obasanjo’s faction.
That ruling infuriated the former governor. In reaction, his followers dumped PDP and encamped in the Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN), which, ultimately, could not fly during the parliamentary and governorship elections. Both Adetunji Olurin, retired General, and Gboyega Isiaka, governorship candidates of PDP and PPN, were defeated by the ACN candidate, Senator Ibikunle Amosu.
The party was engulfed in controversy during the electioneering. Criticisms have trailed the activities of the Harmonised Committee before, during and after the elections. Some party members called for an investigation into the allegations of sales of tickets of candidates on its list. The supporters of the House of Representatives member, David Salako, Abiodun Oni and Adegboyega Salami were more vociferous in this regard. They fingered the hand of a prominent Ijebu-born businessman and hotelier in the act. However, Soremi washed his hands clean of any political vice, saying that his committee was clean.
Observers pointed out that Dayo’s team was born in the period of crisis. Two congresses produced two chairmen; Dayo and Odujinrin, but Dayo claimed that the congress that produced him as the chairman followed the due process. He sought reconciliation with the Odujirin faction. When it was evident that the faction was not ready to sheathe its sword, he went to the court. Although a High Court sitting in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, ruled that Dayo was the authentic chairman, the ruling failed to restore peace and unity. Dayo, the embattled chairman has achieved victory, but he is still incapacitated because his group cannot do without the two factions waging war against his leadership.
Buruji, who took exception to Obasanjo’s meddlesomeness in local affairs, instead of intensifying his national and continental roles, said that if Obasanjo had been neutral, the two factions would have gone to him to broker reconciliation. But the former President is the pillar of support for one of the factions.
Last year, the leadership crisis escalated as policemen sealed off its state secretariat. The chairman and other party officers were denied access to the office. They cried foul, saying that certain powerful forces were disturbing the peace of the party. They urged the national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, to revive the party from its comma. Dayo warned against the violation of the court judgment.
“ We are fighting against the lack of internal democracy and imposition of candidates at party congresses. No party can grow when it lacks internal democracy”, said the chairman, who appealed to Tukur to call Obasanjo and his group to order.
The first leg of the reconciliation was successful. Daniel’s group resolved to parley with Dayo’s team. The grouse of Daniel’s followers was that they were not given a fair treatment by Obasanjo and his group. They alleged that they were denied participation at the congress that produced Olurin as the flag bearer. But the former chairman, Dayo Soremi also alleged that Daniel was involved in anti-party activities by joining forces with another party, thereby robbing PDP of victory at the governorship poll.
To Buruji, reconciliation and peace have remained elusive because Obasanjo is unwilling to embrace truce. “Pa Obasanjo should have been in a better position to reconcile us as his children, but he is now entrenched in local politics, instead of calling the shots as a father-figure and national leader”, he maintained. In the same vein, Dayo alleged that the former national secretary, Oyinlola, was being influenced to order the sealing off of the party secretariat. He said the national secretary exceeded the limit of his constitutional responsibilities. The chairman said Oyinlola was trying to impose on the chapter the names of those who had been jailed for contempt of court as caretaker committee members. He also said that members of the party were injured and consequently vowed never to condone imposition of unpopular candidates.
Party chieftain are of the view that the crisis had taken its toll on the party. Yet, there is no end in sight for the logjam. Since 2011, party followers have been shifting their allegiance to the ruling ACN. They feared that they would be left in the cold. For almost a year, party activities have paralysed and meetings at the wards and local governments were suspended in many areas. More time and energy have been spent on litigations than party mobilisation, organisation and management. Also, Obasanjo has not reconciled himself with life outside the Aso Villa. Apparently, he did not expect the kind of challenge he got from party chieftains who trembled before him when he was the President. Some said that the change of guard would not affect Obasanjo like other leaders in the state because the governor, Amosun, hails from Owu, Obasanjo’s town.
After the 2011 elections, there were brain storming sessions. Party leaders were united by collective political threat. Efforts to reconcile, first and foremost, Obasanjo and Daniel, were mooted. But there was a setback. The former President and Board of Trustees (BOT) chairman suggested that Olurin, former Military Administrator of Ekiti, should be the leader and arrowhead of the party. The suggestion did not go down well with many members. Some said Olurin was new in the party and that he was not endowed with rich political experience. Others said that he lacked structure and he may not command acceptance, loyalty and respect among party members and followers. “Obasanjo insisted on his proposal”, Kashamu recalled, lamenting that the crisis deepened due to lack of consensus on the choice of an arrowhead.
Some leaders also proposed an all-inclusive, participatory approach to party administration. They maintained that imposition was old fashioned, stressing that members would have a sense of participation, belonging and self-worth, if they are given opportunity to choose their ward, local government and state leaders at properly constituted congresses. Other party leaders even pleaded with Obasanjo to be the guardian of the process.
Past reconciliation efforts also failed because many PDP leaders were not ready for peace. When the former Southwest leader, Alhaji Tajudeen Oladipo, waded into the protracted feud by setting up the transition committee headed by Mustapha to conduct fresh congresses, the decision sparked off emotion. The former chairman, Soremt cried out, claiming that his tenure had not expired. He went to the court, praying the court to ensure that his powers and functions were not be usurped. A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos ruled that only the Soremi-led executive had the powers to conduct congresses. The current chairman, Dayo, claimed that the judgment was not appealed before the March congress. He recalled that the congress was even monitored by the national leaders, INEC and security agencies. He said the bone of contention was that party members were not ready to endorse the chairmanship aspirant supported by Obasanjo.
On May 2, the court also re-affirmed that Dayo was the authentic chairman. The presiding judge warned the national leadership against sidelining him. On June 19, another Ogun State High Court sitting in Ilaro, Yewa Division, also affirmed the same position. Dayo’s counsel, Ajibola Oluyede, complained that certain PDP leaders were bent on wrecking the party in Ogun State by imposing an unelected leadership. “When people resist peaceful change, they are looking for violence. If the institution of democracy is swept aside, anarchy will occur”, he warned.
At Ijebu-Igbo, Dayo waved the olive branch again. “No victor, no vanquished”, he said, urging warring members to close ranks. He understood that he could not succeed as leader, if the chapter is still factionalised. He tried to pacify Obasanjo, saying that he is the father of all. He urged . He enjoined the party chieftains and supporters to go back to their wards and local governments to rebuild the party.
So far, his appeal seem to have fallen on deaf ears. The court verdict has failed to halt the crisis and douse the intra-party tension. There is no evidence that the Odujirin faction is ready to forget the past. Tukur has said that he will only recognise Dayo as the authentic chairman. But the other faction appears to have ignored his directive. The puzzle is: when will peace return to Ogun PDP?
