Ahead of the national convention scheduled for May 21, the Southwest Peoples Democratic (PDP) is divided over the tenure elongation being canvassed for the National Chairman, Senator Ali Modu-Sheriff, by the zonal party leadership. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines the implications of the proposal on the party’s cohesion in the zone.
The proposal by the Southwest leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to cede the position of the national chairman to the north is generating ripples in the zone.
When the National Vice Chairman, Southwest, Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, led a delegation on a courtesy visit to the National Chairman, Senator Ali Modu- Sheriff, he said the North should retain the position, ahead of the convention. He argued that, if the position comes to the South, it will resort in branding the PDP as a regional party.
Those opposed to the proposal said it contradicted the party’s position to zone the presidency to the north in 2019. Based on this, they argued that the Southwest should produce the next national chairman, a position, it has not held since the PDP was founded in 1998.
Analysts are of the view that the proposal was an orchestrated plot by some PDP governors to accommodate Sheriff in the forthcoming convention or seek tenure extension for him. To other observers, it is curious that the call came barely hours after Sheriff returned from the region and wondered whether the move is a tacit campaign for Sheriff.
A PDP chieftain, who spoke in confidence, said the Ogundipe leadership has plunged the Southwest PDP into an avoidable crisis at a time the party is factionalised in the zone.
He said: “I don’t know why our leaders would go to Abuja to tell the national chairman that the Southwest zone has agreed that the north should retain party chairmanship when such a sensitive matter has not been exhaustively discussed by the stakeholders let alone taking decision. The Ogundipe leadership has compromised the Southwest interest and the zoning arrangement on the sharing of party’s position.
“Ogundipe and his co-travellers are acting a script prepared by the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose towards achieving his political ambition in 2019. Fayose is eying the office of Vice President. His calculation is that if the Southwest produced the party’s national chairman, it will be impossible for him to emerge as the vice presidential candidate because the party will not zone the two key positions to the zone at a time.
The source added: “You can see that the Southwest PDP leaders are after the personal interest of an individual and not the larger interest. I am not surprised Ogundipe is promoting Fayose’s political ambition ahead of 2019 because he came to office by the grace of the governor. Remember, Ogundipe’s predecessor, Ishola Filani, was removed from office through the combined efforts of Fayose and Senator Buruji Kashamu. So, you can see why the Ogundipe leadership would go to any length to compromise the interest of Southwest zone because of Fayose.
“Another factor to be considered in this episode is the role Kashamu played in the victory of Fayose in the last governorship election in Ekiti State. Kashamu was one of the major financiers of Fayose’s campaigns. It was not surprising that the so called delegation led by Ogundipe told Sheriff to recognise Kashamu as leader of the party in the Southwest”.
But, the former PDP Vice Chairman (Southwest) Chief Ishola Filani, said retaining the chairmanship in the North will augur well for the party. According to him, there is no co-ordinating leadership for the PDP in the north.
Filani said the party’s position in the region is precarious with only two states. “We need the north to come back to the PDP. We have to let them know they are wanted in the PDP. To that effect we should concede the party chairmanship to the north for now. Whosoever emerges becomes the rallying point for the north. It will encourage them that they are still part of the party.
“Another reason why the PDP should retain chairmanship in the north is that the party should not be seen as a southern party. In the South, we can take care of ourselves. In the Southwest, we have two governors; the South-South, five governors and the South East, three governors. In the South, we are sophisticated enough to embrace and appreciate what the PDP stands for.
“We lost the 2015 presidential election because we didn’t pick our candidate from the North. In 2019, we should pick our presidential candidate from the north, by then the party’s chairmanship will return to the South. With that everybody will have a sense of belonging.
“The doctrine of necessity makes it apparent for us to pick our Chairman from the north for the survival of the party. It is an interim arrangement so that the north does not lie fallow. I am happy our leaders are now embracing the position I canvassed three or four months ago”.
A member of the delegation who does not want his name in print, said: “we unanimously endorsed Senator Buruji Kashamu, as leader of the party in the zone. We chorused the recognition of Kashamu, as leader of the party in the Southwest. The leader of the delegation, Ogundipe while speaking on our behalf poured encomiums on Kashamu.”
He said the original purpose of the meeting was just to express solidarity to Sheriff but not to jettison the legitimate demand of the zone. It was in the process of the meeting that some people started pushing the idea that Senator Sheriff should continue in office as National Chairman while Kashamu should be adopted as the Southwest leader of the party.
The source said contrary to the allegation that Kashamu was the one that sponsored the idea, it was not true. “In all honesty, he was not comfortable with the development but there was nothing he could do in that situation,” said the source.
