- Say another loss imminent, warn leaders against individual interests
- Atiku’s camp wants Wike, Ortom, others sanctioned over anti-party activities
- Ex-VP, Wike’s forces battle for control of PDP NEC meeting
- Screening committee disqualifies two governorship aspirants in Ondo
As major political parties reorganize their structures and strategize ahead of the 2027 presidential election, top stakeholders of the People’s Democratic Party are apprehensive that the fresh battle for the soul of the party, which seems to have spread across all states, can once again affect its chances of dislodging the ruling All Progressives Congress in 2027.
The stakeholders, in separate interviews with our correspondents, said, if the party leaders refused to bury old grievances and sacrifice personal interests for the common good, the PDP might as well forget about making any serious mark in the next elections.
Currently, the political rivalry between the 2023 presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar; and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has heightened as they struggle for control of party structures before the National Executive Council meeting.
The National Working Committee of the PDP has scheduled the 98th NEC meeting of the party for Thursday, April 18, 2024.
Party sources said decisions at the forthcoming meetings of the PDP leaders would significantly determine who calls the shots for the PDP’s 2027 presidential ticket.
NEC is the supreme organ of the party, which comprises all party state governors, President and former presidents, serving and former principal officers of the National Assembly, all state chairmen, and members of the NWC, former governors, serving and former senators, serving and former House of Representatives, among others.
The last PDP NEC meeting, the 97th, was convened by the suspended National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, on September 22, 2022.
Atiku, who had been out of the country for weeks, returned to Nigeria last week for the decisive meeting.
The anticipated NEC meeting, according to party sources, is shaping up to be a make or mar one for the party.
Atiku, who is regarded as the de facto leader of the party, being the presidential candidate in the last elections, is expected to spearhead other meetings ahead of the NEC meeting.
This comes as agitations have mounted over the poor management of the party against the backdrop of allegations that the party was being controlled by external forces as alleged by a former Benue State governor, Gabriel Suswam.
Although the agenda of the NEC would be defined by the NWC, sources told The Point that the meeting might also decide on what actions to take on “party leaders who have continued to undermine the party.”
“However, pro-Wike forces are said to be seeking to entrench their influence in the party by pushing for the confirmation of Damagum as National Chairman and retention of Anyanwu as National Secretary until the next convention.”
Findings by The Point revealed that stakeholders on both camps were doubling up on mobilization of men and resources ahead of the crucial meeting to determine who controls the party in the run-up to the 2027 elections.
Sources revealed that the acting National Chairman of the party, Umar Damagum is under pressure to sanction those involved in alleged anti-party activities during the 2023 election.
Both Atiku and Wike have been at daggers drawn since Atiku chose to bypass the former Rivers State governor in picking his running mate for the 2023 presidential election.
Subsequently, Wike actively campaigned against the former vice president and threw his support behind the All Progressives Congress’ candidate, Bola Tinubu, in the election.
Damagun and the National Secretary of the PDP, Samuel Anyanwu, are believed to be Wike’s allies, and the Atiku camp is not favourably disposed towards them.
The Point learnt that the former Vice President believes the duo will work against the interest of his camp and his presidential ambition in 2027.
Various interest groups in the party have withdrawn into tactical mode, with meetings and discreet consultations in top gear.
The North Central zone of the party is already pushing for one of its own to be made national chairman to serve out the term of Senator Iyorchia Ayu, who was forced out of the position soon after the party’s loss in the 2023 election.
Former Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam has already declared his ambition for the position.
In a series of meetings with stakeholders in his state, Suswam said Benue should be allowed to complete Ayu’s tenure since he (Ayu) is also from Benue.
Former Senate President Bukola Saraki and former Niger State Governor Senator Babangida Aliyu are also believed to be interested in the position.
However, pro-Wike forces are said to be seeking to entrench their influence in the party by pushing for the confirmation of Damagum as National Chairman and retention of Anyanwu as National Secretary until the next convention.
Some party members, especially from the Atiku camp, are pressing for sanctions against Wike and his allies such as former governors Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) and Samuel Ortom (Benue) for allegedly working against the party in the 2023 elections.
Sources said the recent public castigation of Wike by former PDP National Chairman Uche Secondus and the Director-General, PDP-Presidential Campaign Council in Rivers State, Abiye Sekibo, was not a coincidence.
It was gathered that the tone and timing of the press conference showed clearly what the Atiku people were up to.
According to sources within the party, both factions have intensified efforts to ensure their loyalists from the North Central geopolitical zone are announced as Ayu’s replacement.
One of the sources mentioned that Atiku’s camp has mobilised various independent groups affiliated with the party to write to the NWC as requested and to name Wike, former Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom; former Enugu Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; former Abia Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, and other party leaders affiliated with the G-5 group for discipline over alleged anti-party activities during the 2023 election.
A source close to the party leadership stated, “Atiku and Wike’s camps are working tirelessly ahead of the NEC meeting to ensure that if Ayu’s replacement is announced, it will be from their respective camps. However, PDP governors, despite their divisions, are exercising caution due to Ayu’s pending court case, which may delay the announcement.
“Nevertheless, stakeholders from the North Central are already rallying around their candidate for Ayu’s replacement. This explains why names such as former Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki, former Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam, and former Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu are being mentioned as potential replacements. However, there is no clear indication of which camp supports whom, due to the pending court case, ongoing consultation and other factors.