Ogundipe was reported to have said about Kashamu: “There will be no Southwest PDP .without this man, even though we have two governors. Without Buruji in the Southwest, there is no PDP in Southwest. Hold him tight, he will assist you”.
Reacting to the development, Chairman, Lagos State PDP, Captain Tunji Shelle (rtd), dismissed the proposal. “Ogundipe can’t speak for me; he can’t speak for Lagos State and the Southwest in general”.
Shelle was surprised that Ogundipe told the national chairman that the proposal was endorsed by the Southwest. “But, I find it strange that the delegation claimed that after consultation with the major stakeholders in the zone, it was decided that the North should hold on to the office of the chairman. It is not true, he said.
Shelle added: “The party has set up a committee to zone the party offices. It is the committee that would decide which offices go to what zone. No zone can decide on what positions it would get. Ogundipe can’t decide for the party.”
The Chairman of Lagos Collectives of the PDP, Prof. Tejumade Akitoye-Rhodes, said it is a monumental shame for a few decrepit characters to claim that the Southwest was not interested in the office. He described the development as illogical and patently absurd. He said such a demand does not in any way represent the position or the will of the Yoruba people in the PDP.
According to Prof. Akitoye-Rhodes, the Southwest is the only region that has not occupied the prime office of the National Chairman of our great party since PDP came into being in 1998. He added that the region would fight with all legitimate tools to ensure that justice was duly served in this crucial matter. He said the zone still parades eminent personalities and powerful evocative names like Chief Olabode George, Alhaji Yekeen Adeojo, Chief Shuaib Oyedokun, Chief Abiola Ogundokun, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, Chief Abiola Ogundokun, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, Prof.Tunde Adeniran, Dr Saka Balogun, Dr Olu Alabi, Chief Martins Kuye, Chief Joju Fadairo, Senator Kofo Bucknor-Akerele, Dr Ogunkelu, Chief Onikepe Oshodi Governor Olusegun Mimiko and Governor Fayose, who have the capacity to lead.
He cautioned Sheriff against the antics of some members who may be working towards a script against the collective interest of the party ahead of the convention and the 2019 elections.
But, Kashamu in a statement said “the recent visit of a delegation of leaders of the PDP in the Southwest to the National Working Committee (NWC) was not done to choose or pronounce anyone as the leader of the PDP in the Southwest, rather it was to pledge our support for the Senator Ali Moddu-Sheriff-led NWC.
“All that happened at the occasion was fortuitous. It is also true that people like to have a rallying point, and if some of our leaders and elders see me as a rallying point because of my generosity and empowerments activities over the years, I do not see why anyone should lose sleep over it. Leaders emerge naturally.”
On the proposal that the National Chairmanship of the party should remain in the North, Kashamu said it was the opinion of the delegation. “We were and are still of the view that given the strong presence of the PDP in the South, with 10 governors out of 17 governors in the South and just two governors in the 19 states in the North, it would make more sense to leave the National Chairmanship of the party in the North, so as not to be branded a regional party.
“Our view does not foreclose any other opinion or suggestion. If some other persons have any other idea, they are at liberty to push it. At the end of the day, it is either superior argument wins or we go to the convention. For us, as true party men, what is best for our party and majority of the stakeholders is all we want”.
Analysts are of the view that there was no consultation to carry along the stake holders in the zone, hence, the sharp disagreement among members. A member of the PDP’s Board of Trustees (BoT) Chief Ebenezer Babatope said it was an aberration for any right thinking member belonging to the Southwest Zone of the PDP to speak in contrary tone to the popular demand and worst still for such people to go ahead parading their views as if they were representing anybody.
According to him, whosoever says the Southwest is not ready for the position of the national chairman of the PDP now is not only speaking for himself but contrary to a popular demand from the zone. He noted that since the party has agreed to zone the presidency to the north in 2019, which of course is normal in this circumstance, it is imperative to zone the National Chairman to the Southwest.
Youth activist Kunle Olajire cautioned the leaders against imposing Kashamu as the Southwest leader. He recalled that it was his imposition that forced Obasanjo and his supporters out of the PDP. “Obasanjo felt slighted that Kashamu was elevated to such a position in the Southwest. That alone contributed to the party’s abysmal performance in the region during the last general elections”.
Olajire said: “I don’t believe that our leaders will trade off the legitimate demand of the Southwest because they know such a plot won’t work. What the Southwest is saying is, giving the national chairman to the South now would alienate a lot of northern leaders from the party.
“So, the proposal is to leave the national chairman in the North, ahead of 2019. We can then do a mid-term convention, probably in 2018, and take the position to the South,” he concluded.