“I am aware that certain groups, evidently loyal to Atiku’s camp, have written to the party, listing Wike, Ortom, former Enugu Governor, former Abia Governor, and others as individuals involved in anti-party activities. They are urging the NWC to forward the report to NEC for appropriate action.”
Another high-ranking member of the PDP NWC confirmed that most state chapters and independent groups affiliated with the party had submitted names of party chieftains allegedly involved in anti-party activities during the 2023 election.
The source, who requested anonymity, also disclosed that the agenda of the 98th NEC meeting includes discussions on the National Chairman, constitutional amendment, 2023 review committee, state congresses, and other matters.
It was learnt that the April 18 meeting of the PDP NEC would be preceded on April 17 by a meeting of the party’s National Caucus. The BoT is also scheduled to meet on April 18, according to the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba.
The tension in the PDP seems to have been worsened by the recent release of the names of Caretaker Committee members to run the affairs of the party at the local and state levels.
The committee members’ names were released by the NWC but party leaders in some of the states, including Rivers, Enugu and Kaduna, are kicking over the lists.
Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, on Thursday, went to the PDP National Secretariat, Abuja, to protest against his state’s list.
The Governor is currently not on good terms with Wike, his immediate predecessor, whose loyalists appear to dominate the disputed list.
The governor was quoted as saying after the meeting that the NWC dismissed the list as fake and restated the resolutions of a meeting between the NWC and PDP governors in March.
He said the main resolution of the March meeting was that at the expiration of the tenure of the executive committees in the various states, the members should transform into caretaker committees for the next three months without changing their compositions.
Fubara insisted that Rivers would abide by the decision that the executive officers whose tenure expired in March should remain in office for three months, pending the conduct of fresh congresses.
Screening committee disqualifies two governorship aspirants in Ondo
Also, two of the governorship aspirants of the PDP in Ondo State have been reportedly disqualified by the party’s screening committee.
It was gathered that the screening committee, which sat in Abuja, scrutinized credentials and had verbal discussions with all the seven aspirants last week.
Those that did not meet the party’s criteria for the governorship contest cannot be immediately ascertained, but those five aspirants cleared were immediately notified.
This is just as the party will on Monday (today), commence ward congresses to pick delegates for the party’s primary election.
Already, Senator Abba Moro has been appointed as the Chairman of the State Ward Congress Electoral Committee.
The committee is saddled with the responsibility of conducting the ward congress for the purpose of electing three ad-hoc delegates per ward, one of whom shall be a woman.
The congress is expected to be held at the secretariat at each of the 203 wards in the state.
The National Publicity Secretary of the Party, Debo Ologunagba, in a statement, confirmed other members of the committee as Tom Zakari, Isaiah Makinde and David Kolawole Vaughan, with Nheoma Ndu, a lawyer, as Secretary.
Tension as PDP accuses APC of allegedly stockpiling arms in Osun
Meanwhile, there is fear among residents of Osun State following revelations that some members of the PDP and the opposition All Progressives Congress have been stockpiling arms to attack one another.
PDP had in a statement by its chairman, Sunday Bisi, warned the APC not to undermine the peace being enjoyed in the state.
Bisi noted that the party was reacting to claims of threats to life and the attendant reactions from various factions of the leading opposition party in the state.
The party chairman appealed to security agencies to be on the alert to claims and counterclaims of threats to life and frowned at attempts by the APC to push the state back into the dark days of political assassinations on mundane issues of political differences.
The statement read in part, “We appeal to both the aggressors and the bullied caucuses in the opposition fold to sheath their swords and allow peace to reign in the state.
“The PDP administration led by our amiable Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, will not tolerate any attempt by any political group or association to interject the prevailing peace in the state with horrible assassination attempts on the life of anyone, political party affiliations notwithstanding.
“Most state chapters and independent groups affiliated with the party had submitted names of party chieftains allegedly involved in anti-party activities during the 2023 election.”
“A situation where political actors in the APC threaten themselves openly and with reckless abandon is unacceptable, as it is inimical to the peace of the state which was engineered and sustained since assumption of office of the PDP administration a little over a year ago.
“Using violence to impose unpopular political narratives on the people is no longer tenable. Everybody must go about his political businesses in peace and as obtainable in a civilised society. ”
The PDP alleged arms build-up among opposition politicians saying, “We are not unaware of the arms buildup by a faction of the APC, which is the reason for their naked effrontery of issuing threats to their perceived political opponents. Such an evil plan will be thwarted by every means possible under the law.”
But in a swift reaction, Osun APC chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, urged the PDP leadership to desist from selling dummy to the public on the true position of the security of the state.
Lawal who lampooned the PDP chairman for raising alarm over alleged arms build-up, said it was strange that such an allegation about threat to peace and security could be elevated by a party leader.
The APC chairman’s statement read in part, “Has Sunday Bisi forgotten so soon the series of threats by some of the leaders of the PDP in Ikire, Ikirun, Iwo, Osogbo, Ilesa, etc, against the APC members and our supporters before the violence-soaked and pungently rigged elections in the state?”
He also alleged that some PDP chieftains are making moves to secure the release of some of their members being prosecuted for various offences.
“But at the appointed time, the long hand of the law shall catch up with them and they will be forced to give a full account of criminality perpetrated against our members,” he added.
